Every antique cigarette holder, old tin type, a lithograph with a hidden Confederate $10 bill tucked away inside the back of the picture frame, an old newel post that has become a lamp base, old converted light fixtures, tat work, a hand carved birthing chair, and the list goes on. Someone held that art nouveau brooch close to their heart after having received it as a gift. Tat work and doilies we
re carefully placed on serving trays and parlor furniture for countless milestones. Meticulously kept mantle clocks were passed from one generation to the next. Silver tea sets were painstakingly polished with plans to honor yet another family gathering. At age 6, I was serving tea and hand-made open-face cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches to ladies who would visit my mother in her by-appointment-only antiques shop at the end of a long country road. My father, who was a history and literature teacher would spend his weekends traveling the countryside throughout rural East and Central Tennessee with my mother searching for old primitives which my mother would lovingly restore to perfection. My mother was known from Pennsylvania to California by avid collectors of R.S. Prussia, old blue granite ware, and very beautiful and unique pieces of Duncan Phyfe, Eastlake, and Queen Anne furniture. For 50 years, my mother was an antiques dealer and collector who was widely loved, and well respected for her knowledge and collection of all things beautiful. Her decorating style was second to none, and so admired that the local home extension agent would bring groups of ladies to view her carefully curated collections by appointment. I hope you enjoy some of the beautiful things on this page. Some items will be shared at area antique malls periodically. Feel free to share a photo and memory of a cherished heirloom...and tell your story :)
