In Town

Decorative-arts experts and twins Leigh and Leslie Keno are special guests this month at the 25th Naples Antiques Show & Sale, an annual spectacular that takes place March 9-11 at Trinity-by-the-Cove Episcopal Church. At a luncheon on March 11, the Kenos will talk about how to spot a real antique. Leslie Keno is director of business development (American furniture and decorative arts) at Sotheby's in New York, and Leigh owns Leigh American Antiques, a gallery in Manhattan dealing in 18th century American furniture and decorative arts. The brothers lecture extensively, appear regularly on the Antiques Roadshow and are the authors of Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture. We asked Leigh Keno about antiques, the show, and what he expects to find in Southwest Florida.

Q. What cities or towns have surprised you most with riches?

A. Every city has the power to surprise in one way or another, but in Las Vegas, a person showed up with an 18th-century cabinet dated and signed by John Shearer, an eccentric and highly regarded Scottish-born furniture maker of Virginia. It amazed me.

Q. What's the most expensive antique you've handled on the show?

A. About nine years ago a schoolteacher in New Jersey arrived at the Meadowlands with a little card table. She paid $30 for it at a tag sale. I valued it at $250,000; later, she sold it at auction for $540,000.

Q. What antique in your home would you never part with?

A. A burl-wood-covered bowl about 15 inches in diameter. I saw it at an antiques show and recognized it from 35 years ago as being part of a collection of an old man Leslie and I knew as kids in New York. I showed it to my brother, who immediately said, "Hey, that's from

Mr. Card's house."

Q. What do you and your brother ever find to give to one another as birthday gifts?

A. We don't try; instead we give gifts to each other's children. Leslie has a son and daughter, and I have an eight-year-old son. We make games out of teaching them about antiques and the history of objects.

Q. Any things people should never do to their antiques?

A. If it's furniture, never have it refinished until you know what you are dealing with. Removing the original finish and patina can drastically reduce value. Never carve your initials into a piece to show ownership. And don't keep antiques in direct sunlight. Over the years, the sun causes real damage.

Q. I know the Keno brothers love fly-fishing, downhill skiing and racing vintage sports cars. What's the favorite car in your collection?

A. It's one that Leslie and I own together, a 1979 blue Ferrari that has a troll-hair dashboard-yes, that fuzzy stuff. It was in '79 that we graduated college. It's a 12-cylinder beast, a real muscle car that's made to go 200 mph or faster. It's such a thrill to drive it flat-out in fifth gear.

-Marsha Fottler