Leigh and Leslie Keno are twins with a single passion--the pursuit of American antiques. One (Leigh) is an antiques dealer in New York. The other (Leslie) is a director at Sotheby's, New York. Together with Joan Barzilay Freund--a New York-based freelance writer who specializes in American antiques--they tell tales of the hunt. Some of the stories come from the twins' childhood in upstate New York (they started keeping antiques dealer diaries when they were 12); one riveting anecdote is set more recently in the auction room of Sotheby's, circa January 1999. But all of the treasure-hunting episodes are imbued with the drama and thrill of the chase as well as the bliss of aesthetic appreciation.
It doesn't matter whether you, yourself, have swapped bids in tense auction rooms for million-dollar furnishings, or traipsed through small-town flea markets in search of sleepers, or gained the bulk of your antiquing know-how while firmly planted in your easy chair watching the Antiques Roadshow. Because the Keno twins know their stuff and they evoke the rich details of antiques, such as the creamy surfaces of 18th-century ceramics and the plum-pudding mahogany sheen to the rare secretary bookshelf. The passion that drives them is evident on every page of the book, and that emotion is the hook that allows them to so effectively share their fascination with the reader. To read their stories is to enter their world, and while the color photographs are certainly appreciated, the prose does a fine job by itself to portray the lure of the Seymour table and the Canton ginger jar. Along the way, the life stories and distinctive personalities of the twins come through, too. By time you finish the final chapter, you will have learned a lot about American antiques, and even more about the happy souls of two brothers pursuing their craft. --Stephanie Gold
From Library Journal
The great popularity of PBS's Antiques Roadshow, along with the heightened attention to auctions and exhibitions of American decorative arts, prove that interest in collecting antiques is expanding. Is there anyone who does not secretly hope that the old family table, the slightly sloping bookcase, or the creaky rocking chair may turn out to be a a special object worthy of veneration and perhaps a tidy sum of money? Experts seen on the PBS show and with credentials from service at Sotheby's and Christies's, respectively, the authors are twins, identical not only in appearance but also in the passion with which they approach their vocation. In a series of search-and-discover episodes, the reader is taken along on adventures with Leigh and Leslie, whether it be as young boys roaming the woods of upstate New York for old barn hardware or as elegant participants in six-figure auction sales. The authors' enthusiasm comes across in every paragraph, and the reader is swept along in the marvels of finding, researching, and finally selling outstanding examples of American furniture. The book also covers the false and the fake and the resulting disappointment. Not every attic holds a treasure, but this book certainly doesDit is not only a delight to read but a fine example of painstaking research, intuitive perception, and total commitment. Highly recommended for public collections as well as art and historical libraries.DPaula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The twin experts Leigh and Leslie Keno, who used to be affiliated with the PBS-TV show Antiques Roadshow, display their knowledge of Americana in a series of 13 charming stories. But the 13 pieces are all woven together into a single narrative, with descriptions of furniture worth six figures mixed with background on the Kenos and their family, and naturally a few celebrity names pop up here and there. It's obvious that the thrill of the hunt can leave them verbally breathless, whether on Sotheby's floor, where a Rhode Island Appleton secretary is hammered down at $8.2 million, or the discovery of a two-piece highboy among the middle class in the Hamptons excites them to no end. Some of the lessons learned here include not cleaning, waxing, or polishing an old piece of furniture; sleepers--what undervalued merchandise is called--are difficult to find; and anything can be collectible. Glossary and bibliography appended. Barbara Jacobs
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