Arthur Stannard Vernay (11 May 1877 – 25 October 1960) was a noted English-born American art and antiques dealer, decorator, big-game hunter, and naturalist explorer. He sponsored and took part in expeditions across the world to collect biological specimens and cultural artifacts on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History. The Vernay-Faunthorpe Hall of South Asian mammals in the AMNH is named after him.
Advertisement for Vernay's store in Country Life (1916)
Born in Weymouth, England, Vernay was born to Louisa Stannard and Thomas Crabb Avant. Shortly after his parents divorced, he emigrated to New York in August 1904 and changed his surname from Avant to Vernay. He found a job as an elevator operator at a furniture store known as A.J. Crawfords and after working there briefly, Vernay started his own shop in 1906, called Arthur S. Vernay, Inc. located at 1 East 45th Street, near Madison Avenue. He also had a shop in London at 217 Piccadilly in the late 1910s to 1920s. He sold antiques and decorative artworks to a number of important and influential New Yorkers including Ogden Codman Jr., Elsie de Wolfe, Sir Charles Carrick Allom, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Francis Patrick Garvan, Benjamin Altman, Solomon R. Guggenheim, William Russell Grace, as well as leading art dealerships such as M Knoedler & Co, and the design firm Tiffany Studios.[1] From the 1920s to the early 1940s, he had a shop at 19 East 54th Street in New York.[2]
Travel and huntingedit
Vernay seated on elephant shot in the Biligirirangan Hills (1923) which is now in the South Asia hall of the AMNH
In the 1920s, Vernay grew increasingly interested in game hunting and naturalist exploration. In 1921 he stayed at the Biligirirangans with Ralph Camroux Morris and saw wild animals in nature for the first time. He returned to the US and then sponsored a collecting expedition led by Colonel John Champion Faunthorpe intended to enhance the American Museum of Natural History's collection of Southeast Asian animals, Vernay joined Faunthorpe in India in 1923. This expedition culminated in the American Museum of Natural History's Vernay-Faunthorpe Hall of South Asiatic Mammals, which opened in 1930 and held mounted elephants shot by the collectors in Mysore.[3] He was elected Vice Patron of the Bombay Natural History Society in 1928. Vernay shot the rare Javan rhinoceros near Telok Anson in 1932 along with Guy Rowley while searching for Schomburg's deer. It was the last of its species in Perak.[4] In 1935 he became a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History and in the same year he accompanied Charles Suydam Cutting to Tibet where they met the Dalai Lama. His last expedition was to Africa in 1946. Around the same time he became very interested in orchids.[5]
Bahamasedit
Vernay's home in Los Cayos, Nassau (1939)
Vernay sold off his company in the 1940s (it was then run by Stephen Jussel) and moved to Nassau, Bahamas, where he cultivated an orchid greenhouse, collected species from South America, participated in environmental conservation efforts, co-founding the Bahamas National Trust and the Society for the Preservation of the Flamingo. In the Bahamas, Vernay lived with his wife Marion Kelley (married 1908) at their home, Los Cayos, and was part of an expatriate social community that included the Duke of Windsor and Duchess of Windsor, the Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren, and hosted the English author Ian Fleming when he visited the Bahamas in 1956 before writing both Dr. No and Thunderball. Fleming accompanied Vernay and Robert Cushman Murphy along with his friend and OSS agent Ivar Felix Bryce, to Inagua which had the largest flamingo colony in the world.
Expeditionsedit
The major expeditions sponsored by Vernay include:
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition to India, 1923
Vernay-Angola Expedition, 1925
Vernay-Archbold Expedition to Madagascar, 1929
Vernay Scientific Survey of the Eastern Ghats (with collectors V.S. LaPersonne and N.A. Baptista), 1929
^Osborn, HF (1942). Proboscidea. Volume 2. New York: AMNH. p. 1311.
^Loch, Charles W. (937). "The Javan or lesser one-horned rhinoceros and its geographical distribution". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 15: 131–149.
^Morris, R.C. (1961). "Obituary. Arthur Stannard Vernay". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 58: 249–250.
^"Field Museum News". January 1930. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^"Field Museum News". November 1930. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^Ward, F. Kingdon (1941). "The Vernay-Cutting Expedition, November, 1938, to April, 1939: Report on the Vegetation and Flora of the Hpimaw and Htawgaw Hills, Northern Burma". Brittonia. 4 (1): 1–19. doi:10.2307/2804984. JSTOR 2804984. S2CID 38972960.
^Lunde, DP (2007). (PDF). 806: 1–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Vernay", p. 274).
