Weingarten, a partner in Ace Architects in Northern California, has spent spare time over four decades scouring flea markets and antiques shops for 20th-century miniatures. (A few acquisitions cost over $10,000 each, and the collection’s value has been estimated to be around $1 million.)
Taj Mahals, sphinxes, Notre Dames and Empire State Buildings coexisted on the shelves of his home with representations of more obscure towers like the Barclay-Vesey Building in lower Manhattan as well as now-vanished follies built for world’s fairs. Many pieces have hidden purposes — they doubled as coin banks, inkwells, lamps, ashtrays, thermometers, lipstick holders, pens, puzzles or salt and pepper shakers. They were manufactured in stone, metal, cork, wax, ceramics, plastic, wood or soap. His museum gift also includes the factories’ sales catalogs and original molds. A museum team spent days at his house packing up boxfuls representing a “very, very, very narrow slice of the world,” Weingarten said. As the packers labored, he said, “I couldn’t quite bring myself to watch.”
Among his gifts now on view at the museum are some metal Notre Dames and an Empire State Building under assault by King Kong. Nancy Bateman, the museum’s chief registrar, described the donations as “quite impressive individually, and as a group they’re mind-boggling.” Chase Rynd, the executive director, added that the miniatures are “playful and fun” yet can also convey serious messages about demolished beloved buildings and people’s memories of travels and skylines.
Weingarten and his housemates, Margaret Majua and Lucia Howard, have been restocking empty shelves at their home with pre-1900 models of ancient ruins. “As time marches forward, we march backward,” he said.
He is still seeking rare 20th-century pieces, including a 2-foot-tall bronze version of the Woolworth Building that was given to employees in the 1910s. “That one’s still out there,” he said, and if it turns up, he will add it to the museum’s large holdings of small things.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.