The Jersey City news., 1903-10-28
/ ANTIQUES
VANISHING
New Jersey No Longer the
Great Field for the Lover
Old Furniture.
VIRGINIA FIRST FAvORITE
Small Profit Now in This
State which Was the Col
leetor's Paradise.
VIRGINIA FIRST FAvORITE

their search for bargains or many years
now are turning their attention to the
South, Virginia in particular, says the
Newark sunday CALI The country
farmhouse of Jersey has been outriyaled
| by the mansions of Dixie land, which,
resplendent 'befoh the war, 'sere now in
condition of genteel shabbiness.
Speaking of the change, dealer who
has followed the trade for nearly quar-
| ter of century, summed up the cause
tersely:
| Jersey has played out as far as buy
! ing antiques goes, and what one can get
J offers small profits. Virginia is practi-
| cally untouched in this respect, and be-
ing naturally aristocratic has better line
| of furniture anyhow"
Continuing in this vein, the dealer said
"It is now three years since took my
first trip down South, and haven't tray-
eled around this State since. / went to
Richmond ON a visit to cousin of mine,
and / had no idea of doing any business.
Well, the first afternoon after got there
my cousin took me out for a drive. We
went to see lot of things, and beore
we turned homeward my cousin said to
me: al, am going to show you one of
the real houses of zone Of the first fam
lilies in Virginia. = And he did
"It was beautifl Right near by was
the james river, and everything about
was trees and lawns and shady walks
The house itself was an old-timer. It
had been the house of the Harrisons of
| Virginia for ages and before that of the
| Brandons. A hundred and fifty years
would hardly reach the time when it was
built. The whole place made me feel
old-fashioned, and could almost imagine
Richard Carvel or Lord CORVALLIS look
| ing out of the windw as we came up.
"But it was only the caretaker, and my
cousin knew him, SO we went inside
Then woke up to the fact that Virginia
was great field for me. Ny cousin told
me to look at the quaint old staircase and
looked Then nearly shouted Stair
case nothing! Look at the banister, it's
Chippendale for sure And it was, and
lots more things besides. When we got
home that night | said to my cousin:
Where can I get storeroom near here?
| He told me and since then haven't been
buying my furniture north Of the Mason
and Dixon line
Il have had lot St funny experiences
buying down there since that time. One
old house went into had the dog set
on me for proosing to buy ancestral fur
niture A regular old Martha Washing
ton opened the door and before could
make an offer, she called Sic him, Tige,
and / couldn't get off the place. quick
enough. Another time went to an old
| house, and being wiser, led up to the sub
| ject more carefully. | admired a beauti-
full old sideboard and was laying wires to
make $50 offer, when my host, another
old lady, piped out. DO you like it? You
can have it if you'll only take it away
took it in a wagon that afternoon
| When ! got back to Richmond / sent her
two nice books and had courtly old
fashioned letter of acknowledg cement from
her.
virginia is great field, and so are
the Carolinas and Georgia. Since have
been buying there 1 have found many old
pieces Of genuine Chippendale. much old
English gothic and quantities of Louis
xIy,r II also found one real piece of the
time Of Francis I, near Richmond. That
is, I always claimed it was, although
some people have shown it to say that
| it is only Louis KILL, which is valuable
enough for anyone
! Virginia furniture is quite different
| from that Of New Jersey. 1t is more ar
! istocratic and ornate The old-time set
| tier in Jersey bought his furniture or had
/ II made with the idea Of getting n Iof If