Jan & John Maggs

Antiques and Art

Conway, Massachusetts

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For Sale: 17th century Delft bowl. Small chips.

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I've told this story many times during the last 10 years or so, and any dealer who has endured the typical two-day show second-day browsers will have no trouble recognizing the main characters in it. It happened in Guilford, Connecticut, and every word is true.

Just after two o'clock on Sunday of the two-day Guilford show, most of us, recognizing that we had done about as much business as we were likely to, were beginning to unwind from the strain which inevitably follows three days in the same space.  A few customers were strolling about casually, commenting on familiar forms and occasionally taking notice of a particular piece.

Two elderly, well-dressed ladies turned the corner and stopped in the booth of our neighbor. In the center of his booth was a large blue-and-white bowl of seventeenth-century Dutch origin. As is most often the case, three hundred years of use had left the piece with a few small dings on its upper edges, usually referred to as "rim chips". These imperfections were duly noted on the bowl's price tag, which read, "17th century Delft Bowl. Small chips."

One of the ladies became quite fascinated with the bowl and invited her friend to come for a closer look. They exchanged glances, each nodding her approval of the quality of the bowl and marveling at its age. Then the friend looked at her companion for a few moments with a puzzled expression on her face, then turned to the dealer and, in a flash of insight, asked him, "Don't you think that you could use this for something other than small chips?"

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