Title: Out of the attic : inventing antiques in twentieth-century New England /
Authors: Greenfield, Briann 1970-
Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Antiques business New England History; House furnishings New England Marketing Case studies.; New England Antiquities Collectors and collecting History
Abstract: Briann G. Greenfield traces the transformation of antiques from family keepsakes to valuable artistic objects, examining the role of collectors, dealers, and museum makers in the construction of a new tradition based on the aesthetic qualities of early American furnishings. While recognizing the significance of antiques as symbols of an enduring American culture, Greenfield also delves behind popular rhetoric to examine the development of a retail structure specifically designed to facilitate the buying and selling of old wares. --from publisher description.
Contents: Introduction. Inventing antiques -- 1. Priceless and price : the antiquing of New England -- 2. The Jewish dealer : antiques, acculturation, and aesthetics -- 3. Jessie Barker Gardner and George Gardner : making a collection permanent -- 4. Highboys and high culture : adopting an American aesthetic in Deerfield, Massachusetts -- 5. Exhibiting the ordinary : history making at the Smithsonian -- Epilogue. The end of the antique?