PaperCity Magazine

June 2019- Dallas

Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1121563

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 63 of 83

62 A aron Osborn and Virgil Barber are longtime antiques dealers and interior designers who split their time between homes in Dallas, Lubbock, and Palm Beach. But it's their connection to the ultra-wealthy and storied Florida enclave of Palm Beach that provides an endless source of rarities for their new retail antiques collective, The Muse on Slocum. The emporium takes its cues from Palm Beach's glorious Jazz Age mansions, which were designed by American resort architect Addison Mizner in a grand Spanish-revival style, transforming the area in the '20s and '30s. Families have kept these manses intact for generations — caretakers of troves of fine Palm Beach-style furniture, chandeliers, and art collected over the decades. Palm Beach's aging population is a boon for dealers such as Osborn and Barber, who often get first dibs on pieces when an estate is sold after a death or divorce. At The Muse, the story behind each acquisition adds to its interest and value. "We try to have things with provenance," Osborn says with his velvety West Texas drawl. "Big estate- sale companies usually call us first, and their most valuable sales are often from celebrity estates." The men have filled the front rooms with such finds. A Bahamian-style 1920s black-lacquered chandelier came from the $40 million oceanfront home of John Kluge, the late media mogul who was once the richest man in the United States. Other pieces hail from anonymous but no less important Palm Beach domiciles, including a colossal Italian rosewood sideboard attributed to Paolo Buffa, one of the most influential furniture A NEW RETAIL ANTIQUES COLLECTIVE ON SLOCUM STREET CHANNELS OLD-WORLD GLAMOUR BY WAY OF PALM BEACH'S PEDIGREED ESTATES. PALM BEACH SPLENDOR AT BY REBECCA SHERMAN. PHOTOGRAPHY CHRIS PLAVIDAL. THE MUSE In the entry, an antique blackamoor statue, hand-carved plaster ornamentation, and Schumacher wallpaper.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of PaperCity Magazine - June 2019- Dallas