This month, Ben and Michael pay a visit to one of the New York antiques world’s preeminent galleries, Bernard & S. Dean Levy on 84th Street, where they speak with the fourth-generation co-proprietor, Frank Levy. Under discussion is a suite of furniture made for the storied Beekman family of New York—items which, until Levy got his hands on them, had never left the island of Manhattan—with one extremely over-the-top feature: the pieces are upholstered with export-quality French tapestries, i.e., material that wasn’t good enough for the French to hold on to. One man’s trash . . . James Beekman family classical sofa made by John Banks, upholstered by William Denny, 1819–1820. Mahogany, tulip, ash, wool, gilt brass, and brass upholstery tacks; height 38 ½, width 72, depth 27 inches. Courtesy of Bernard & S. Dean Levy Inc. Federal armchair made for Beekman family. Height 37 ½, width 21, depth 21 ½ inches. Courtesy of Bernard & S. Dean Levy Inc. James Beekman Jr. (1758–1837) by John Durand, 1767. Oil on canvas, 36 by 28 inches. New-York Historical Society, gift of the Beekman Family Association. Federal armchair made for Beekman family. Height 37 ½, width 21, depth 21 ½ inches. Courtesy of Bernard & S. Dean Levy Inc. James Beekman Jr. (1758–1837) by John Durand, 1767. Oil on canvas, 36 by 28 inches. New-York Historical Society, gift of the Beekman Family Association. Frank Levy oversees operation of the antiques firm Bernard & S. Dean Levy at 24 East 84th Street along with his father, Dean. Founded in 1901, the firm focuses on early American furniture, ceramics, and paintings, and has helped place museum-grade examples in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute, and the White House, among others.
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