Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Koopman Antiques
| title | Koopman Antiques Business records, 1925-1945. | repository | The Winterthur Library |
| description | Collection contains 12 volumes of financial information for Koopman Antiques. Three volumes (acc. 05x157.10-.12) are sales records for August 1929-December 1944. Included in these volumes are the name and address of the purchaser, the item(s) purchased (description and stock number), and the price of the item. The descriptions of the items are brief: sometimes as terse as “bowl” or “table,” sometimes a bit more descriptive, such as “English Delft dog whistle” or “two Adam tulip vases.” Customers included Mrs. Potter Palmer of Chicago, Henry Francis du Pont, Mrs. Crowninshield of Boston, Mr. Gebelein of Boston, and Ginsberg & Levy (antique dealers in New York City). The earliest sales book also includes vouchers covering March 1928-July 1931; neither the vouchers nor the sales records in this volume are in chronological order. Another volume (acc. 05x157.1; published for use as a diary for 1925) was used to record purchases made on various trips to Europe from approximately 1926-1937 (not all the trips are dated). In the diary are found a record of cities and dealers visited, items purchased, price paid, and exchange rates. Among the places visited were Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and England. An unlabeled volume in the collection (acc. 05x157.2) records stock and stock numbers and also some customer names. Several pages are headed with names of antique shows, so the volume most likely records sales made at those special venues. The other volumes record various financial aspects of the business. A Trial Balance volume (acc. 05x157.3) covers Jan. 1926-Dec. 1943. A profit and loss volume (acc. 05x157.4) covers March 1925-Jan. 1945, but some years are missing. That volume opens with sales for March-April, but no year is given. Two volumes are called Purchase Books (acc. 05x157.5-.6), covering Sept. 1931-June 1939. It lists the checks written by the store and to whom they were paid, but does not say what was purchased. The remaining three volumes of the collection are cash books (acc. 05x157.7-9), covering Oct. 1928-May 1940. These repeat some of the same information as in the purchase books. The volumes are in fairly good condition, with the exception of one spine which has fallen off (but is still with the volume). Biography or history Joel Koopman Antiques (later Koopman Antiques) was founded in Boston around 1888, and in the 1930s moved to New York City. The founder was born in The Netherlands in 1847, where his father Joseph Koopman was also an antiques dealer. (Joel’s mother Rena Duveen was a relative of Lord Duveen, a noted British art collector.) After moving to the United States, Joel married Fannie Keyser (1855-1932). Joel’s and Fannie’s only child, a daughter named Rena (1886-1947), married Harry Solomon (1883-1945), who worked for Mr. Koopman. Because the Koopmans had no sons, Mr. Solomon agreed to change his last name to Koopman. Eventually Harry Solomon and Rena Koopman took over her father's business, and the records in this collection date from their time. Koopman Antiques specialized in selling fine antiques and Delftware. Associated materials Correspondence between Henry Francis du Pont and Koopman Antiques, 1921-1945, may be found in the Antiques Dealers Papers in the Winterthur Archives. Location The Winterthur Library, Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera, Winterthur, DE 19735 Call Number Col. 772 |
| extent | 12 v. (1 cu.ft.) |
| formats | Business Papers Financial Records |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://library.winterthur.org:8000/cgi-bin/webgw |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:30:01 |
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