Masters of Their Domain

There’s no telling what piece will speak to a particular collector. Dana Dalton’s “Barbet” bird sculpture is shown here. Credit: Peter Groesbeck / www.artfulhome.com

On a bright spring day, Marilynn Gelfman Karp found herself in a very familiar setting, a secondhand shop. A collector of many “unloved” items—shopping lists, Dixie ice cream lids, pencil sharpeners—as well as more traditional, and more lucrative, assemblages—American patchwork quilts, salt-glazed stoneware, Art Deco figures—she is always looking for her “Holy Grail.” That day, she thought she might find it in a box of picture postcards. Thumbing through the collection, she came across one depicting a man frozen in midair, hurtling from one dangerously high rock pile to another. From the looks of things, he had misjudged the distance.

And so, a new collection was born: “Leaps of Faith.” She has since added items like a heart-shaped frame with the silver reflective words “Remember Me” placed above a scowling woman’s portrait, and an arcade pocket charm with an inlaid Indian Head penny that reads,“Keep me and never go broke.”

Such is the life of a collector: an endless individual quest for the next big booty, and a unquestioning leap of faith, devoting countless hours and limitless funds, rearranging rooms, or packing up and relocating when space runs out.

For more of “Masters of Their Domain,” pick up the October 2009 issue of AmericanStyle today!