Arts & Leisure
York's own Chuck Deluca appraising major gift to the Smithsonian Museum
By Rose Safran
YORK - Maritime Auctions owner Chuck Deluca, who is based in York, reports that he has been commissioned to appraise one of the most prestigious American antiques collections of its kind, one dating back 250 years.An authority on antique firefighting objects and maritime history artifacts who sells, runs auctions and is a presence at trade shows specializing these collectibles, Deluca was sought after to appraise some 4,000 objects - an ongoing undertaking for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The museum is the recipient of a major gift from the CIGNA Corporation.
How did he come by this prestigious assignment?
As Deluca tells it, "At the fire department antiques show last spring in Allentown, Pa., I met representatives of both the CIGNA Corporation and the Smithsonian. The CIGNA Corporation had made this major bequest to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, consisting of firefighting and maritime history artifacts assembled over a long period of time. They were trying to find the best person to appraise this collection and I've been doing it for as long as I can remember."
As of last month, he had appraised around 3,500 objects.
"Most of the marine objects are paintings and ship models while the firefighting ones consist of a large variety of things including ladder trucks, hand pumps, clothing articles such as capes, belts and helmets, badges, horse-drawn steam engines, American fire marks (signs placed on buildings as proof of fire insurance - these are very collectible and interesting) fire buckets, etc.," he continued.
Deluca said he was called in to begin the job last May, also stating that he has been very busy traveling on and off since then from York to Philadelphia and occasionally to other locations to handle the work.
"The collection is not all at the Museum, yet," he said. "Mostly, I work in Pennsylvania, occasionally in other locations. … There are some very interesting objects. There is a painting by Charles Washington Wright featuring Benjamin Franklin wearing a fire helmet."
Benjamin Franklin was among the first to organize volunteer firefighting companies in the colonies.
"Then, there's a parade hat," Deluca commented, referring to a decorative parade hat of the Phoenix Hose Company.
Another highlight of the collection that Deluca noted is a Samuel Walters painting, "Queen of the Ocean Going to the Rescue of the Ocean Monarch" depicting a terrible 19th-century marine disaster - namely, the burning of the ship, the Ocean Monarch, which was carrying immigrants to Boston. Also in the collection is the Currier & Ives depiction of "The Great Fire at Chicago October 8th, 1871." Another unique item is a wooden model of the ship "Kate" which was a 19th-century model commissioned to help judges and juries understand how maritime accidents happened.
Deluca commented that while the most of collection he's appraising dates from the mid-18th century to around the mid-20th century, "There's a lot that was acquired in the 1930s. Some of it was donated, some of it purchased by directors."
The firefighting and maritime history objects that he is appraising are representative of the antiques in which Deluca specializes. Based on Route One in York, Deluca has been collecting, selling and conducting auctions of firefighting and maritime antiques and collectibles for years. His auctions draw collectors and dealers from far and wide and feature an incredible variety of objects - over 400 in his most recent auction, a sale totaling about $200,000. At his auctions he carefully describes objects, mentioning how they were or are used, refers to the historical period, discusses condition and rarity, notes any damage and estimates the worth. In recent years he has conducted his auctions at the Faro Gardens facility in Hampton Falls, N.H., on the West Coast and elsewhere.
Deluca reported that some objects from "Fire and Water: The CIGNA Firefighting and Maritime Collection," which is the name currently given to the gift, can be viewed at the present time. Visitors to the Smithsonian can enjoy a "behind-the-scenes" glimpse of the ongoing activity surrounding the acquisition by watching some of the museum staff working through a window on Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon and also at other times. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is located at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. and is open daily.
