We are pleased to have on offer property from The Collection and Inventory of Alfred Bullard, Inc., Philadelphia in our October 25-26th Fine Auction.
Preview begins Friday, October 17th.
| Purity.Alfred Bullard, Inc., English furniture dealers established 94 years ago in London, and also had a shop in Philadelphia’s well known “Antiques Row” on Pine Street. The two shops were consolidated in 1965 in Philadelphia, and Bill Bertolet, one of the great gentlemen of the antiques trade, has been the owner of the business for the past fifty years. All of us who appreciate English furniture will miss seeing the annual selections Bill presents at the Winter Antiques Show. Bill is now closing the shop and, thankfully, will remain available to advise his clients.
Bill has exhibited at the Winter Antiques Show for fifty years – one of its longest tenured exhibiting dealers. There, for the past fifty years, one encountered English furniture at its best: each carefully selected piece with a purity of form, a purity of design, a purity of scale — all with splendid patination and color. Bill is well known and admired for his great eye and taste; in particular, his selection of mirrors. For fifty years Bill has presented fine English furniture at every major antiques show in America: Boston’s Ellis Show, Philadelphia of course, Russell Carrell’s shows in Grosse Pointe, Lake Forest, Cincinnati and Cleveland; the Tri-Delta Show in Dallas and Houston’s Theta Show, the High Museum Show in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Wilmington, Washington, Alexandria, St. Louis and San Francisco. Bill’s roster of clients reads like a “Who’s Who”: Vladimir Horowitz, David Rockefeller, Oprah Winfrey, Craig Stevens, Mike Nichols, Henry Ford II, John Kerry, Alexis Smith, Mildred Natwick, Parish-Hadley, McMillan, Saul Steinberg, Daniel Terra, James Biddle, Henry McIlhenny, various du Pont family members, including Henry, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others. — Chris Jussel, Art & Antiques Advisor, Original Host of TV Series Antiques Roadshow |
| In the world of English antiques, if someone mentions Philadelphia… immediately one thinks of Bullard.Bill Bertolet, beside the gallery and showroom, started participating in Antiques Shows around the country, always specializing in English furniture, mirrors and related accessories of the 18th and early 19th century of outstanding design and craftsmanship. Bill’s particular interest was selecting each item with the utmost regard for quality, color and genuineness.
Bill is not only a colleague of mine and other dealers, but a friend as well; always ready to recommend another dealer without regard to competition or any concern of sharing a client. Personally, it will be difficult not to be together at the Winter Antiques Show or Philadelphia since we both have been participating those shows for decades. Antiques dealers do not stop, and I am happy to know Bill will continue in the business in a different capacity. I will like to wish him great success in his future endeavors. — Enrique (“Ricky”) Goytizolo, Georgian Manor Antiques, NAADAA Board Member |