Maine Antique Digest, April 2017

76 / 221

36-A Maine Antique Digest, April 2017
- FEATURE -
A-36
The Young Collector
What a Wonderful World
by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond
The walls start to close in around the end of Janu-
ary each winter. It’s a tiny house. We’ve all been
together unrelentingly since Christmas and without
large-scale diversion since about two weeks after Christ-
mas when the toys lost their luster (and their pieces). We
have eight enormous windows, but in January, every sin-
gle one of them displays a monochromatic landscape,
Midwest en grisaille: the disorder of tree trunks pitched
against the order of field stubble. Anything you can see is
rusting, fading, or only visible because it is litter. The alter-
native, which is what we opt for, is to pull all the shades,
put plastic over most of the windows, and wait for Easter.
This year, however, we did something a little different.
We got on a plane and went south! Andrew was invited
to the Historic New Orleans Collection to speak on Cin-
cinnati furniture and trade on the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers. (That really was a thing. He didn’t just make it
up for a free trip. By the 1830s, Cincinnati furniture mak-
ers were producing tremendous quantities of furniture and
exporting significant amounts of it down the rivers. By
the 1860s, Cincinnati furniture factories had established
“warerooms” in Kentucky, Missouri, and even Louisiana
to offer their goods. It’s a big and fascinating topic—and
he’s not just saying that for more free travel.)
The last time we were in New Orleans was in August
2010, which was so close to Nora’s arrival that we actually
had to drive (and take a copy of Hollie’s medical chart,
just in case she had to find a random hospital to give birth
in). It was a lovely trip, and Nora has gathered a small
group of fans there, even though she’s never actually been
herself—and even though we did not follow the numerous
suggestions to name her Nola or Natchez. (We might just
tell people Nat is short for Natchez.)
That trip, which we wrote about (see M.A.D., October
2010, “Riding Out the Storm”), was the last time we were
in New Orleans, and the last time we traveled without
children. We are so grateful to Hollie’s parents for driving
up in wintry weather to spend several nights with the kids
so school could stay on track, the cats could be fed, and the
stove could keep cranking. We’re pretty sure they didn’t
notice we were gone, but we were basically able to pro-
duce a photo essay for them of the trip (you can see one,
too, on Facebook), with pictures of baggage carousels,
control towers, and airplanes. Hollie even took videos of
takeoffs and landings, which Nat loved. The approach to
the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
over the Mississippi Delta is quite amazing.
It was awkward leaving 20-degree weather and arriving
in New Orleans in 70-degree weather and trying to fig-
ure out where to stash scarves and hats. But we bravely
managed to cope. We settled in at the Bourbon Orleans
Hotel, where they were decking the columns with purple
and gold in anticipation of Mardi Gras, which was still
weeks away, meaning the French Quarter was percolating
along at the usual level of whimsy and craziness. Since
we took early flights, we headed right back out again for
lunch after asking the desk clerk, who grew up in Ohio, for
recommendations.
We really hope someone is curating in some way, shape,
or form, the street performers of New Orleans. Along with
the usual brass-heavy jazz bands, including one that did an
impressive cover of the Muppets’ “Rainbow Connection,”
there were solo musicians, street poets hard at work with
typewriters (a couple of bucks and a theme will get you a
poem written on the spot), and Andrew’s personal favor-
ite, dancing Darth Vader, whose pop song repertoire is
apparently loud enough that he’s frequently asked to move
down the street. Over the Café Beignet’s eponymous
delights, we pondered what form street performers have
to fill out, if any, and how some of the acts we saw might
be described. We just hope someone’s keeping a file!
Don’t go to the French Quarter without a stop for
books! (Actually, we adhere
to the three B’s tour of New
Orleans—beignets, books,
and bread pudding.) We
always visit Faulkner House
Books where, yes, William
Faulkner once lived and
where we always come back
with new treasures for our-
selves and for the children.
Bookstores, especially one
occupying such a small space,
are challenging to stock.
They’re like antiques stores,
where everything can feel
as though it just came out of
the same person’s garage—
or as though every single
object was chosen carefully
and specifically and is unlike
anything else there. Faulkner
House is the latter. You’ll find
the shelves lined with only
single volumes of most titles.
There are classics as well
as that well-reviewed book
from seven years ago that you
always meant to read, along
with the best of current offer-
ings and a solid local-interest
section. It feels as though you
are browsing the shelves of a
very well-read friend who has
judiciously curated a collec-
tion of all his favorites. The
next time we travel to New
Orleans, we are taking a spare
carry-on for books.
