Get to Know Newel The Newel Archives: Jacqueline Kennedy On a sunny March morning in 1963 the First Lady of the United States of America, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, walked into the Newel Gallery on second avenue. Jackie explained that she and her husband were building a vacation home near Middleburg, Virginia and she was on the hunt for English Regency lacquered furniture. At the time, most celebrities only shopped with their interior designer, but Jackie Kennedy was different in that she liked to scout antiques by herself. Back in 1963, Newel had a small shop on second avenue filled with vases, lamps, and accessories, and two lofts a few blocks away filled with furniture. Jackie spent that entire day going back and forth between the different locations selecting a handful of beautiful pieces. She purchased 13 items that day including a pair of Victorian English papier-mache chairs, a three-piece nineteenth-century red lacquered chinoiserie salon set, a black lacquered English Regency chest and stand, a pair of French Empire-style porcelain urns, and two English Bristol-style lamps. Read More
