Joe Kindig III: 2008 ADA Merit Award Recipient by Lauren Byrne from Antiques & Fine Art magazine

One of the last great generalists in a business that has increasingly become specialized, Joe Kindig deals in early American furniture and decorative arts, arms and armor, as well as early lighting. His breadth of knowledge and erudition have helped build many collections, including such stellar public collections as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was somewhat surprising then, to learn, in a recent telephone conversation with his daughter, that Joe Kindig might never have come into the business had he not been under some pressure to do so from his father, who founded the company in 1913. Joe Kindig II was a formidable character, by all accounts, and not the sort you said no to. He began his career by operating a mail order business in antiques while still at college in order to support his first love, Pennsylvania long rifles. From there he progressed into European arms and armor and later, furniture. The present Joe Kindig came into his father's business at age twenty-four, having graduated from Amherst College and spent a period in the military. Whatever his initial feelings about following in his father's footsteps, he came equipped with the perfect qualifications: curiosity, a photographic memory, and the ability to absorb prodigious amounts of information on any subject that interests him. "He's a natural at anything he pursues," his daughter says with pride. "He can recall in minute detail any piece he sees in a museum." His wide-ranging interests are reflected in his parallel career as author of such titles as The Philadelphia Chair, 1685-1785 and Artistic Ingredients of The Long Rifle, as well as a slew of magazine articles on topics as varied as perspective glass and upholstered Windsor chairs. Architecture, one of his greatest interests, has resulted in his involvement with several early building restoration projects. An example is the 1738 Wright's Ferry Mansion in Columbia, Pennsylvania, which, among other things, is noted for its exceptional pre-1750 Philadelphia furniture; a collection, says curator Meg Schaefer, that Mr. Kindig helped put together after its inception in 1978. Mr. Kindig also contributed extensively to Meg Schaefer's two-volume Wright's Ferry Mansion: The House and The Collection published in 2005. "It is a joy working with him," she says. "He has an incredible knowledge of American decorative arts."