Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Byard, John Kenneth, d.1960. print view role Dealer/Gallery Collector dates 1886-1959 city Norwalk state CT sex M historical notes John Kenneth Byard was a lawyer and an antiques collector and dealer from Norwalk, Connecticut. Originally from upstate New York, he graduated from Williams College and Columbia University School of Law. During the 1930s, he purchased an old house, mill, and other structures along the Silvermine River outside Norwalk and opened the Silvermine Tavern and Galleries. The complex included a restaurant, a small inn, an antiques shop, and a barn which had been converted to an apartment with an artist’s studio. Byard collected and sold early American furniture and other items of decorative arts. Chief among his clients were Henry and Helen Flynt, who restored Deerfield, Massachusetts, Ellerton and Edith Jette of Waterville, Maine, and Electra Havemeyer and Watson Webb, who began Shelburne Museum in Vermont. Byard died in 1959, leaving his widow, Dorothy Randolph Byard. Part of his collection was auctioned by Parke-Bernet in March 1960. Gates Moore, a cabinetmaker, accompanied Mr. Byard on buying trips. Moore would vet the furniture, and Byard would negotiate the price. Later, Moore made and sold reproduction lighting fixtures, a business probably carried out on the Silvermine Tavern property. Moore’s relatives continue to run the Silvermine Tavern as a restaurant and inn. decades of activity 1930-1940 1940-1950 1950-1960 updated 03/22/2024 12:09:29 bibliographic search Search Frick Art Reference Library Catalog Search Photoarchive Search Worldcat Search Wikidata Entry Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details Archives of American Art Victor Building, Suite 2200 John Kenneth Byard papers, 1908-1960. see details... Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Archives Records of the Bayou Bend Collection 1917-1981. Dealer/Collector Files; John Kenneth Byard. see details... The Winterthur Library Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum John Kenneth Byard Papers, 1928-1961, 1969-1975 (bulk 1945-1960) see details... «  back