Antiques dealer remembered

Max Reese was a member of the American Society of Appraisers.

Max Reese first came to Richmond from Philadelphia when he was 19 to try to sell merchandise from his family's furniture business. It was the early 1930s, and the Great Depression would continue for years. College would remain out of reach.

With a little help from his father -- including $50 in a bank account -- Mr. Reese soon returned from Philadelphia with a truckload of antiques and began building a business.

Reese's Antiques at Second and Main streets became a Richmond fixture for 50 years. A glance into the storefront window was like a glimpse into someone's parlor in the past.

Marble pedestals, fine furniture in velvet or embroidered upholstery, and paintings in gilded frames were arranged in pleasing combinations. Reese's offered vases, sculpture and other accessories, some dating to Colonial times, and reproductions for the cost-conscious.

Mr. Reese died Jan. 8. He had recently turned 96. His wife of 64 years, Gertrude deWoolf Reese, died in 2002.

In addition to antiques, Mr. Reese's shop offered upholstery, decorating and drapery services. Upstairs, craftsmen from Europe and around the United States would make reproductions of classic furniture using chisels and glue, the same Old World methods used to make the originals, said his son, Mitchell S. Reese, a radiologist in Henrico County who makes furniture as a hobby.

"Every item was unique," he said. "Nothing was mass-produced, and each of them is an heirloom in someone's home."

One piece that has stayed in the Reese family is a Napoleonic-era mechanical bird in a cage that still chirps and moves its head and tail when wound with a key, Mitchell Reese said.

Mr. Reese was a member of the American Society of Appraisers and continued as a licensed appraiser after closing the antiques store.

He was known for donating his services as an appraiser to help women's clubs and other organizations raise money for philanthropic projects; he gave the proceeds from his fees -- $2 for a verbal appraisal or $5 for a written one -- to the organizations.

He was a member of Temple Beth-El.

A graveside service was held Jan. 11 in Richmond Beth-El Cemetery at Forest Lawn.

In addition to his son, survivors include a daughter, Carole Sue Legum of Atlanta, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.