About Us
SOUTHERN ANTIQUES
mason-dixon SOUTH
Ann Hall Wauford
My Grandmother Ring introduced me to Jugtown Pottery when I was five years old, and thus began the adventure of a lifetime. Trips to Jugtown to watch Ben Owen and Vernon Owens turn, and to Cherokee to see baskets being woven were typical summer jaunts. I learned about late 19th century antiques and glassware as a child and progressed to earlier 1800’s furniture during my weekend auction trips when I was at Duke.
My maternal grandfather was from a Salem family, so I spent many hours in the restored buildings, especially after my grandmother became a hostess for Old Salem.
When my son was born, I needed a stay-at-home job to be with him. I began buying and selling antiques and had spaces in several malls. I worked with the Brenner Antiques Show planning and setting up the special displays.
Then came the great opportunities of my career---the first being the chance to chair the North Carolina Pottery Center Capital Campaign along with my mother, and a long stint on the Board and a few months as interim director. I was the Cultivation Chair for the Campaign and narrated bus tours to the potteries.
My next great project was The Toy Museum at Old Salem. I worked with Tom Gray throughout his procurement of the objects for the Museum, restored and lighted his fabulous dollshouses, then became Registrar and moved my office from Tom’s house to MESDA. I restored several pieces in the collection. After registering 10,000 pieces, I was allowed to leave the basement at MESDA and assist with the installation of the Museum. That was a glorious experience!
My 27 years as a dealer and my years in museum work have led me on great adventures to locate exceptional objects. My passions for study and for the thrill of the hunt have only begun.
"an*tique" n. an object made in an earlier period...
Robert Pearl
My definition of "antique" is a slightly more restrictive than Webster's definition. Mine is based purely on my love of early (pre -1840) Southern antiques. I am an "antiques dealers dealer". I enjoy the bantering between dealer and collector, the struggle to justify the price, and the reward when someone says, "I'll take it".
Frank Horton was one of those dealers, too. He restored an entire town, Old Salem, and founded the first museum devoted strictly to Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Frank and I shared many good stories about people, antiques, and restoration.
l am and have been a full-time antiques dealer for the last thirty-five years specializing in Southern antiques and accessories. In addition to antiques and their restoration, I have restored antique houses for the past twenty-five years (Winston-Salem Journal). Due to my extensive research and knowledge of the regional arts, I have been a guest lecturer at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA). Please visit my website robertpearlantiques.com to see some of the historical houses I have restored. (http://hansenhousefilm.com/)
Most of what I know today, I learned by traveling the countryside from Molly's Backbone Road clear over to Beef Tongue Road. One of the best tables I ever owned, I bought from a man who sat down and ate lunch with me at a Hardees because I offered him the only remaining seat which just happened to be at my table. Sometimes good things happen when least expected.
Thank you for your interest in mason-dixon SOUTH. Contact us for other buying/selling options or for more information. Robert Pearl & Ann Hall Wauford: 336-969-9830, North Carolina: masondixonsouth.com
mason-dixon SOUTH
Southern Antiques
