Garden Glories
Classical or whimsical antique garden ornaments
have become objects of desire.

Canova Dancer
Antiques
Resources
Avant Garden
Pound Ridge, NY
914.764.0010
www.avantgardenltd.com
 
Barbara Israel
Katonah, NY
212.744.6281
www.barbaraisrael.com

Fleur
Mt. Kisco, NY
914.241.3400
www.fleur-newyork.com
 
R.T. Facts
Kent, CT
860.927.1700
www.rtfacts.com
 
Treillage
New York, NY
212.535.2288
www.treillageonline.com

Psyche
Cupid & Psyche
Antique stone benches, life-size statuary and unique sundials are among the elegant and fanciful garden ornaments decorating the landscape of the most glamorous estates and county cottages.

“Garden ornaments are made in multiples by unknowns, designed to work with nature to make the garden look more beautiful,” explains Katonah, NY, resident Barbara Israel, an antiques dealer specializing in vintage garden furniture, fountains and statuary, and author of Antique Garden Ornament: Two Centuries of American Taste, considered the definitive tome on the subject.

“My passion is to inspire everyone to use antique garden ornaments to enhance nature in the same way you would accessorize your home,” says Israel, whose love of antiques blossomed into a lifelong passion for the garden variety when she and her husband bought a house in Katonah and she “started gardening like crazy.” When someone asked her if she wanted to buy a statue, “I ended up buying forty neoclassical statues in one day — my first lot.”

Mt. Kisco, NY, resident Barbara Schumacher, an executive at Chanel and owner of Mt. Kisco-based Fleur, a shop that mixes old pieces with contemporary ones, shares Israel's passion. “I looked for garden antiques in my travels throughout Europe,” she relates. “Consequently, with so much renovation and new construction in the area I saw a real need for a shop offering garden antiques and accessories.”

Though neoclassical ornaments, especially female statuary, remain the eternal favorite, more informal, whimsical rustic furniture and folk art pieces are in demand. Because homes in the area often have stone walls and they look natural in the garden setting, Schumacher sees renewed interest in “faux bois” cement benches, tables and planters carved to emulate bark.

What's important, Israel advises, “is to go to auctions and shows, read books, then have a landscape architect design a garden around the ornaments that you own — and love.”
RENÉE BENNETT