Thurston NicholsFolk art is fine art

Antique art · Folk art · Consulting

The art of a well-chosen life.

Rare American objects, found with a discerning eye and carried forward with care. Thurston Nichols helps collectors buy, sell, and build collections that endure.

Call to inquire ↗View inventory

A considered eye

Folk art
is fine art.

Bethlehem, PennsylvaniaThird generation

Private viewing

By appointment, nationwide

A third-generation legacy

A good collection begins with a good question.

Thurston Nichols is a third-generation dealer from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Trained by his father—an American picker before the term was popular—he brings more than 30 years of hands-on experience to every conversation.

Whether you are buying your first piece, refining an established collection, or deciding what should happen to an estate, the work is personal: understand the object, understand the person, then make a clear-eyed plan.

Meet the eye behind the collection ↗

In the field

The work is in the looking.

A booth is a temporary room with a permanent purpose: to make the right object visible, and to give good conversation a place to begin.

Plan a private conversation ↗
An antiques show booth in its authentic setting
Show photography · an authentic antiques setting

The approach

A trusted eye, from first look to final placement.

01

Integrity

Every recommendation is grounded in honesty and shaped around your best interests.

02

Expertise

Thirty years in the field bring context to the details that make an object matter.

03

Passion

A lifelong devotion to American art keeps the search curious and the standard high.

From the inventory

A closer look, in passing.

Complete yellow-and-blue painted blanket chest isolated on a white background
Circa 1790 painted blanket chest, possibly from Virginia, in all original condition with a wonderful original surface.
Yellow-and-blue-panel chest with blue stippled tombstone panels on a yellow stippled ground, isolated on a clean white background
A grain-decorated chest from lower Chester County, Pennsylvania, circa 1810. This chest is defined by its distinctive blue stippled tombstone panels set against a yellow stippled ground. The strong geometric decoration, bracket feet, and carefully grained surface give the piece a direct and memorable character—an excellent example of Pennsylvania painted furniture at its most inventive. The chest remains in original condition with an untouched surface. Its wear and patina are part of the object’s history, preserving the evidence of its materials, use, and long life.
Gilded eagle sculpture perched on a globe, isolated on a clean white background
Gilded eagle on globe
19th-century mahogany campaign chest isolated on a clean white background
19th-century mahogany campaign chest
Antique wood chest with hand-painted equestrian folk art, iron hardware, and a brass drawer pull isolated on a clean white background
Central panel of horse and rider chest with Continental soldier carrying a parrot on his sword, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1770.
19th-century copper sulky race-horse weathervane isolated on a clean white background
19th-century copper sulky race-horse weathervane
Pennsylvania walnut raised-panel schrank, circa 1760, Chester County, PA., isolated on a clean white background
Pennsylvania walnut raised-panel schrank, circa 1760, Chester County, PA.
1778 Pennsylvania poplar dower chest attributed to the Black Unicorn Artist, isolated on a white background
1778 Pennsylvania poplar dower chest attributed to the Black Unicorn Artist · Folk Art / Americana · Manager review pending
Chippendale mahogany lowboy isolated on a white background
Chippendale mahogany lowboy · Fine Furniture · Manager review pending
Front three-quarter view of a copper full-bodied sheep weathervane with its support, isolated on a warm salmon background
Rare copper full-bodied sheep weathervane, Massachusetts, circa 1890.
Philadelphia low rail Windsor with knuckle arms isolated on a clean white background
Philadelphia low rail Windsor with knuckle arms, attributed to Hensey, Philadelphia, 1790.
Carved eagle weathervane with globe and support isolated on a white background
Eagle carved weathervane, circa 1890.
Fancy grain painted chest with decorated front, drawers, and original surface, isolated on a warm salmon background
Fancy grain painted chest, original surface, circa 1820
Yellow decorated chest with tumbling compass-star decoration, isolated on a clean white background
Rare decorated Pennsylvania chest with tumbling compass stars; family tradition says the chest was made right after Halley’s Comet; super-rare chrome-yellow background, 19th century, southeastern Pennsylvania.
Decorated wooden chest with painted panels featuring rare birds, isolated on a clean white background
Decorated chest with rare birds, possibly attributed to Henrich Otto, Pennsylvania, 1790.
Tole-painted wooden blanket chest with dark green paint, a natural wood lid, floral decoration, and distressed red-painted bracket feet isolated on a white background
Detail of side panel on 1790 paint-decorated Pennsylvania chest.
Teal-painted blanket chest with yellow sunflower motifs and visible initials C.S.W., isolated on a white background
Teal-painted blanket chest · yellow sunflower motifs · initials “C.S.W.”
Green-painted folk-art blanket chest with floral decoration and red bracket base isolated on a white background
Green-painted folk-art blanket chest · floral decoration, red bracket base
18th-century painted wooden blanket chest with an open lid and visible forged hinges, isolated on a white background
18th-century painted wooden blanket chest · open lid and visible hinges
Painted folk-art chest of drawers dated 1870 isolated on a white background
Painted folk-art chest of drawers · “1870” visible on the crest
Lancaster County painted miniature chest attributed to the Weber family, isolated on a white background
Painted miniature chest · Lancaster County · attributed to the Weber family
Nantucket lightship basket with swing handle and fitted lid
A woven Nantucket lightship basket with a swing handle, fitted lid, and carved panel with three stylized whale forms. The underside is inscribed, “Made by Mike Kane, 1974, Nantucket Island.” The panel material is unconfirmed.
Decorative canoe sculpture with paddler on a stylized wave-like base
Decorative canoe sculpture with paddler · Sculptures

Use the arrows or swipe to look through the photographs

Slide 1 of 23: Circa 1790 painted blanket chest, possibly from Virginia, in all original condition with a wonderful original surface.

At the shows

A collection changes when it enters the room.

Real show photography from the work of bringing American art into view.

Thurston Nichols and Joanne among the antiques show displays
Bethlehem, PA
Thurston Nichols and Joanne in a maritime antiques display
A shared eye

“

The right object does more than fill a room. It gives the room a point of view.

Thurston Nichols · Folk art is fine art