Lunch was at the Gumbo
Shop, where Andrew was
delighted with the herbivore
option of gumbo z’herbes,
and Hollie was delighted to
be able to eat with two hands
without having to read to
anyone or coax anyone into
eating. With the weather too
nice to go indoors, we strolled
down to the banks of the
Mississippi and tiptoed through Saint Louis Cathedral, the
oldest cathedral in the U.S. Then we had to visit the institu-
tion that is M.S. Rau. The firm is a venerable name in New
Orleans, and while roaming its showrooms, it was evident
that its solid national reputation for top-shelf antiques is
undeniable. For us, it’s like visiting “the olde curiosity
shop.” Where else can you go and see—and touch!—a
World War II Enigma machine, a prehistoric cave bear
skeleton, a million-dollar chess set, and King Farouk’s
French Empire bedroom suite? Not to mention artifacts
from all of history, such as Roman glass and pre-Colum-
bian pottery! We finished up with dinner at Eat New Orle-
ans, where we did, in fact, feel as if we had eaten an entire
city by the time we were done, and then we shuffled back
down to the Bourbon Orleans.
Day two began with more beignets and more meander-
ing through the French Quarter and more poking around
at M.S. Rau (photos for the kids—ancient history is more
interesting with artifacts). Then we had lunch at the Green
Goddess (a tofu po’ boy is a real thing, and Andrew wants
you to know it was great) with Lydia Blackmore, cura-
tor of decorative arts at the Historic New Orleans Collec-
tion, and Sarah Duggan, HNOC’s research coordinator
and the coordinator of the Classical Institute of the South.
(The Classical Institute of the South does interesting and
important work. Sarah helps document original furnish-
ings in early homes by organizing teams of interns to do
field work around the Gulf South.)
Lydia invited Andrew to speak in large part because his
work on the furniture of the river trade meshed well with
her exhibit Goods of Every Description: Shopping in New
Orleans, 1825-1925, which shows good things can come
in small packages. The Historic New Orleans Collection
is traditionally known for documents, but the exhibit
includes wonderful decorative arts, cleverly mimicking
the shop windows and display cases where wares would
have been shown off to shoppers. It runs through April 9,
so go see it!
If you haven’t been to the Historic New Orleans Collec-
tion before, soon there will be much more to visit, as it is
in the midst of a major expansion. Executive director Pris-
cilla Lawrence and her team are simply fantastic. Every
new staff person we meet quickly becomes a friend, and if
you go once, every other visit you ever make will be like a
homecoming. And they can draw a crowd! Andrew’s mid-
week evening lecture had about 75 people in attendance
who were engaged and had good questions. They are onto
something there. They sell out their annual forum about as
fast as a popstar’s summer concert series. The 2016 New
Orleans Antiques Forum sold out in two days. Two. Days.
After the lecture, we ducked back into the Gumbo Shop
for dinner (when you’re eating vegetarian in New Orleans,
you stick with the options that work!) and a stroll through
the French Quarter. It’s a magical place for many reasons,
but in large part because such a huge section of early struc-
tures survive. One is struck by all the years of working
around weird rooflines, layered paint on wrought-iron rail-
ings, and spalling brick, and that, while there have been
attempts to change the city, to make it new, much of it has
just been lived around. Acceptance, maybe even a little
resignation, is in the very bones of the buildings, and it’s
that willingness to live with and around, instead of live
over, that makes New Orleans feel different.
The city is filled with history and tradition, with a real
sense of place, perhaps more so than any other city in
America, and it starts with those centuries-old buildings.
Antiques are so much about place. Regionalism is one of
the most passionate motivators for collecting objects that
tell a local story. In many places in the East, it can be easy
to get jaded or to block out objects because there is so
much more. But here, we take what we can get. As Lydia’s
exhibit illustrates, we don’t even need stuff to have been
made here; used here is enough to warrant exhibition and
interest. Perhaps this is the secret to so many things, not
just preservation. When we look for reasons to accept and
to include, what we end up with is so much richer than
when we look for reasons to reject or to bypass. Look for
ways to say yes. Our cities, our homes, and our lives might
be better for it.
This year, however, we did
something a little different.
We got on a plane and went south!
We welcome ideas, tips, criticisms, and questions
regarding “The Young Collector.” We may be reached
by e-mail <
com>, on Facebook
, via our blog
), or by writing The
Young Collector, c/o Maine Antique Digest,
PO Box 1429, Waldoboro, ME 04572.
After 40+ years of collecting,
I am selling my basket collections.
25 Ben Higgins (b. 1894 - d. 1981), Chesterfield, MA
22 Taghkanic (Bushwacker), West Taghkanic, NY
17 Arthur Corliss (b. 1870 - d. 1935), Sandwich, NH
9 Albra Lord (b. 1846 - d. 1933), Lovell, ME
5 Rouse Matteson (b. 1853 - d. 1936), Saunderstown, RI
100+ New England baskets by both known and unknown makers
ALL IN EXCELLENT CONDITION
If you are interested in any of my baskets, I can send
(or email) you a list with individual photos and measurements.
(Photos shown are only a sampling.)
DONNA KELLEY
603-286-3201