Contemporary flatware with 18th-century dishes. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)
A chair in the hallway once belonged to Martin Van Buren and was acquired by Fred Sudam, the Kingston lawyer who was the original owner of the house. It’s one of four in the FHK’s collection, Llewellyn said. The silvery Mercury glass balls — smooth and tarnished, ranging in size from a cherry to a sugar pumpkin — hanging from two magnolia saplings in the hall are from McCarthy’s collection. On the back of the front door hangs an English welcoming harp: when the door is opened, the harp tinkles and trills, a precursor of modern-day chimes and electric doorbells.
The dining room proper boasts one of the house’s most valuable artifacts — a 1790 Chippendale table by New York furniture maker Thomas Seymour. Visually speaking, however, the showstopper in the room is the sparkling cluster of glassware, including candlesticks with dangling crystals, on the central table, the pale yellow, mauve and Prussian blue colors glittering like a prism from white Christmas lights snaking along the base.
Selected and arranged by food stylist Roscoe Betsell and architect Steven Keith, the glassware rosette transforms a formal table accessory into a crystalline vision. The designers also arranged Johnston’s collection of stone fruit, dating from the 1890s, on a shelf, juxtaposed with wrapped presents.
A deconstructed bowl and saucer by artist Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, who is professor of art at SUNY New Paltz, on another table appears to be melting, a play on time and space that Salvador Dali would appreciate. Mimlitsch-Gray’s shiny brass log, which juts out of the drawing room’s white brick fireplace and snazzily reflects the illuminated swag draped along the mantle, similarly suggests a hint of the fantastic.
Other art pieces in the drawing room are a bronze abstract sculpture by Graves and a monoprint of tulips and figures by contemporary artist Mary Frank. The arrangement of tinware under the tree by David Cavallaro and Dan Giessinger, both of HighFalls, emphasizes the objects’ sculptural forms and worn patina, turning a holiday cliché into a landscape dreamed up by Escher.
The fun continues next door, where six regional antiques or house goods retailers have each arranged a setting on tables donated by Sav-On Party Center in the FHK gallery. The settings by Grand and Water Antiques, High Falls Mercantile, antiques dealer Ron Sharkey, Linda O’Keeffe, a design author based in High Falls, and Spruce Design and Décor were inspired by Dining by Design, fundraising events sponsored by Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. Local antiques emporium At Home Antiques and Gallery, which also has a location in New York City, contributed the display of fabulous folk art.
Llewellyn said approximately 1,400 people had visited the house and gallery just on Dec. 7 and 8, when admission was free. The house and gallery will also be open Dec. 14, 15, 21 and 22 from 11 am to 3 pm; admission is $10. Or you can visit by appointment; e-mail [email protected].
