DAVID DUNCAN By Susanna Salk for 1stdibs

“My aesthetic was first formed by my great grandparents who were first generation immigrants from Scandinavia who made their home on Lake Michigan. All their furniture was painted white or grey and everything spotless and bright,” explains antiques dealer David Duncan of the origins of his style roots. “And of course my mother impacted me immeasurably. She was a free spirit who loved vintage clothing and collected 1920’s beaded gowns and wore them even as they were falling apart. It was a very counter-culture lifestyle.”

When his mother moved him to live in the Virgin Islands at age thirteen, his suburban world was shaken to its core: “In St Thomas I became obsessed with all the designer clothes I saw at the fabulous boutiques such as Pucci, St. Laurent, and Correge,” recalls Duncan. “With this kind of exposure and influence, I naturally I thought I wanted to be a clothing designer.” Ironically, the future antiques and arts dealer earned his way through The Minneapolis College of Art and Design by selling antiques, vintage textiles, and jewelry bought at estate sales he had haunted with his “pack rack” grandmother. “Estate sales helped me to mimic the glamorous Dorothy Draper interiors I loved with my limited means.”

After working as a window dresser in New York, at Ibiza on University Place, Duncan was tapped to manage the boutique’s new antique textile salon and was soon dealing with the likes of Joanne Woodward and Julian and Jacqueline Schnabel as his clientele. When he met renowned designer Roger Huot he immediately became his antiques mentor and eventual partner, and Duncan opened his first antiques shop in Tarrytown, New York in 1986.  “It was an Ali Baba cave of draped textiles, passementerie, and carpets,” explains Duncan. “Vignettes were created in alcoves with porcelain and bronze objets installed with dried hydrangeas, which was my homage to Robert De Montesquiou. Of course the fact that the space was only six feet wide had inherent limitations!” But top designers such as Sills Huniford, Jean Paul Beaujard, and Victoria Hagan immediately saw limitless possibilities whenever they visited. “I was fortunate enough from the beginning to deal with the most talented and innovative designers and, as if by osmosis, I learned about the sophisticated mix of antiques with contemporary modern,” says Duncan. “They have influenced my buying and provided inspiration.”

In 1989 Duncan opened a new space along with Nicholas Antiques in the Fine Arts building on 59th Street, a location which formerly housed stables. The lofty ceilings perfectly suited the predominately Continental mix that Duncan purchased from estates at local auctions along the Hudson River.  It didn’t take long before he yearned for a building of his very own, so Duncan forged ahead with purchasing the former French Jeans Store on 60th Street, which featured a platform in the middle of the shop that was installed to help supinely positioned customers squeeze into skin tight jeans. Such was the era.

Despite the trepidations of the retail landscape of Manhattan during the late 80's, Duncan was optimistic about his future.  “Many storefronts were vacant and it seemed risky, but we made the move and I have never regretted doing so,” he recalls. “The old fashioned concept of a storefront was compatible with the early 19th through mid 20th century antiques we presented.” The timing ended up being ideal stylistically as Biedermeier and Scandinavian pieces were very much in vogue. With so many family contacts in Sweden, Duncan was soon traveling there up to four times a year and his Swedish neo-classical furniture and painted Gustavian pieces immediately sold out.

After almost a dozen years, Duncan moved the store to an 1870 brownstone also on 60th Street which he renovated expressly for the purpose of showcasing his extensive collection of 18th and 19th century antiques and modern design. And because of the current devalued dollar, Duncan is now sourcing inventory closer to home at local estates and auctions. “Rather than buy another dealers’ edited version or a particular region’s sensibility, I have found it rewarding to see things unaltered or, as the French would say, "In the Juice.”  And with all the worldly estates from a generation of cultivated Upper East Side dwellers still intact as they were when first installed decades ago, pure treasure abounds just footsteps away. In other words, There’s no place like home.  And for Duncan, this rings especially true. Because no matter where he looks for inspiration, his emotional compass always points him back to his original style muse: “I just purchased a collection of rare early 19th century Delft of five piece garniture,” says Duncan. “The blue and white glazes remind me of my grandmother’s prized blue and white pottery. The spirit of her style keeps informing me.”