On March 23, my friend Vito Peri passed away after a long struggle with a debilitating, inherited disease.
Vito (1936′010) grew up in Philadelphia. His father and mother had immigrated to this country as teenagers. His father had a salvage business; and, in his youth, Vito was exposed to a plethora of magnificent artifacts removed from various old Philadelphia mansions. After his father’s passing, Vito began to pursue his life in the business of antiques. First, he attended a local college for a year, studying and focusing primarily on art courses. He then began an antiques business in Philadelphia and eventually married Linda Bassano.
Over the years Vito shared with me many stories about his early days in Philadelphia and how dangerous it was. One day I visited him while he was watching a Discovery Channel program about Philadelphia mobsters. The image on the television screen depicted a very famous mobster dead on the street in a pool of blood. Vito pointed and said, “I used to babysit that man when he was a boy.” Eventually in 1979, after things got too dangerous in Philadelphia, Vito and Linda moved to Northport, Maine, where they began Blue Dolphin Antiques.
From the beginning, Vito and his wife were both extremely hard workers. He had a tremendous desire to deal in fine quality antiques, and over the years he established an extraordinary emporium of quality antiques featuring extravagant chandeliers, classical furniture and quality art objects of all types. The evolution of his shop and the quality of goods that he eventually amassed were a tremendous source of pride for him. It reflected his intense interest in various cultures and sophisticated collectibles. He was a passionate reader and was familiar with most of the ancient civilizations, the classics and the evolution of man and society, all of which he would discuss with great enthusiasm.
Vito was an intense person and had an extraordinary sense of loyalty to anyone he considered a friend. He was extremely honest and highly valued that quality in the friends he selected. One time, in the very early 1980s, he attended one of my auctions (he never missed one). During the preview, someone approached him and described a particularly nice item that would normally interest Vito. The man went on to explain it was in the trunk of his car in the parking lot and asked if Vito would like to look at it and buy it. Vito looked at the person and said, “Get away from me!” and went on to state that the auctioneer had spent a tremendous amount of money advertising and promoting his sale, drawing together a number of buyers with the explicit purpose of stimulating trade and enticing them to spend their money on his goods. It was Vito’s contention that this man was effectively sponging off the coattails of the auctioneers’ efforts and taking advantage of the buying potential the auctioneer had created. Vito refused to do business with the man and told him to leave him alone.
In the early years, on more than one occasion, someone would approach him at an auction in the hopes he might consider “pooling” with them to help control the potential of high prices. Vito not only told them that he would not, but essentially threatened them and told them to leave him alone and to never approach him with such an idea in the future. He considered it restraint of trade and a totally dishonest practice that he never considered, particularly in the business emporium of a friend. If he was at a friend’s auction and the auctioneer was struggling and the bidding was slow, it was not unusual or uncommon for Vito to actually begin aggressively bidding on a number of items to “help the auctioneer.” Obviously, no matter what he won, he would buy and pay for it, regardless of whether he needed it at the time or not. His sense of loyalty and patronage was indeed significant.
Loyal, outspoken, intense, honest, considerate and kind were all qualities that made him such a unique character. He is much missed by me, my wife and my entire family †to which he was, for such a long time, a very valued friend. I am pleased and honored to have known him and to have been his friend.
⁊im Julia, Fairfield, Maine
