Witnessing a generational shift in the trade, Lansing Moore announces the first fair hosted by the Young Antique Dealers Association.
For the past ten years I have chaired the Young Georgians, the under-forty members of the American Friends of the Georgian Group. In that time, we have grown to welcome young professionals from the worlds of architecture, design, and preservation for visits to historic and unique places from Delaware to New England. The Young Georgians have evolved over the years, and lately a new trend has emerged in our incoming members: younger antiques dealers. This prompted an idea I have toyed with for many months now: to put on a pop-up antiques market to support the next generation of dealers—and further strengthen our community of younger people who love old things.
Even established dealers struggle to maintain a commercial footprint in Manhattan these days, to say nothing of the challenges facing a new entrant to the antiques trade. Our fair would only succeed if we could put those dealers in the heart of a strong collectors market. I found support with antiques consultant Peter K. Carlisle, private household manager Naomi Sosnovsky, and jewelry designer Maxim Schidlovsky, who was able to supply a compelling answer to that most daunting question: venue.
Maxim’s jewelry showroom, under the name Maxim Dimitry, occupies the second floor of 75 East 93rd Street, one third of the historic George F. Baker Jr. House complex. I was already very familiar with the neighboring buildings at numbers 67 and 69, where the American Friends of the Georgian Group used to celebrate our annual holiday party at the invitation of longtime owner and preservationist Richard H. Jenrette and his foundation. Before Maxim opened his showroom there last year, number 75 had been open only to the congregation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
Visiting the mysterious number 75 for the first time recently, I was struck by how many traces survive there of Edith Baker, the former lady of the house, as compared to at the other two annexes. It was under Edith’s distinctive “EB” monogram, shaped like a butterfly in the moldings of her former library, that our vision grew beyond the bounds of the Young Georgians to become the foundation of the Young Antiques Dealers Association (YADA).
While the buildings that make up the former George F. Baker House may no longer be under shared ownership, all three of its Delano and Aldrich–designed components require the same care. Currently the church is fundraising to restore its longtime New York headquarters, which consists of the original 1918 house, before it was expanded onto the neighboring lots at 67 and 69.
As one of the finest surviving examples of the neo-Georgian style in New York City, this seemed a worthy cause for the Young Georgians—and the perfect backdrop for the inaugural YADA fair. The church accepted our idea of a pop-up antiques market and graciously made one of the grand second-floor salons, with its outstanding Delano and Aldrich plasterwork, available for our use.
From January 22 through 25 this space will be filled with high-end antiques from six confirmed dealers, including Christopher Crawley, Oliver Garland, Margot Mayer of Curio Shop, and Nick Roudane of Teremok Antiques. Ticket proceeds will support the restoration of the landmark building and the American Friends of the Georgian Group, which makes annual disbursements to worthy preservation projects here in the US as well as to the Georgian Group of England and Wales. The Young Georgians will host an opening night party, marking the group’s triumphant return to the Baker House for the first time since the Jenrette Foundation sold the neighboring buildings in 2022. We hope that connoisseurs of every generation will include us in their itinerary for New York Antiques Week.
More information will be forthcoming, but in the meantime, you can follow @yadaantiques on Instagram for updates.
