DAYTRIP:
Newport
The City-by-the-Sea harbors all of your antique dreams come true.
CLOCKWISE
FROM LEFT :
Georgeous antique
scrimshaw from
Newport Scrimshanders.
Ornate antique lamps
from the Drawing
Room Antiques.
10 a.m. Hop off the highway and head straight to Aardvark Antiques. Don’t
let the statuary confuse you; a garden shop this is not. The place is blooming
with all sorts of unusual discoveries, including stained glass with Christian
iconography and a five-piece bedroom set inlaid with the Star of David
priced at $7,500; both inspire praises to god for such decadence. 9 JT
Connell Hwy., Newport, 849-7233, aardvarkantiques.com.
11 a.m. Find on-street parking on the centrally located Memorial Boulevard
(free until May!) and walk to Newport Scrimshanders on Bowen’s Wharf.
Shop carvings on bone or ivory — the latter of which is vintage by nature;
it was all sourced before the 1989 ivory ban — antique scrimshaw and
a gorgeous selection of sailor’s valentines. 14 Bowens Wharf, Newport,
849-5680, scrimshanders.com
Noon: Head up through Queen Anne Square to Spring Street and pop in at
Roger King Gallery of Fine Arts, which specializes in antique paintings
hung salon-style over two floors. The maritime work is a given, but art by
renowned black nineteenth-century artists is a nice surprise. 138 Spring St.,
Newport, 847-4359, rkingfinearts.com
1 p.m. Go three doors down to Drawing Room Antiques, where you’ll
discover a trove of riches including four- and five-figure Sinumbra lamps,
iridescent Zsolnay glass and an assortment of valuable oddities (our favorite:
an ornate eighteenth-century mirror with original glass — just foggy enough
to make even the cynics look wistful). 152 Spring St., Newport, 841-5060,
drawrm.com | | CONTINUED ON PAGE 100
Hidden Gems
A Texas transplant discovered the secret to
selling antique and vintage jewelry with his
Insta-successful business, Rhode Island Gems.
Z A C H A R Y G U LT Z K N O W S FA M I LY J E W E L S .
His father owned a couple of stores special-
izing in secondhand accessories and vintage
timepieces and Gultz, a Texas native, followed
in his dad’s footsteps and studied gemology.
Eventually, he launched a fine art, antique
and jewelry appraisal business in Rhode Island
with his wife, Jessica, who grew up in Mass-
achusetts.
“I’ve always been fascinated with older
things,” says thirty-three-year-old Gultz.
He began frequenting estate sales, flea mar-
kets and garage sales for a personal curio
collection, then wondered if there might be a
market for such pieces. In mid-2017, Gultz took
to Instagram to test out his theory under the
moniker, Rhode Island Gems (@rhodeisland
gems).
“For last year, 2018, we’ve done several hun-
dred thousand dollars in revenue,” he says, adding
that he expects Rhode | | CONTINUED ON PAGE 101
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY
l MARCH 2020 57