It’s Story Time at Thistlethwaite Americana
“E
By Leslie VanSant
very piece in here has a story, let me take you on a tour,” says Taylor Thistlethwaite with a smile. He’s the proprietor, or “collectorin-charge,” at Thistlethwaite Americana, a recently opened fine antique shop in Middleburg.
On this day, he’s there with Beckett, his four-year-old English Cocker Spaniel. Taylor and his wife, Rebecca, left Alexandria for Upperville at the start of the pandemic and haven’t looked back. He’s something of a phenom in the art and antiques world, who, at age 35, already has a reputation for his fine eye, his insistence on high quality items and his obvious passion for history. He starts at a chest of drawers. It’s beautiful—mahogany with flame birch panels. The finish is buffed to a fantastic luster that allows the richness of the wood and the magic of the flame birch to dance. As he begins to talk about the chest, Taylor sounds more like a storyteller than a purveyor of decorative arts. “This chest is from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, made in the federal style in around 1810,” he said. “It was made for a baker, Nathaniel Souther.” “A baker owned this?” he’s asked. “Yes, he must have been one hell of a baker to own a piece like this.” Then it’s on to the next must-see stop. Taylor Thistlethwaite grew up splitting time between Bethesda, and summers on his family’s farm in Glasgow, Kentucky. The property there has been in the family since 1792. History surrounded him as a child and became his passion. He graduated from Center College with a degree in American history, focusing on the colonial period, then went to the University of Kentucky for a Masters in historic preservation. The tour continues with a small chest on frame, unique because of its small size. The chest was made in Bermuda in the mid-18th century primarily from cedar. This small blanket chest is juxtaposed with a fantastic painted ‘hope’ chest made in Pennsylvania for Elizabeth Bindern in 1788. Thistlethwaite points out
38
Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021
