Gary Sullivan's Antique Clocks and Furniture Blog

Folk Art Museum May Partner With Seaport Museum

On December 21, 2011 in General by Gary Sullivan

The American Folk Art Museum and the Seaport Museum, two New York museums that weathered difficult economic conditions this year, may partner for a series of exhibitions at the Seaport Museum in 2012.

DNA info reports that the news broke at a city council hearing last week, where interim Seaport head Susan Henshaw Jones announced the museums’ intentions:
“‘We are very much hoping that the Museum of American Folk Art will do exhibitions in four galleries [at the Seaport Museum] starting in June,’ Jones said at a City Council hearing last Friday.”

The Folk Art museum moved out of its building on 53rd Street next to the Museum of Modern Art this July, after selling the building to MoMA. The Seaport Museum suffered similar economic difficulties, though in September, it was announced that it would receive a $2 million Manhattan Development Corp. grant for the post-9/11 recovery of nonprofits.

By Dan Duray- [Read his article]

The amazing truth about hoarders

August 26, 2011 The popular new television shows on extreme hoarding have recently made more people aware of the problem. Because of this awareness, I’ve begun to hear comments such as, ”can you imagine seeing a place like that?” or “have you ever seen one of those houses?” The sad fact is, I have. Many times. It’s a lot more common than you might think. Between my work for various Boston area auctioneers in my youth and the years that I spent as an estate liquidator, I estimate that I’ve been involved in the dismantling of between 15 and 20 extreme hoarder’s homes. The difference is, I was usually dealing with the homes of hoarders who had either died or had gone to a nursing home. It would be unusual for a hoarder to part with their possessions, so antiques dealers are rarely called until after the occupant is gone. I used to attempt to explain the conditions of these houses, describing rooms piled with debris, sometimes up to the ceiling and only isles to walk through. Now people can see these ...
First new American art museum in half a century

November 14, 2011 Here is a story from Antiques and the Arts Weekly. I find it to be encouraging. First Major Museum For American Art Established In Almost A Half Century Opens By Stephen May If you are a fan of adventurous museum buildings and great American art, you are going to love the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and its world-class collection. Marking a significant development on the US cultural scene, the institution, the brainchild of Alice B. Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, opened to the public on November 11. It is the first major museum devoted to American art established in almost a half century. Housed in an innovative building designed by architect Moshe Safdie, the museum is located in a 120-acre forest that used to form the backyard of the Walton family home. Crystal Bridges draws its name from a nearby natural spring, which flows beneath the graceful pavilions. In keeping with his commitment to attune his buildings to their internal purposes and natural surroundings, Safdie nestled the 200,000-square-foot museum within a ravine, flanked by two wooded hillsides, surrounding ...
Willard Clock Museum news

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Winterthur Museum Furniture Forum, 2011.

May 4, 2011 I'm heading home from this year's furniture forum, which was terrific. The subject of the conference was the furniture of southeastern Pennsylvania. It was accompanied by a new book entitled Paint, Pattern & People: Furniture of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1725-1850. The book and exhibit represent several years of research and hard work by Winterthur Senior Curator of Furniture, Wendy Cooper and her assistant, Lisa Minardi. For the exhibit, they assembled an amazing collection of 18th and early 19th century furnishings. The exhibit includes some super Pennsylvania German pieces with excellent original painted decoration. I was thrilled to see that the exhibit also included quite a few tall case clocks. With the maker's name and location often inscribed on the clock dials (faces), they are excellent documents in determining local cabinet making styles. When researching regional furniture, we don't have the luxury of reading the place of origin right on the face, as we can with clocks.
Gary has received recognition for 30 years with the NAWCC

April 24, 2011 I just received a gift in the mail from the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (N.A.W.C.C.). They sent a cute tie tac in the form of a bracket clock, for 30 years of membership. Where did 30 years go? Yikes! Those were the days. Excellent clocks used to turn up at the regional meetings and great things could be found at the National Convention each year. If only I had the knowledge and capitol to take advantage of those opportunities. “I could have been a contender!. I used to look up to the clock experts, the ones who had the knowledge to buy a great clock. It didn’t take anywhere near as much money as it does now to buy something great.
Research tidbit, pineapples for rent?

October 28, 2011 Matt Buckley here this time. I have always held that one of the prerequisites to being an antique enthusiast, is an appreciation for the tidbits of information that accumulate along the way. This minutia is prized in an equal measure to the objects. They become exquisite little nuggets of information that help to color the image of our history and enrich our understanding of our culture. As so often is the case, the origins of our customs can be rooted in absurd nuanced behavior from our past. These are the best tidbits of all. I encountered just such a factoid recently, while researching a Salem, McIntire school work table. The tops of the legs have wonderful carved pineapples. They are a very rare motif in Salem furniture. I wanted to write a few words on the meaning of the Pineapple as a cultural symbol during the 18th and 19th Century. I had long understood it to be a symbol of the feast, which had come to express the sense of welcome, good cheer and abundance. After a quick trip to ...