CONTEMPORARIES
Who Let The Dogs Out?
Winston the “Westie” with a mid-19th-century Belgian collar.
Ron Gard’s passion for collectibles is reflected in his new book. Mid-19th-century Swiss leather-and-brass collar.
INTERVIEW BY CHRIS BYRNE PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF MOORE
R
on Gard’s history with American folk art and antique decoys is legendary. He has authored three books on the subjects and lectured widely at museums. A fine art photographer, he had two exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Natural History (now the Perot Museum) and served on the board for 14 years. Chris Byrne caught up with the expert here:
English bulldog carving by Isaac Smith with a European armored collar.
George the Bluetick Coonhound with an early 20thcentury collar.
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Chris Byrne (CB): When did you begin collecting? Ron Gard (RG): I’ve been a collector for as long as I can remember. The first thing I ever remember collecting was pictures of dogs. As soon as I was old enough to use scissors, I cut them out of magazines and newspapers and put them in a box to keep. To me, collecting has never been about making money, though I have often sold things for far more than their purchase prices. I’ve done well with antique decoys, which I started collecting around 1975. I found a book called The Art of the Decoy: American Bird Carvings by Adele Earnest, founder of the American Folk Art Museum in New York, which led me to become more interested in decoys in general as an art form and Ward Brothers decoys in particular. CB: Was there anyone who influenced you? What directed your interests? RG: I’ve made a lot of good friends through collecting. In addition to the thrill of the hunt and the joy of discovering that special, prize object, one of the greatest things about collecting is the interesting people you meet. I met Dr. Jim McCleery, another Texan whose decoy collection is legendary, at an auction on Cape Cod. We became best friends, and I went on to write a book about his collection with folk art consultant Robert Shaw, who was previously curator of the Shelburne Museum. Jim taught me a lot about collecting. He had a great eye for what was high quality and how to tell the good ones from the bad ones. CB: And your love for dogs ... RG: One of my earliest memories is looking in a pet store window at puppies. We lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the time, where my dad was stationed with the air force. It was 1944, so I was three years old. There was a hole in the window where you could put your hand in and pet the animals. When I stuck my hand inside, one of the puppies licked me, and I was smitten. I remember my dad bringing her home to me in a box, and I named her Lady. Lady was an English shepherd, and I have a picture of her with her six puppies on my grandparents’ farm in Texas. Of the many dogs that I’ve owned since, I’ve only named one after Lady, who is on the cover of my new book. So I guess I was born with the gene to collect, and because I love dogs, I’ve always been drawn to other dog collectibles, particularly dog-handle canes, and, more recently, dog collars. CB: You’ve pursued specific objects, like collecting dog collars—how did your new book, Whose Dog are You?, come about? RG: After I had been collecting antique collars for a few years, someone from the Dallas Antiques & Fine Arts Society saw my collars and asked me to present a program on them at one of our meetings. My good friend and very talented photographer Jeff Moore was visiting, and I asked him to take pictures of some of the collars for my presentation. He did, and I used them in the presentation. Someone from the Dallas Glass Club was in the audience and asked me to do a program on the collars for one of their