Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture [Paperback]

Leigh Keno (Author), Leslie Keno (Author), Joan Barzilay Freund (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

Featured experts on the popular "Antiques Road Show" share their amazing stories about discovering rare treasures of American antique furniture in the least likely places. Full-color photos throughout.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture, brothers Leigh Keno and Leslie Keno of PBS's Antiques Roadshow tell how they grew into the antiques experts they are today Leigh at Christie's and now in his own business, and Leslie at Sotheby's. While relating how they have discovered, acquired and sold important pieces, they teach how to tell the good from the bad and recall the spectacular finds that add excitement to their work. Fans of the PBS series and collectors and lovers of fine furniture will all enjoy their efforts. An extensive glossary helps with terms, the bibliography supplies sources for further research and the four-color photos add to the enjoyment. 14-city author tour.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446678163
• ISBN-13: 978-0446678162
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,217,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For The Love of Old American Things, October 26, 2000

By 

RJB (Roseville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture (Hardcover)

"Hidden Treasures" is a friend for anyone whose pulse has ever reacted to the sight of a grand piece of antique furniture. For those who have ever become breathless or teary-eyed over fruniture, it should be required reading. The most appreciated surprise of "Hidden Treasures" is how generous the Kenos are with their knowledge -- reading this book is almost like being enrolled in an advanced course in American furniture complete with field trips and historic background. There's even a textbook like glossary for quick reference to terms.

The world of the Keno brothers is one of extreme privilege and yet, as we travel from their modest and nurturing childhood to the decisive playgrounds of the wealthy -- Sotheby's, Christie's, and the Winter Antiques Show -- we feel welcome, if not at home. That is, perhaps, the most endearing charm of these identical gentlemen -- they are seemly unaffected by their palacial world -- driven primarily by their passion for historic masterpieces of American furniture and a childlike enthusiasm for the hunt. The honesty and power of their passion ignites every page of their book as it does everyday of their lives. And, it is so infectious that many will be inspired to begin plotting their first five, six, seven, or eight-figure purchase of Americana.

My only slight disappointment was with some of the writing. The masterful talent of Thatcher Freund, author of "Objects of Desire" could have been put to good use on this project. I only wish he would have been part of the team. Then, the book would have been perfect -- an American Masterpiece.

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frogs, snails, and puppy dog tails, November 10, 2000

By 

sci fi is me "sci fi is me" (San Francisco, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture (Hardcover)

In deliberately alternating voices, twins emerge as two clear and distinct identities as they share their passion, enthusiasm, and expertise in early American furniture: Leslie Keno, the Senior Specialist and Director of Business Development for Americana at Sotheby's, New York, and Leigh Keno, the more sensual and sanguine, independent dealer who owns and operates Leigh Keno American Antiques in New York City. Those who pick up this book and are familiar with the Kenos by way of being "Roadshow groupies" will no doubt receive a satisfying fix. However, be prepared as the brothers turn it up a notch and go well beyond the scope of the celebrity status afforded by their regular participation in the PBS series. Through the writing of Hidden Treasures, the authors have selected an adequate medium which displays and secures for the general public their highly regarded reputation in this esoteric field. Clearly that reputation has already been well established in the world of antique collecting.

The amusing anecdotes present chronologically, allowing readers to document and measure the area under the authors' personal and professional learning curve that eventually adds up to their deserved position in the field as scholars and experts. So, too, are the pages lush with historical and technical information, beautifully supported by photographs in color and black and white, that this contribution (however commercially publicized and marketed) becomes a serious and useful reference for those readers with a casual interest in Americana as well as those with a more active bent. Particularly fascinating are the descriptions of what may well be routine, yet painstaking, labor intensive processes to dissect and determine the history and authenticity of the furniture before them. The Kenos are eloquent, yet unashamedly enthusiastic with each piece they appraise; their approach to each table, each armchair, each highboy is with surgical precision, yet youthful excitement.

If there is a disturbing development revealed in Hidden Treasures, it is the definite and deepening divide between the haves and the have-nots. Indeed, the situation teeters on the ridiculous and surreal when the authors relive the moment a polo-playing businessman plunks down over half a million dollars for a card table, in part because his supermodel wife shares the same last name with the Boston cabinetmakers responsible for creating the piece. Still, perhaps because that gap is so profoundly etched, we can stand behind our soul brothers and sisters in their ability to appreciate beauty and preserve a heritage manifested in craftsmanship (as long as they don't begrudge us the joy of a recent home furnishings purchase from Target). Unfortunate, too, is the behind-the-scenes look at Antiques Roadshow itself. It is not so much that the onscreen results and reactions are not spontaneous, for they are. The disappointment lies more in the amount of manipulation that occurs with each show's production.

The unexpected treasure, however, is revealed in the early pages of the book where the authors allow a glimpse into their own childhood and early love for antiques. Photographs of pages from their shared pre-teen/teen diary document not only their progress to becoming antique dealers but serves as an eerie forecast of the future. The effect is simply charming, yet powerful.

That the Kenos are able to recapture those moments of magic found in a child's world of discovery becomes at once a gift of retrospection, introspection, and revelation particularly for anyone in the throes of parenthood. It's not an unfamiliar battle deciding whether to invest in a child's latest interest-Is it a fleeting (sometimes-expensive) fancy or a potential lifelong passion? Whatever and however we respond, this is in fact a calling of parents in life: to either fan or extinguish the burgeoning flame of an interest in our children. It is this subtle component of the Kenos' book that is surprisingly the most compelling. Although possibly written to inspire a trip to the basement or attic, wonderfully, Hidden Treasures has the charm and power to lure readers down another path that may lead to gold if they are able to recognize what truly glitters.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden Treasures Provides Double Pleasure, June 11, 2001

By 

Paulette Jones (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture (Hardcover)

It isn't often that one describes a book like Hidden Treasures as a "can't put down" type of tome, but that accurately describes the sense one gets while reading this account of how two talented men, twin brothers Leigh Keno and Leslie Keno, achieved their successes in the world of antiques and collectibles. Each twin contributes his own sense of style to an easy-to-read narrative of their humble beginnings, touching on assorted "finds" and friendships that contributed to their present day status as respected authorities in the world of antiques. From the beginning chapter by Leslie Keno, describing events which will lead to the auction sale of a wonderful and extremely rare Townsend secretary, through accounts of assorted searches, penned by Leslie and brother Leigh, to the final chapter, which describes the secretary's fate at auction, the Brothers Keno take us all over America and parts of Europe in their searches for hidden treasures. It doesn't take an antique collector to appreciate good writing and a fascinating subject, especially when it includes a fair number of beautiful photos. Hidden Treasures, by Leigh Keno and Leslie Keno, with Joan Barzilay Freund, is destined to become a favorite page-turner.