At the intersection of scholarship and connoisseurship lies Curated: The Design and Library of James Zemaitis—an offering that reflects a career spent exploring, documenting, and shaping the discourse around modern and contemporary design. This carefully assembled selection includes both a compelling group of design works and a rich library of publications that have guided and inspired James Zemaitis throughout his decades in the field.
As Director of Museum Relations at R & Company since 2016, James has played a central role in developing exhibitions and fostering institutional partnerships. His recent curatorial projects, including Born Too Tall: California Women Designers, Postwar to Postmodern, demonstrate a thoughtful and inclusive approach to design history. Prior to his time at R & Company, James held leadership positions at Sotheby’s and Phillips, producing over fifty design sales and helping shape the trajectory of the postwar and contemporary design market.
This collection reflects James’s deep engagement with the material and intellectual history of design. The included library—rich with foundational texts, rare catalogues, and scholarly references—provides a rare window into the ideas and research that have underpinned his work as a curator, advisor, and educator.
This auction brings together design and scholarship in a way that reflects a lifetime of passion and purpose. We are honored to invite collectors, curators, and enthusiasts alike to discover a collection shaped by insight, research, and enduring care.
Robert Whitley 1924–2020
Studio furniture designer and master craftsman Robert Whitley was born in 1924 in Trenton, NJ to a school teacher mother and a father who loved collecting and restoring antique furniture. From a young age, he joined his father at auctions and old farm houses. They brought home their discoveries and restored them together and it was through these experiences that Whitley developed a nuanced understanding of, and appreciation for, the craft of woodworking and furniture making. He was a third-generation craftsman and learned a special oil formula from his father and grandfather that would eventually become a hallmark of his own work.
Whitley later studied drawing and sculpture at the Trenton School of Arts before working in a Trenton airplane factory during WWII. He was so skilled that he was promoted to head welder in just a few months. After the war ended, he opened his first shop in 1948 where he restored antiques and began designing original works. An active member of the local community, he opened the Lambertville Flea Market in the 1960s, which he later sold before moving to Solebury, PA to build his home and shop where he would live and work for many more decades.
Whitley developed an impressive career restoring furniture (as master conservator at Independence Hall in Philadelphia), reproducing period works (for example, President John F. Kennedy’s Oval Office desk for the Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston), and creating his own unique designs. Perhaps his best known original commission is a chess set presented by President Richard Nixon to the Soviet Union, now in the collection of The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. His work is in the collections of many prestigious institutions, including the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In 2016, Whitley was awarded a lifetime membership in the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) in recognition of his lifelong commitment to advancing the understanding, education and appreciation of period furniture. He was also the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Society of American Period Furniture Makers Cartouche Award (2002) and the Renwick Gallery's Craft Multiples Award (1975).
Whitley was a tireless and passionate craftsman and worked well into his early 80s. He passed away in 2020, leaving behind an indelible legacy in the worlds of woodworking, craft, and period American furniture.
Auction Results Robert Whitley
