PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN SOBCZAK

G

loria Cohen is a collector's collector. Her West Bloomfield
home is a smorgasbord of collectibles gathered over years
of antiquing and traveling.
A large etagere in her front foyer could be a travelogue
for the 80 to 90 countries Cohen and her husband Marty have visited.
Textile treasures from around the world have been framed and are
displayed throughout her house. Each antique and every piece of pot-
tery and crystal has a story. Woven together, it is the fabric of this col-
lector's life.
Cohen's dining room is distinguished by an enormous cadre of
Tiffin pottery, now a hot, and hard-to-come-by, collectible. "I bought
Tiffin years ago, when it cost $5 and $10," she laughs. "I remember
my son (now an adult) was in a stroller at the time."
Her powder room is a treasure trove all its own. Hand towels, of
lace and linen with beautiful embroidery, are from the '30s and '40s,
and are displayed on an Art Deco tray. Around 40 pressed glass per-
fume bottles decorate the vanity, trays, and shelves.
"I started collecting them because there was an abundance of them
around, and they're very beautiful," says Cohen. "I always like pairs
of things; it makes your collection more valuable." On one wall of the
powder room are four Art Deco boudoir ladies, of silk and lace, from
the 1920s. Cohen, who began collecting at 12, when she would take
the bus to Highland Park where there were antique stores, has one of

the ladies from that era, and has since added only three because they
are so difficult to find.
The most unique area of Cohen's home is her kitchen, where she
fashioned a 15-foot mosaic backsplash using plates and artifacts from
her collections. Above the black-and-white gingham border, Cohen
broke and glued (using 23 tubes of goop glue!) her grandmother's
plates, her mother's milchag plates, and beautiful plates she had
acquired over the years.
"I buy pretty plates whenever I see them, and a lot of them ended
up on this wall," she recalls.
Above her sink, Cohen added pieces of Cornucopia, which was
inexpensive chalkware from the '30s, an expensive piece of Hull, ("I
shouldn't have smashed it, but I had to have the color on my wall"),
and ceramic MacKenzie-Childs frames filled with willow ware from
her grandmother. Beautiful porcelain flowers are from an old
Capodimonte flower bouquet that she clipped off with tile clippers.
While her husband was worried she was ruining the house, now he is
as thrilled as she is.
Cohen's advice to collectors? "If you're spending a lot of money,
research it first. Sometimes you have to pay top dollar if it's what you
want, and it's in great condition. And if you inherit something, it adds
a special priceless value.
"For me, these things make me very happy," she says, smiling.

— Lisa Brody

STYLE AT THE iN • NOVENIBER 2000 •

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