Eric Norman Shrubsole

Eric Shrubsole, the dynamic 57th Street antiques dealer, died peacefully at home this morning. Eric was born in 1912, the eldest son of Lillian and S. J. Shrubsole, the founder of the company Eric later ran. With little patience, and little aptitude for school, Eric joined his father's firm at the age of 14, learning the art of silversmithing and the finer points of the antique English silver that the firm bought and sold. In 1936 the father and son decided to open a branch of the business in New York City, and Eric came to the United States with trunks full of old silver, and letters of introduction to customers, retail stores and museum directors across the country. He spent that year driving across the country, laying the foundations for his shop, which would remain on 57th Street from then till now. Known equally for his technical knowledge, taste, salesmanship, and occasionally ribald humor, Mr. Shrubsole was a ubiquitous dealer, lecturer, and advisor at shows, museums, and private collections throughout the country. He bought and sold many of the greatest antique silver objects ever made, counting among his customers H.F. duPont, William Randolph Hearst, the Duke of Windsor, Katherine Hepburn, and Groucho Marx, who, in being told that everything in Mr. Shrubsole's shop was antique and English, pointed his cigar at the Brooklyn-born porter and asked "even him?" Dynamic and quick-witted he could be seen roaming the halls of art and antique fairs in Europe and America well into his nineties, often with some fresh purchase in hand. A recent introduction to his annual catalog read: "Hurry in! The items in the catalog are like me: unique, in great condition for their age, and probably won't be around very long!" His first wife, Winnie, died in 1984. He is survived by his second wife, Karin Shrubsole, and his two stepsons, Christopher and Timothy Martin.