Michael Corbett, 85, has been a history lover and antiques connoisseur for the better part of more than half a century.
The passion he first developed in high school eventually led him to pursue a graduate degree in museum studies and administration at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta.
Coming from a family of doctors, Corbett considered a more conventional career path, but found himself enamored by the tangible remnants of the past, the objects, craftsmanship and forgotten histories that antiques bring to life.
“My wife thought I’d go crazy if I didn’t do something with this [passion],” Corbett told Pioneer Press. “So I opened this gallery store in 1972, just down the street from here.”
But after 54 years in business, The Federalist Antiques, which relocated to its 515 Park Drive, Kenilworth, address in 1985, will be closing its doors June 27.
“It has been a great joy and an honor to be a design resource for the community, for Chicago,” said Justin Corbett, 48, who co-runs the store alongside his father and mother, Patricia.
“We have treasured being able to get to know people and being invited into their homes, their lives and collections…just helping people live better through the appreciation of these historical objects,” Corbett said.
The decision to close the brick-and-mortar storefront reflects broader changes in the antiques business.
With the majority of their sales now taking place through their e-commerce website, which Justin Corbett helped his family build out in 2020, the “local collector market for, and interest in this material…has all but vanished,” he said.
At 85, Michael Corbett said he’s also ready to step back from the demands of operating a business, even though his love for dealing antiques is far from diminished.
“You know, I want to weep when I think about [the store closing],” Corbett said with a chuckle.
“I’m very involved with this work, and the stories of each of these pieces of furniture is compelling. There’s always something new to learn, and how people used the material and how these various inventions changed how people lived and what they furnished with.”
As the name suggests, Corbett’s store specializes in dealing and selling antiques from the Federalist Era, a formative period of American history that ran from the late 1700s to the early 19th century.
“It’s such a richly diverse period,” Corbett added, “and the advent of a whole new thinking about furniture and design after the French Revolution.”
Corbett acquires historical pieces from just about anywhere in the country.
“You can see what you look for. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, your eye just goes over it,” he said.
Many antique purchases for the store are made through private sales between dealers, but some of Corbett’s favorite and most prized possessions have come from auctions and estate sales.
“I can remember a New England professor, he was retired and going into assisted living, and his whole house was filled with all of this wonderful early American furniture,” Michael Corbett said.
“The arrangement for buying this material is generally your expertise, my expertise,” in being able to recognize the historical significance or value of what’s up for sale, he said.
Bringing the furniture back to Kenilworth, however, is no easy feat. The Corbett family said they typically do their own pickups and unloadings, and will rent a truck themselves to relocate the often extremely delicate pieces.
When they host their own auction shows, it requires renting a truck, hiring drivers and porters to load and unload the items, setting them up at the site and packing up again.
“It’s like moving to an apartment for a weekend,” Justin Corbett said with a laugh.
But the Corbett family is dedicated to their craft, even offering free delivery for buyers located up to 10 miles from the store.
The Federalist’s antique pieces can range from several hundred dollars for smaller objects, decorative glassware and ceramics, to upwards of $10,000 for larger furniture.
The higher price point attracts a slightly older customer base, but the family said they’ve still seen an interest from younger generations of buyers, particularly those who’ve moved to the area from the East Coast and have a better “appreciation” for the history, Michael Corbett said.
“I’ve been selling pieces to people under 40, couples in their 30s and 40s, who see these pieces as sculptural objects that they’re appreciating for their patina, for their craftsmanship, for their shape,” Justin Corbett said.
“People have contemporary homes with modern sofas, but it’s the conversation between these 200-year-old pieces that really imbues a space with a different feel. That conversation between contemporary art and period material is something that I’ve been seeing younger people resonate with.”
As the prime antique destination for Kenilworth’s downtown, Michael and Justin Corbett said since announcing the store’s closure, there has been an “outpouring” of community appreciation and support.
“We’ve received lots of emails, people have come in [to the store], relaying stories to me about pieces that they bought 20, 30 years ago that they still have and use and love,” Justin Corbett said.
“Or that their parents bought,” Michael Corbett interjected. “It’s generational.”
Any discounted items not sold before closing day will travel east to local auction houses, the family said.As for what’s next for the Corbett family, Justin said he plans to start his own antiques business in the near future, to continue the family’s legacy of buying and selling cherished pieces of history.
