Usage conditions may apply for digital images, video, and sound recordings linked within SOVA collections. While digital content may be restricted, SOVA collection descriptions and catalog records are available CC0 for re-use. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Archives of American Art
A Finding Aid to the Ruth Teschner Costantino papers and Connoisseur Inc. records, 1910s-1981, in the Archives of American Art
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.conninc
- Creators:
-
Connoisseur, Inc.
- Dates:
-
1910s-1981
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
1.6 Linear feet
- Repository:
The Ruth Teschner Costantino papers and Connoisseur Inc. records measure 1.6 linear feet and date from the 1910s to 1981. The collection sheds light on the personal and professional life of fine art and antique dealer Ruth T. Costantino through correspondence, writings, printed material, and identification documents; and on her business Connoisseur Inc. through sales records, inventories, receipts, and scant correspondence.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
The Ruth Teschner Costantino papers and Connoisseur Inc. records measure 1.6 linear feet and date from the 1910s to 1981. The collection sheds light on the personal and professional life of fine art and antique dealer Ruth T. Costantino through correspondence between Costantino and the American Art Association, collectors, family members, friends, and museum representatives; autobiographical and travel writings; newspaper and magazine clippings on art as well as reviews and advertisements about her book, How to Know French Antiques (1961); and identification documents. Connoisseur Inc. include sales records, inventories, receipts, and some correspondence.
Arrangement
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as two series.
- Series 1: Personal and Professional Papers, 1920s-1981 (Box 1; 11 folders)
- Series 2: Connoisseur Inc. Records, 1949-1981 (Box 1-3; 1.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Ruth Teschner Costantino (1892-1981) was a fine art and antique dealer in New York City.
She began working for a specialist and dealer in Old Master wood engravings and original drawings and several years later founded her first gallery, Teschner Gallery. In 1922, Costantino assisted Carl Robert Lamm, owner of the Swedish castle Nasby Slott, selling an extensive collection of paintings, tapestries, rugs, fabrics, armor, and more. Costantino's work with the Lamm Collection helped establish herself as a highly regarded authority on European antique art and furniture. In 1935, Costantino moved Teschner Gallery uptown and renamed it Connoisseur Inc. Throughout her career, Costantino advised the private collections of Madame Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, Mrs. Henry Ford II, Mr. Stavros Niarchos, Mrs. John D. Rockefeller II, and many more; served as the White House´s principal purveyor of French eighteenth-century furniture during the Kennedy administration; and dealt fine arts, furniture, and other antique items to U.S. museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and internationally to the Uffizi in Florence and the Brera Museum in Milan. After Costantino died in 1981, Connoisseur Inc. merged with L'Antiquaire gallery, founded by Constantino's daughter, Helen Costantino Fioratti, in 1965.
Costantino's husband, Arturo Costantino, was an Italian diplomat and banker who had a substantial role in the building of the Italian Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair.
Administration
Author
Christopher DeMairo
Sponsor
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in two installments by Helen Constantino Fioratti, Ruth Teschner Constantino's daughter. Ruth Costantino's personal and professional papers and several Connoisseur Inc. files were donated in 1983. The bulk of Connoisseur Inc. records were donated in 1984.
Processing Information
Two accessions were merged, processed, and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2021 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Preliminary processing of Ruth Costantino's personal and professional papers and several Connoisseur Inc. files were completed in 1989 by Alanna Heiss and in 2018 by Caroline Donadio.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Citation
Ruth Teschner Costantino papers and Connoisseur Inc. records, 1910s-1981. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Art -- Collectors and collecting | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Antiques -- United States | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) | Function | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Women art dealers | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Furniture, French | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Costantino, Ruth Teschner, 1892-1981 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Ruth Teschner Gallery | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions
