Person Record

Metadata

Name

Dean, Samuel

Born

1853

Birthplace

Cincinnati, Ohio

Spouse

Elizabeth Hardy

Occupation

Antiques and Art Advisor
Decorator

Places of residence

Roxbury, MA
Boston, MA

Notes

SAMUEL B. DEAN
Samuel Dean was born in 1853 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts as a young boy to live with his grandparents. He began his working life in a leather store, and by 1880 he was living in Boston with his aunt, Elizabeth Jones. In 1884 he married Elizabeth Hardy. By 1893 he was collecting works of fine art and described himself as a 'merchant.' He began to specialize in ceramics.
In 1903 Samuel Dean was employed by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and he directed the rearrangement of the Ceramic Room. He displayed Wedgewood, Italian majolica, Delft, Hispano-Moresque, among others. He added fine European fabrics. In 1904 he curated the museum's Textile Room with an exhibition of lace, and donated a number of old laces from his own collection. He began to travel extensively in Europe, buying beautiful examples of gold and silver laces, fringes, and gimps of French and Italian workmanship, principally from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He also donated a small collection of old laces to the Pennsylvania Museum, and in 1906 the Philadelphia Museum Bulletin reported "Mr. Samuel B. Dean, of Boston, has recently added to the fine collection of gold and silver galons which he presented to the Museums some months ago, another series of beautiful examples which he procured in Europe this past summer. This collection is now probably the best and most complete of its kind in this country, representing as it does the tinsel work of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He has also donated some artistic examples of old Cordovan stamped and gilded leather which are exceedingly rare and interesting." In 1908 he sold an eighteenth century French Galloon to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The 1910 census describes Samuel Dean as a dealer in Antiques. In 1916 he gave two silver objects to the Pennsylvania Museum - two Boston ladles, 1822 and 1848. He and his wife Elizabeth had no children.
The census of 1920 describes Dean's occupation as "Decorator", owning an antique store. In 1924 the American Magazine of Art discusses an exhibit at the Rochester Memorial Gallery of 'an interesting collection of textiles, brocades, embroideries, etc., lent by Samuel B. Dean of Boston.'
In 1928 objects were given by Samuel B. Dean to the Fogg Museum.
Bessie McKee met Samuel Dean in Boston in the early 1900s. His address was 16 Arlington Street, Boston. He advertised himself as giving "special attention to arranging and classifying museum and private collections." He became her decorating advisor for her house on Commonwealth Avenue, and Blithewold. He inspired her collection of lace that is preserved in the Textile Collections area at Blithewold.
Many items were purchased for Blithewold from Samuel Dean, including the Wadsworth marble mantel from the house of Adelaide Wadsworth, cousin of Longfellow, Dickens signature and memorabilia, mahogany commode Louis XVI, bellows Louis XVI, the lambrequin on Marjorie's bed, pillows, Japanese water jar, Chinese bronze vase, French chair, Flemish table, etc. (see receipt of April 2nd 1907).
Samuel Dean and his wife Elizabeth were weekend guests at Blithewold many times, often at the same time as Walter Kilham and his wife (architect of Blithewold II.) Dean produced the wood-backed album of photographs and history of art objects at Blithewold.