Blue Chips to Live With

Manhattan society turned out in black tie this week at the opening of an antique shop: the plush new quarters of French & Co., oldest and largest U.S. dealer in antiques. What the champagne-sipping Manhattanites saw was a $10 million display of furnishings ranging from Boucher tapestries valued at $175,000 to a Louis XV desk insured for $250,000. French's splashy housewarming was only part of an antique boom that has sent a stream of pre-1830 European furniture to the U.S. (1957 imports: $14.2 million), has even sent European buyers scurrying here to shop.

Part of the appeal of antiques is purely financial: they represent a hedge against inflation, have increased in value as the dollar has declined. U.S. museums spend from $10 million to $20 million a year on new purchases, thus leave the market thinner. Even tax rulings contribute. An antique buyer may sign over his purchase to an institution that will receive it upon his death, take a deduction each year while he keeps it in his home and continues to enjoy it. Or the antique owner can make a "partial donation," leave his possessions in a museum for the summer, keep them himself in the winter.

Art for Atmosphere. Another factor is a deepening U.S. appreciation of fine art--and a desire to own it. Says Spencer Samuels, president of French: "People are striving for individuality. There is enough uniformity in the utilitarian items in a home. Some businessmen furnish their offices with fine antiques. They figure they spend a third of their lives in the office, and they want a pleasant atmosphere."

Both the buyers and the styles have changed since French & Co. started in 1907. "A lot of buying," says Samuels, "was tycoon competing against tycoon." When Founder Mitchell Samuels, 78, sold Joseph Widener a $400,000 tapestry, he lost Henry Clay Frick as a customer for years. In the '20s, rich collectors liked the huge, cumbersome furniture of the Renaissance. Though museums have largely taken the places of the big buyers, Renaissance pieces are out of fashion today, when even the wealthy live in smaller apartments. What sells well now are French, English and Venetian pieces of the 18th century, whose size and grace blend well with contemporary furnishings. Most popular are the Louis XV and Louis XVI chests, tables and chairs; their light-colored woods look well in small apartments. Canny British buyers are turning for good investments to the darker, out-of-favor British oak and walnut of the early 19th century. U.S. bargain hunters have been shopping for early Americana.

The Best Sells Better. What sells best all over the world are the finest pieces in top condition. "It's easier to sell what I'd call a blue chip in antiques even at a high price than a cheaper, less satisfactory one," says Samuels. Almost every item in the current French & Co. exhibition is worth 20% to 50% more than it cost at purchase; some have appreciated four and five times their cost.

More and more, antique dealers also serve as home furnishers. "We get calls," says Samuels, "to do whole houses and apartments, blending the antiques with the rest of the decor. The most remarkable thing is that the buyers want something to live with, not just a conversation piece. It gives them a sense of the past."

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