Washington College Reporter article on Frank Rhodes
Frank Rhodes Amid Furniture With Little Time To Sit Down
When Frank B. Rhodes ’83 was at the College, he dreaded ending up in the “coat-and-tie world,” and he knew his talents did not include accounting, but he had little idea that upon graduation he would end up a cabinetmaker, painstakingly reproducing cherished antiques.
Today Frank is the owner/operator of The Garbisch Collection Reproductions, named for Frank’s grandparents, the late Col. Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, who had amassed one of the world’s most impressive collections of fine American antiques and naïve paintings.
A history major, Frank found his niche three years ago in the world of antiques. Under the guidance of Dave Ferguson, a Chestertown craftsman and antiques dealer, Frank learned the art of antiques restoration. He also learned he had a natural talent for cabinetmaking, and a keen eye for line and style.
“I was always good with my hand,” Frank recalled. “I remember when I was in tenth grade at The Hill School (in Pottstown, Pennsylvania), the only good comment on one of my report cards was in woodworking class. I had made a set of inlaid wooden salad bowls. But I had no idea then what I would be doing 10 years later. I didn’t become interested in furniture until after my grandparents’ auction.”
Conducted by Sotheby Parke Bernet of New York after the Garbisches’ deaths 1980, the three day auction at Pokety Farms in Cambridge, Maryland, was a record shattering event in the antiques world. Hundreds of collectors clamored to pay unprecedented prices for the finest examples of furniture and decorative arts the Garbisches had collected.
The furniture was exquisite and rare, Frank recalled, but surely he could reproduce some of the pieces, at least, from this collection and other private collections, so that the American tradition of finely-crafted furniture would continue. Some day in the 22nd century, his furniture may be scrutinized by antiques collectors and deemed worthy on their own merits, he hopes.
Using the same methods of construction used in the 18th century, Frank began his enterprise in 1983 by hand-crafting the prototypes for a Porringer top tea table with candle slides (c. 1745-1760) and a mahogany Chippendale sofa (c. 1760-1780). Each joint is hand-fitted, using mortise-and-tenon construction, and the finish is hand-applied and hand-rubbed between each application to duplicate the patina of fine antique wood. In the final stages, the finish is hand-waxed.
The Garbish Collection has grown to include a Chippendale looking glass, a round, splay-legged tavern table, a Chippendale open-end armchair and Chippendale loveseat, as well as framed prints chosen from the Garbisch collection of American naïve paintings. Many of the originals were given by the Garbisches to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Each piece of furniture is part of a limited edition, and is on display in the Chestertown shop. Customers may select upholstery and decorating materials from the selection of Schumacher fabrics available, and can complement their furnishings with rugs, lamps and other decorative arts available in the shop.
Frank has plans to expand his line with a Pennsylvania Queen Anne style lowboy and a pencil post tester bed, but it may be quite some time before those projects get off the drawing table.
“I’m always going to be involved in the craft end of every item that is made for The Garbisch Collection,” Frank promised. “My problem right now is that I’m trying to do everything myself – building and marketing the furniture, selecting prints, developing our brochure, organizing my new workshop, and keeping all the records.
“But I like to be my own boss. I tend to work on three or four projects at a time, so when one stage of construction is completed, or if it becomes tedious, I can move on to something else.”
Frank is confident that he has chosen the perfect vocation in the perfect environment. “I enjoy what I do, it’s that simple,’ he said, “and there aren’t many towns with the colonial atmosphere of Chestertown. And if I stick with the business, it will work.”