Great Discoveries A Year in Review Judy Penz Sheluk O ne of the great things about being Senior Editor at NEAJ is discovering the beauty of antiques and historical sights, often as seen through an expert’s eye. Discovery is central to the world of antiques: sometimes what is discovered is a previously unknown antique, but more often, discoveries happen on the personal level. These discoveries may not be new to the world, but they’re new to the collector. Here are some of my Great Discoveries from 2009 (or at least, some of my favorites, and why). January 2009 From The Furniture of the New York Dutch, page 27 Photo courtesy The Philadelphia Print Shop, Ltd. Early Map of New York Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova, by Willem Blaeu, Amsterdam 1635. To a layman, the odd feature of this 1630s map of New York and New England was the fact that the north was on the right. Don Creswell, of the Philadelphia Print Shop, gave the simple explanation – the map mimicked the way that ships from the Netherlands and England approached their new colonies. The map has vignettes of Indian life, and, most importantly, shows the animals whose valuable skins induced the Dutch to build the settlement they called New Amsterdam. The detail shows New Amsterdam and the Hudson River. Can’t you just imagine this map hanging on the wall of a chic Manhattan condo? February 2009 From A World of Whimsy, Sidewalks to Rooftops: Outdoor Folk Art, page 19. Photo courtesy Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation To b a c c o n i s t Figure - Girl of the Period Unidentified artist, New York, NY, c. 1885; paint on white pine. Accession #: 1957.705.3 Beginning in the 1860s, “Girl of the Period” became a catchphrase signifying a woman whose enslavement to fashion preempted all else, even common sense. The chic attire and forward tilt of this female’s upper torso identify her as such a stereotype. Shaped corsets encouraged the unnatural posture in real life. This charming folk art figure is part of A World of Whimsy, Sidewalks to Rooftops: Outdoor Folk Art, on view at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum at Colonial Williamsburg through 2013. But despite the fact that our Girl dates to 1885, she made me think of my ‘boots of no season’ - a pair of black suede, high heeled boots with pointy toes. Too warm for summer, useless in rain, treacherous in winter, and wickedly uncomfortable in any weather. Page 24 ■ Antiques Journal ■ February 2010