The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-23
WOMEN DEALERS IN ANTIQUES
BUSINESS ATTRACTS THEM AND
SOME PROSPER AT 1T.

That Buyers EXPECT Win purchases
SECRET Drawers Arc Not Secret.
A business which many women OF good
family have taken up within the Last few
years Is that Of the sale Of antiques. They
offer their customers old fashioned furni.
ture, pretty, quaint pieces Of china, lacesI
silver and even jewelry.
One OF the largest shops Of tho kind In
New York Is kept by woman and 1t repre-
sents her individual work, built up from
a small beginning She had the taste for
1t in the first place, and that Is one Of the ca.
sentials. When she came to New York 10
take up profession her first thought was
to make pretty home for herself She took
q room and every spare minute she devoted
to hunting for furniture to put into it.
She had little money and she was obliged
to buy old and worn pieces. That was
some years ago, when such things were
easier to get than they are now.
She could not afford the money to have
them put into shape, but having knack
with tools she did it herself. She scrapd
and cleaned and polished and was delighted
with the results.
The mania for buying possessed her and in
the desire for hunting for antiques she lest
sight Of her original object-an attractive
room. Hers became ugly because it was
ing so much as junkshop. She sold some
Of her cherished possessions occasionally,
because her friends wished them and 1t
gave her money to buy more. Then she
began to take orders for special pieces and
made small commissions, In the mean:
to give up her profession, and to her sur
prise she found that she had another bust.
ness started into which she went with en-.
thusiasm.
Now she has taken an old four story
house in the heart OF the city, The main
Of the place Is furnished as house should
be. There an the bedrooms furnished
white draperies; there is a dining room and
table which may have mahogany me- CLAW feet
legs the next, for the table is sold under
ones plate. With the tester bedstead goes
a lovely old Hepplewhite bureau or chest
Of drawers; there is a mahogany sewing
table with a quaint little !spoolholder OF
laces and embroideries can be seen through
the doors of bookcases, and there are desks
One OF the difficulties Of being an
santiaue" woman Is the demand made by
customers for stories with each piece OF
furniture.
1T is surprising" she says, 'how even
prosaic business men beg to know where
the furniture they buy comes from, who
owned 1t and why they were obliged to sell
IT,
II the woman gave q story with all the
pieces Of furniture that she sold she would
have to invent them, and there have been
rlmors that dealers in antiques could not
always be depended upon for perfect &C
ouracy.. This particular one, however, de-
clares that she made up her mind IN the
first place to DO strictly honest and that 1t
Occasionally an old bureau will be picked
up which has solid front posts which oan be
carved and so per cent. added to Its at
Effectiveness. It Is annoying then to have
viii go OF and buy another which will be
perhaps just the same thing with only ono
When the interest in old mahogany first
began to develop there was q chance for
stories Then nns baysrs e9sd " Ss Is
not often the case, yet here and there win
be story. One. piece Of this kind is q high
bow of liRht wood which was bought OF
woman in New York who came to the shop
in its early days Offering piece Of furniture
for sale.
but It was easy to understand why she sold
tho furniture. She was shabbily dressed,
made up" and signs Of drink were un-
mistakabie. This highboy she said had
been sent to her by her grandfather from
Cardiff, Wales. when she was =. married
old family piece then. She had taken it to
Canada and brought it with her to New
York.
The dealer went down to see It before
she made the purchase. The woman was
living in dingy little rooms on the lower
cok IN with n a
She made some money by writing when she
was capable of it, but this was not often,
and when she became desperate nard UP
she sold a piece Of furniture. Finally one
day the dealer went to hunt her up to see il
there was anything else to sell, but the rooms
were vacant.
There should be many interesting things
about the secret drawers Of the desks,
but secret drawers are too well known now
and have generally been ransacked. One
desk that had belonged to an old Huguenot
in an attic in an old house in Brooklyn
looked promising. There was a space evil
IDENTIFY filled for a secret compartment,
but no sign Of an opening. The back
of the desk was removed and there was
the drawer to be sure, but nothing was in
1t and the wood OF the sides looked almost
new.
Another desk, whose previous history was
not az we'll known, contained in its secret
drawer, carefully wrapped In tissue parer,
a pretty little cut glass sugar bowl with
silver top and little silver sugar scoop
inside.
Even the babies and dolls have antinn"s
nowadays. Though babies are not sur
posed to be rocked there are many mothers
who cannot resist the temptation OF an Oh
mahogany cradle with hood at ono end.
An odd thing was one Of these cradles fora
doll. 1t was an exact reproduction o. the
large one, the top of the hood made with
shingled effect. A New York moth"
bought II for her little girl. Another thin1'
bedstead which will have to be corded fort
was made before the days OF Stats.
smashine Boe In Kansas.
From the Emporid Gdfene. ..
This morning bright and early there was