many collectors, purchasing furniture. Surface, condition, and originality were paramount. Finishes had to be strong to vibrant, ideally with outstanding and unusual early- to mid-nineteenth-century paint decoration. Form, I quickly realized, characterized a work of art more than any other attribute. I have always gravitated to the unusual with a preference for one-of-a-kind quirkiness. Materials and craft techniques always play a primary role in authentication. Provenance, or history of ownership, was certainly of interest but I considered it supporting rather than primary data for evaluation. Scale was important as it had to fit my floor plan. Any new addition to the collection had to fill a void. Over the years I have gone through many phases of collecting. Furniture dominated for about a decade until I realized I needed items for cupboards, tabletops, blanket chests, and floors. Textiles were next on my collecting agenda and included colorful hooked rugs, American-made Venetian striped carpets, and rag rugs. Next were treenware (small, functional wooden objects), New England redware, and paint decorated boxes. I am still fascinated by the range of decoration used on boxes during the first half of the nineteenth century. Folk carvings such as decoys, maritime subjects, and trade signs are included in the collection as well as a choice selection of Maine folk portraits, schoolgirl needlework, and family records. Oh, and by the way, I did finally purchase the perfect house in 1999 at the age of forty-two after restoring a couple of lesser period structures. As planned, all the furniture and accessories fit perfectly! Current Interests and Efforts After more than forty years of dedicated collecting, I am still pursuing a few things. I am always open to upgrading and 24
Historic New England Fall 2015
really enjoy evaluating what a potential new acquisition will add to the collection. Recently, my focus has been on education and outreach. This includes giving tours of the house to groups like the American Folk Art Society, Decorative Arts Trust, and historical societies. Also, I am pleased to make loans to museum exhibitions fostering public education. I am working on building relationships with local colleges and opening my home to students of the arts. I have been a member of the American Folk Art Society since 2007, which has given me lasting friendships with fellow collectors and exposed me to wonderful private collections and museum archives. My advice to budding collectors is to not buy right away. Instead, study reference books, go to museums and auction previews, and get to know what you like. Auctions are a great opportunity to handle a cross section of period material, to inspect and learn. Don’t be shy—ask lots of questions and make new friends. Spend your time looking, looking, and looking some more…and remember what you have seen. ——Deane Van Dusen
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century pincushions complement the top of an early nineteenth-century paint decorated Farmington, Maine, sewing stand. An important family record from Buxton, Maine, of itinerant portrait painter Royall Brewster Smith’s family, is signed “By R. B. Smith, April 1830.” A young lady from Maine, signed by deaf itinerant artist John Brewster Jr. and dated May 20, 1814, watches over the eighteenthcentury treenware filling adjacent shelves. LEFT TO RIGHT