January, 1912 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 15 
(i i Ti Ti BT ih, Ta 
Antiques 
as Furnishings 
By Howard V. Bowen 
Photographs by Jessie Tarbox Beals, T. C. 
Turner, and others 
HE passion for collecting antiques in America 
really dates from the Centennial, in 1876. 
At that time, in the effort to make much of 
our national history and to emphasize our 
progress, various small “loan collections” 
were shown, the pieces exhibited being 
chiefly those which had played some small part in the history 
of the times, such as the table upon which the Declaration 
of Independence was signed, and certain old articles said to 
have been brought over in the “Mayflower.” 
Taste in America had then reached its lowest ebb. The 
horrors of the mid-Victorian era were about to give way 
to the absurdities of the “Eastlake” and the American ver- 
sion of “Queen Anne” periods. Everything was being made 
by machinery, craftsmanship had been banished and all but 
forgotten, and people of discrimination were struck with 
the refinement, beauty and tasteful elegance of the old fur- 
niture, silver, glass and fab- 
rics which were being shown. 
This resulted in a general 
ransacking of garrets and the 
bringing forth of a vast as- 
sortment of old treasures 
which had been discarded, 
but which a lurking sentiment 
"or reverence had preserved 
from destruction. 
Particularly in the older 
cities of the east, small shops 
appeared which catered to 
the new craze by supplying 
these old-fashioned treasures 
to those who loved them, but 
had them not. Along with 
all this came a greater inter- 
est in the study of American 
history, the revival of cer- 
tain old customs, the search 
for ancestors, the formation 
of the patriotic societies, the 
study of Colonial architec- 
ture, and the general return 
in matters of taste to the 
ideas of an earlier and bet- 
ter period. Many people 
affected to scorn the collect- 
ing idea, forgetting that a 
An excellent assembling of antiques and modern pieces 
thing can have a value beyond merely being old; indeed, age 
alone confers no value, unless it be combined with utility 
and beauty. But age lends historic interest, as the old 
makers of household furnishings understood thoroughly the 
art of combining beauty with usefulness, in consequence of 
which their works are now eagerly sought after and highly 
prized when obtained. 
After all, what constitutes an “‘antique’? The term, of 
course, is purely relative and has no connection with classical 
antiquity, but was originally selected merely because it was 
convenient. It may mean just as much or just as little as 
one likes, very often. An English article, for instance, need 
not be considered an antique only if dating before the ending 
of the Georgian period; French, if made only before the 
fall of Napoleon, and American, only if made before the 
ending of the Revolutionary era. Such a chronology would 
practically disqualify almost all American antiques, for in 
the early days of our national 
existence very little of ar- 
tistic value was made in the 
American colonies; every- 
thing was imported from 
England or France. To me 
an antique has no value if it 
does not exhibit the quality 
of beauty, a beauty which is 
permanent, enduring and all- 
satisfying, and if the object 
was made by an artisan or 
craftsman before the domi- 
nant era of machinery—that 
is to say, made at least sixty 
or seventy years ago. 
A real collector, like a 
poet, must be born and not 
made, though, of course, 
even the true collector may 
not have been collecting the 
same sort of thing his whole 
lifetime. If one does collect, 
his collection should serve 
some useful and really def- 
inite purpose. It would be 
dificult to point out any 
royal road to starting a col- 
lection that would be applic- 
able to everyone’s pleasure 
