Collections As Self-Expression

Self-expression comes in many forms, but for several East End residents, an outward connection to their passions is forged through amassing unique collections.

East End collectors Jifa Wind, Lys Marigold and Keri Lamparter have spent a few dollars and more than a few days collecting items that tickle their fancies.

Ms. Wind, an architect, and formerly a longtime East Hampton resident who now resides in Brooklyn Heights, has spent several years amassing unique pieces of mid-century modern furniture. In a recent interview, she explained how her habit of collecting began.

“Both the furniture and the architecture of the 1950s ... always [spoke] to me. Loudly,” she said. “Looking back, I can say that the enthusiasm and optimism of the era resonated with me in a way that no other period before or since, ever did. The shapes are so exciting, many of the materials were completely new and the designs exude happiness. You can’t be sad when sitting or lounging in one of these pieces.”

Finding the items began as a matter of happenstance, according to Ms. Wind, who said she would often find furniture at the curb waiting for the garbage truck, or cheap at a secondhand shop she would stumble upon while out walking. As time went on, she said she realized that her passion for furniture was more than a quirk; uniquely shaped, modern designs were indeed Ms. Wind’s preferred style.

Then the thrill of the chase began and Ms. Wind said she would peruse eBay for furniture from the era. Her collection grew as she also frequented design fairs and auctions.

Of all the pieces, Ms. Wind said her absolute favorite piece of furniture is a Lucite lounge chair prototype made in Paris during the 1950s.

“The sensuous shapes of its curves, the fluidity of the materials, even the smallest aspect of its connections are stunning, yet it’s quite minimalistic,” she said.

Since her move to Brooklyn Heights, the overall amount of floor space in her home has shrunk somewhat, so, for now, the favorite chair remains in storage.

“I like for it to have a lot of space around it, like it might in a museum, rather than up against a wall or surrounded by too many things. But don’t get me wrong, I’m still surrounded by too many things!” she said.

Ms. Wind’s love of modern furniture remains steadfast and at present, she is working on a memoir that revolves around the experience of her move to Brooklyn. Naturally, she said that her collection plays a significant role in the book.

Back on the East End, Lys Marigold, a Eucharistic minister at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton, has a collection of unique and vibrantly colored lobster-themed bowls piled high atop the shelves in her bold red kitchen.

Growing up on the waterfront in Norwalk, Connecticut and hailing from a family of clammers and fishermen, her love of the sea and its bounty precipitated the collection, according to Ms. Marigold. She said that her mother, Virginia, was the original collector of lobster bowls. But upon receiving one as a gift from her mother, things began to snowball.

“I would go over to the Mulford Farm Antiques Fair or go antiquing on the North Fork and I kept finding them, so I started collecting. It got to a point where I had so many lobster bowls, all of my friends knew and for birthdays or holidays, that was what I received,” Ms. Marigold laughed.

In addition to the battery of bowls neatly stored on shelves, some of her finer, more expensive pieces hang delicately on a wall near the kitchen, right alongside an original painting by Andy Warhol. These pieces are of the Majolica-Palissy style—earthenware pottery with molded surfaces and colorful lead glazes. Truly antique, the Majolica pieces were made in Portugal some 200 to 300 years ago, Ms. Marigold explained.

As to why she collects these unusual pieces, she noted that they seemed to be the epitome of East End lifestyle. In fact, when a special guest, His Royal Highness Prince Raad of Jordan—whom she met while renting a home in Jordan—arrived for dinner at her East Hampton home nearly a decade ago, it was the finer lobster bowls she used for an authentic “Hamptons-style” dinner: hot lobster, drawn butter, fresh sweet corn from a local farm stand and hearty beefsteak tomatoes.

Much like Ms. Marigold’s love of the sea, Montauk resident Keri Lamparter’s collection of vintage nautical photographs and postcards combines her love for all things beach and historical.

“Some people may think it’s weird to collect photos of people I don’t know,” she said during a recent interview. “But I feel like I have rescued these abandoned photos and brought them back to the beach, since I live in Montauk, where they’re in good hands.”

Most of the photographs in her collection are amateur black-and-white shots from 1900 to 1930, with what she described as good composition and quality. Ms. Lamparter has a dozen or so photographs, most of which she keeps displayed throughout her Montauk home.

According to all three of the collectors interviewed, the method behind their madness is simple and comes from a place that is easy for anyone to understand. They said that collecting things they love generates a sense of happiness, whether it’s lobster-themed bowls, Lucite loungers or decades-old photographs of a favorite place.