The Collection of Donald F. Moylan, M.D.: A Fifty Year Journey

Hindman is honored to present The Donald F. Moylan, M.D. Collection of American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts, Part I this November 3 in Cincinnati. Join Wes Cowan in celebrating Dr. Moylan's eclectic collecting tastes and their decades-long friendship. 

I first met Don at an antique show in Winnetka, Illinois not long after I had started my business (Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.) in the mid-1990s. Don and his partner of nearly a decade, Bob Ketelhut had taken a booth, and I was drawn to the variety of folk art and other antiques they had displayed.  I can still remember the thrill of purchasing a rare – and now long gone -- newspaper with blaring headlines announcing the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  Sometime later I purchased a pair of immense stoneware eagles from Don that sat in my home for nearly 20 years. 

When Cowan’s began selling American furniture, folk and decorative art, Don was a buyer and consignor – a relationship that lasted more than two decades. In those early days, Don owned a used box truck that he used to haul around purchases and deliver property to auction.  As a highly successful urologist, Don’s neighborhood wasn’t exactly déclassé. I suspect that more than one neighbor wondered why the truck was parked in his driveway. It wasn’t much to look at but did the trick – at least until it didn’t. On one trip to Cincinnati Don called to let me know the truck had given up the ghost.  I can’t remember the outcome – whether we met him and picked up the consignment, or if the truck was towed and ultimately fixed so that the consignment could be personally delivered. 

I well remember my first trip to Don’s home; it was an early initiation into an advanced collection.  And honestly, I probably didn’t realize just how advanced it was.  Now, twenty years later, I have come to recognize it for what it is: one man’s quest for connoisseurship, and a passion for discovery, research and appreciation of Americana. Surface, form, and condition were his watchwords.  Don’s love for the hunt, and his equally abiding love of research was evident then and has only become more apparent over the years.

Don’s journey began in the early 1970s after his wife Holly introduced him to a friend whose father was a collector.  Their mutual interest was piqued, and soon they were visiting local antique shows and eventually, planning vacations to the east coast and making acquaintances of legendary dealers like John Walton and others. Together they traveled widely and bought everywhere. It was through his friends Walton and Jim Rutkowski that Don learned to buy great, not just good.  As his knowledge grew, his refinished purchases were replaced by ones with historic surfaces.

As this catalog attests, Don’s interests were (and still are) eclectic. Folk art portraits were an abiding concern, and not a single wall in Don’s home didn’t display at least one, if not more delightful visage of a some long-gone American. But folk art carvings, interesting smalls, Both formal and painted country furniture, furniture in near original surface, or an eye-catching form filled his home. And, of course, living in Michigan, Don was naturally drawn to paintings of the Great Lakes shipping industry.

At a time when many great collections were assembled with the help of dealers, I think it’s fair to say that Don sourced much of his material himself, scouring auctions throughout Michigan and the Midwest. (He once confided that he thought about 60% of the collection was found in the Wolverine state).  With the rise of the internet, Don found treasures further afield, eventually growing to items from more than 30 states and four foreign countries!   And he’s still at it.  In a recent conversation, Don had been offered a collection of 50 pieces of stoneware: He was considering the deal.

 

Sincerely,

Wes Cowan