 Looking
for a dresser made with real wood instead of meatloaf
and glue? One with drawers that roll smoothly and gently?
Or a table that speaks of its maker's pride of craftsmanship
with carved legs and beautiful grain? How about a bookcase
of real mahogany, perhaps with glassed-in shelves, or
a new bed frame, graceful, with elegant lines?
Discover
the skill of yesterday's craftsmen and the beauty of the
distinctive furniture, jewelry and other durable goods
they made from the raw, and improved with fine carvings
and functional embellishments. The Skylands region burgeons
with antiques and collectible shops. A sampling is represented
here.
For
the uninitiated, one dealer says that "antique"
is over 100 years old; "vintage" is more than
50; and "collectible" is a series. "Primitive"
is a word that creates confusion. A primitive is an item
that someone usually made at home out of necessity. A
popular fantasy seems to be that the woman of the family
had to bug the man to go make her a cupboard or table.
Eventually he did, using wood from around the farm. He
often used more than one kind of wood to make a piece
cherry and pine were a common combination. "A
guy made it to do the horse-shoeing and he uses it for
80 years. It's left in the barn and when the house is
sold, it's found. Each one is different because they made
it for their purpose," says Kerry Konopka, owner
of Hartmann Antiques in Lafayette. One sign of an older
piece with quality craftsmanship is "dovetailing,"
a technique to interlock two boards. The dovetails on
one board were cut to fit into cut-outs on the second
board. It was all done by hand.
Kerry
and Jim Konopka, the proud owners of Hartmann Antiques,
have been in Lafayette for 20 years, first in the co-op
Mill behind them and, for the past ten, on the lower level
of the Chocolate Goat. They deal in "early country
pine primitive furniture" all American-made
pine and cherry antiques from the early to mid 1800s
and uphold the tradition of the shop's owners for the
first 48 years, Kerry's parents. Kerry's father taught
his son-in-law Jim how to refinish furniture. At 91, he
still wants to see what's going on. True passion never
dies.
"I've
grown up with this business so I have the eye for what
to buy. I've kept my mom's early country look," Kerry
says. "There's a look and a finish to American furniture
that Canadian and European don't have." That includes
the thickness of the wood and its character.
Inside
the shop there are true antiques, like the cherry dresser
with a dove-tail top with bread board ends, dovetailed
and chanfered drawers and a bracket base a distinctly
American piece, and an early two-piece mixed wood cupboard
that would span the width of most walls. There's a copper
sink once covered in paint that Jim removed. He removes
veneer from mirrors to expose their beautiful wood.
"It
took 48 years to get this business where it is today.
My things are antique. None of my furniture is considered
to be collectible or mediocre in age. My tables are original.
I don't reproduce tables or anything else. When someone
buys it they can take it into their home and love it to
death," says Kerry. Hartmann Antiques has repeat
customers from the '60s and '70s. The Konopkas buy from
auctions, estate sales and "pickers," who know
what they like. |
