My wife and I have a beautiful painted candlestand we purchased from Leigh Keno decades ago. It stands in our front hall and has done so for quite a while. Recently one of our cats, no doubt enjoying her zoomies, used it as a landing pad. One broken leg, the latch that holds the top in place also is broken. I want to share my reaction but first a brief detour.
Tywo years ago, and last year, my New Year’s resolution was to not have to “dance” with American society. To me that meant no phone calls to the Philippines or India, no appliances that give up the ghost and the like. In both years it did not take long for my resolution to be a distant memory.
This year I promised myself I would cope better when things went awry, since it certainly seems they always do. My older son has taught me recently to “work the problem” instead of being overly aggravated.
My initial response to the candlestand’s demolishment was to be heartbroken. I felt I had failed as its custodian for future generations. I was surprised I was not concerned about its diminished monetary value. The goal was to get it whole. The next day I began to work the problem. My wife and I decided it must be restored; we love it that much. I emailed a friend who lives out east and was a dealer and he gave me the name of a restorer in Pennsylvania – expensive but we did not care. I also called the director of Chipstone in Milwaukee. Chipstone is the nonprofit that oversees the Stone’s collection and is known for its scholarly works on Americana. And in an episode of serendipity at my annual eye appointment my eye doctor told me, after I shared the story, that her brother owned an antique business I was aware of, but which does not sell Americana but more polished European pieces. Its restoration department is larger than the retail section.
While I waited to hear back from folks, and I do not mean to sound cold hearted, I looked at candlestands on several dealers’ websites. If we found one, we could get a fabulous high country one if we chose to. They, like many genres of Ameriana, have come down in price since we purchased the one that got smushed.
The rest of the story? I called the antique business in Wisconsin after hearing nothing for two weeks but the person I was trying to reach was not at her desk. No word from Chipstone. The candlestand this morning was shipped east to be restored. I am excited about seeing it back one day looking grand. Another episode in the life of a collector.
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