Jan and John Maggs Antiques

The Sixty-three Inch Court Cupboard Revisited

Our readers who empathized with the saga of our trip to a show with this court cupboard, chronicled in our March newsletter, may be happy to learn that it has found a new home in Connecticut. A young collector, who recently came to our antiques shop to examine a much smaller chest, became captivated by the cupboard and, after considerable study and deliberation, decided to add it to his collection. His decision to purchase the piece was influenced in a small way by the story of its journey to a Connecticut show, but also by the more complete story of its life with us, of which the following tells.

We acquired the court cupboard nearly fifteen years ago at a local auction. While it was in very good condition for its age, it had a few minor problems that needed to be addressed before we put it in our shop for sale. So, when it picked it up at the gallery, we placed it in the corner of our workshop reserved for pieces awaiting restoration or repair. There, for reasons which have vanished into the past, it sat, awaiting our attention for nearly a year.

One afternoon two friends who are also dealers came by the shop on a routine buying swing through Western Massachusetts. As usual, we chatted about shows and business in general.

When in the course of our conversation the court cupboard was mentioned, they expressed interest in seeing it, then asked if it was for sale. Given the length of time that it had sat in the workshop, we added a very small markup to our purchase price, and the sale was agreed. Since the cupboard was too large for their van, we agreed to deliver it. In those days we traveled to shows in an ancient camper/trailer, which we had gutted and to which we had affixed a large sheet of plywood that served as a door. In this humble and monumentally ugly vehicle we delivered the piece to their restorer in western Connecticut.

In the normal flow of antiques through our busy antiques shop we soon forgot about the court cupboard . Consequently, we were quite surprised when, about five years later, we received a phone call from the same friends. Their restorer, it seemed, had been even less eager to begin the restoration of the cupboard than we had been. It had, therefore, sat in the same spot in his workshop where we had deposited it years earlier. History had, indeed, repeated itself. "Would we like to buy it back at its original price?" In the intervening five years English furniture had enjoyed something of a renaissance in this country. As a result, we felt that it was still a bargain at the price at which we had sold it years earlier and were happy to have it in our stock again.

We had sold our camper-cum-van and were now driving a regular cargo van, not unlike the one our friends owned -- the one that was too small to carry the cupboard to Connecticut five years earlier. We drove to Connecticut once again, towing an open trailer behind our van. We loaded the cupboard on it and brought it back to Conway. This time it was soon finished. The restoration issues proved to be very simple, and once the work had begun, it was completed in very little time, and we were able to make the cupboard functional again with minimal evidence of repair.

While it was still awaiting restoration, two local collector/customers happened by. Again, one thing led to another, and the cupboard was mentioned, viewed, and purchased. There was only one catch -- Could we store it until they had "just the right spot for it?"

We agreed to store the cupboard in our warehouse for an indefinite period, awaiting the day when it could be moved to their house.

Not long afterwards, our home and shop were to be photographed for a feature article in a major periodical. The producer invited us to set up the entry to our antiques shop for a photograph in a sidebar highlighting our business. In response, we garnered the best pieces in our inventory at the time, including the cupboard that did not (officially) belong to us any more. The resulting photo appeared in the July/August 1998 issue of Country Home.

Then, about five years later, a new player entered the drama. We returned from Rhinebeck with another court cupboard of very unusual size -- seven feet wide and less than five feet tall. When the same local collector, who is diminutive in size but not in spirit, saw this one, she asked us if we would take the sixty-three inch court cupboard (which had not been in a residential setting for over a decade) in trade towards its purchase.

And this is how the sixty-three inch court cupboard came to be in our shop last month, when a Connecticut collector saw it and decided to make it a cornerstone of his thoughtfully conceived collection. Not surprisingly, at this writing we are still working out the details of transportation.

Oh, yes -- there is one further postscript: The seven foot court cupboard is currently in our warehouse, occupying the corner that was for years the home of its narrower cousin. We are storing it until our local friends have "just the right spot for it."

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