378 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 19 13 



The house commands a fine river view 



box or barrel of unopened treasures which "some day" are 

 to take their place along with others of their ilk and age. 



As special mention is made of the old china, it doesn't 

 by any means indicate a lack of old furniture. There is a 

 hoard of it, and several pieces are very properly rated as 

 museum relics. One of these, and by far the most import- 

 ant of the collection, is an old Dutch kas from the estate 

 of Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn, of Albany, which stands over 

 seven feet high with a width of five feet five inches. Miss 

 Esther Singleton in "The Furniture of our Forefathers"; 

 makes special mention of it. She writes: 



"It is a wardrobe or cabinet, solidly built of dark wood, 

 with the surface inlaid with light colored wood and ivory, 

 and having about fifty circular plaques of Delft ware, each 

 separately framed with delicate moldings in a slight pro- 

 jection from the general surface. 



"The color of the plaques is in each case blue and white, 

 and these are therefore lighter than the piece, the inlays 

 forming a third number in the proportion. The sincere 

 love of the Dutch workmen for effective decoration, while 

 they still retained a feeling for domestic simplicity, is evi- 

 denced in this piece. It is like the English Jacobian pieces 

 which we contrast for their simplicity with the statelier con- 

 temporaneous furniture of the royal and princely house- 

 holds of France and Germany." 



Edwin Foley, in "The Book of Decorative Furniture," 

 also speaks of this kas and says: "It would be difficult 

 to find among the many kases which have been zealously 

 treasured by generations of descendants of the early Dutch 

 settlers in New Holland, a more picturesque and better 

 preserved example than this distinctive Bavarian cupboard. 

 Its forty-five Delft plaques — for there are seven upon each 

 end in addition to thirty-one upon the front — picture in 

 characteristic Dutch fashion, scenes upon land and sea and 

 from the scriptures." 



In the early days it was evidently a receptacle for the 

 linen of the thrifty Dutch housewife. To-day, it is a re- 



pository for Mr. Williamson's luster ware. It is supposed 

 the two shelves with which the kas is fitted were added at 

 a more recent period, and that one time the linen or other 

 household goods were simply piled in, one layer upon an- 

 other. At the bottom are two shallow drawers. The kas 

 is in such a perfect state of preservation, that although 

 the wooden pegs with which it was originally joined have 

 long since dropped out and lost, it still holds together 

 by reason of its own weight and symmetry. 



As the kas is the largest piece in Mr. Williamson's col- 

 lection, so is the Sheraton music stand the smallest, but next 

 in point of age and value. Of mahogany, it is elaborately 

 inlaid with light wood, and despite its one hundred and fifty 

 years has lost none of its veneer and the tambour door opens 

 and closes with the smoothness of well-oiled machinery. 



Almost overshadowed by more pretentious pieces, is a 

 genuine Chippendale coffee table, whose counterpart is 

 seldom seen. It is of the pie crust variety with single 

 cyma curves and cabriole legs. But apart from the well- 

 loved design, the great charm of the piece lies in the "pa- 

 tina," that indescribable characteristic of age by which real 

 lovers of antiques tell the new from the old, the genuine 

 from the false. This consists of a wonderful velvety gloss 

 or polish acquired only by the hand of time, never in a cab- 

 inet maker's workshop. 



It is no secret that the eyes of connoisseurs have for long 

 been turned cravingly upon these several pieces. It were 

 as likely though, for a mother to part with her child, as for 

 a collector to part with his treasures — except under the 

 influence of dim need. However, there must be a sense of 

 satisfaction in knowing if it were necessary, they would 

 bring sums ranging well up to three figures, for the kas four. 



As beauty of one sort often acts as foil for beauty of 

 another, so a collection of old furniture needs its comple- 

 ment of old china to adequately display the charms of each. 

 In this respect no disappointment awaits the visitor to Mr. 

 Williamson's historic old home on the bank of the Hudson, 



The Williamson house is rich in antique furniture 



