Myth #1
“Authenticity, rarity, beauty, tradition, art, craft, spell expensive.”
Really? This is true in many specialized areas of collecting, but a good eye and an inquisitive mind can go a long way in filling a home with affordable- even quite inexpensive- objects with all these qualities. One need not be a struggling Picasso, O’Keefe, Kahlo, Nevelson or Brancusi, artists who discovered (before themselves being discovered) beauty, utility and inspiration in all manner of material culture. “That was then, this is now: the well is dry.” Our response: which well? Antique Amish quilts, Ming chairs, Pennsylvania redware? OK. But if we move beyond blue chip speculation and specialization and open ourselves to the universal qualities and values that reflect and define beauty, the well has never been fuller with opportunities than it is right now. It’s ironic that many of the antique and vintage furnishing and arts sold at Material Culture are priced at a fraction of the sterile, industrial knockoffs that fill the profusion of online catalog sellers and chain stores that pay lip service to art, tradition and sustainability. Between the high and low there is a middle path; it is there, slightly ahead of the curve, that Material Culture welcomes the public.
Myth #2
“You get what you pay for.”
Only in the literal sense. While everyone loves a bargain, the facts are: we buy what we like, what we need, what we know (or think we know), and what we can afford. Taste matters. Knowledge helps. Common sense counts. And opportunities vary. We also buy what we can find: Located just off America’s first highway, walking distance from the old mills of Manayunk and Germantown, Material Culture occupies the quintessential destination location, the former train garage of the landmark Atwater Kent Radio Factory (built in 1920). The recycling of this cavernous space, with its combination of towering ceilings and generous expanses of natural light, provides a dramatic- not to mention unexpected- backdrop for the antique architectural elements that both define and lend context to the many galleries, areas and departments that combine to create one of the most exciting and unique stores anywhere in the world. Drawing on three decades of work and experience, in the fields of collecting and craft revival, Material Culture offers thousands of unique opportunities for buyers to experience the nuances, subtleties and differences that are the real basis for anyone to truly find and love a bargain.