External linksedit
Old English glasses by A. S. Vernay
Vernay and Cutting in Tibet
History of Vernay's antique business
Antique dealer notes
April 14, 2024
arthur, stannard, vernay, 1877, october, 1960, noted, english, born, american, antiques, dealer, decorator, game, hunter, naturalist, explorer, sponsored, took, part, expeditions, across, world, collect, biological, specimens, cultural, artifacts, behalf, amer. Arthur Stannard Vernay 11 May 1877 25 October 1960 was a noted English born American art and antiques dealer decorator big game hunter and naturalist explorer He sponsored and took part in expeditions across the world to collect biological specimens and cultural artifacts on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History The Vernay Faunthorpe Hall of South Asian mammals in the AMNH is named after him Arthur S Vernay c 1923 Contents 1 Early life 2 Travel and hunting 3 Bahamas 4 Expeditions 5 Eponymy 6 References 7 External linksEarly life edit nbsp Advertisement for Vernay s store in Country Life 1916 Born in Weymouth England Vernay was born to Louisa Stannard and Thomas Crabb Avant Shortly after his parents divorced he emigrated to New York in August 1904 and changed his surname from Avant to Vernay He found a job as an elevator operator at a furniture store known as A J Crawfords and after working there briefly Vernay started his own shop in 1906 called Arthur S Vernay Inc located at 1 East 45th Street near Madison Avenue He also had a shop in London at 217 Piccadilly in the late 1910s to 1920s He sold antiques and decorative artworks to a number of important and influential New Yorkers including Ogden Codman Jr Elsie de Wolfe Sir Charles Carrick Allom Consuelo Vanderbilt Francis Patrick Garvan Benjamin Altman Solomon R Guggenheim William Russell Grace as well as leading art dealerships such as M Knoedler amp Co and the design firm Tiffany Studios 1 From the 1920s to the early 1940s he had a shop at 19 East 54th Street in New York 2 Travel and hunting edit nbsp Vernay seated on elephant shot in the Biligirirangan Hills 1923 which is now in the South Asia hall of the AMNHIn the 1920s Vernay grew increasingly interested in game hunting and naturalist exploration In 1921 he stayed at the Biligirirangans with Ralph Camroux Morris and saw wild animals in nature for the first time He returned to the US and then sponsored a collecting expedition led by Colonel John Champion Faunthorpe intended to enhance the American Museum of Natural History s collection of Southeast Asian animals Vernay joined Faunthorpe in India in 1923 This expedition culminated in the American Museum of Natural History s Vernay Faunthorpe Hall of South Asiatic Mammals which opened in 1930 and held mounted elephants shot by the collectors in Mysore 3 He was elected Vice Patron of the Bombay Natural History Society in 1928 Vernay shot the rare Javan rhinoceros near Telok Anson in 1932 along with Guy Rowley while searching for Schomburg s deer It was the last of its species in Perak 4 In 1935 he became a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History and in the same year he accompanied Charles Suydam Cutting to Tibet where they met the Dalai Lama His last expedition was to Africa in 1946 Around the same time he became very interested in orchids 5 Bahamas edit nbsp Vernay s home in Los Cayos Nassau 1939 Vernay sold off his company in the 1940s it was then run by Stephen Jussel and moved to Nassau Bahamas where he cultivated an orchid greenhouse collected species from South America participated in environmental conservation efforts co founding the Bahamas National Trust and the Society for the Preservation of the Flamingo In the Bahamas Vernay lived with his wife Marion Kelley married 1908 at their home Los Cayos and was part of an expatriate social community that included the Duke of Windsor and Duchess of Windsor the Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner Gren and hosted the English author Ian Fleming when he visited the Bahamas in 1956 before writing both Dr No and Thunderball Fleming accompanied Vernay and Robert Cushman Murphy along with his friend and OSS agent Ivar Felix Bryce to Inagua which had the largest flamingo colony in the world Expeditions editThe major expeditions sponsored by Vernay include Faunthorpe Vernay Expedition to India 1923 Vernay Angola Expedition 1925 Vernay Archbold Expedition to Madagascar 1929 Vernay Scientific Survey of the Eastern Ghats with collectors V S LaPersonne and N A Baptista 1929 Vernay Lang Kalahari Expedition for Field Museum 1930 31 6 7 Vernay Hopwood Upper Chindwin expedition 1935 S F Hopwood was the chief conservator of forests in Burma Vernay Cutting Burma Expedition 1938 39 with Charles Suydam Cutting 8 Vernay Nyasaland Expedition 1946Eponymy editA large number of species and subspecies described from specimens collected on his expeditions have been named after him including the fish Hypsibarbus vernayi the Spottail Barb Enteromius afrovernayi the climbing mouse Dendromus vernayi the rodent genus Vernaya 9 and the Angolan file snake Mehelya vernayi 10 nbsp Art portalVernay s business papers are in the Winterthur library through his friend Henry Francis du Pont References edit The Business Papers of Arthur S Vernay Inc The Winterthur Museum Garden and Library Retrieved 3 January 2013 Minnie E Young House PDF New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission 22 November 2016 Retrieved 13 May 2021 Osborn HF 1942 Proboscidea Volume 2 New York AMNH p 1311 Loch Charles W 937 The Javan or lesser one horned rhinoceros and its geographical distribution Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 15 131 149 Morris R C 1961 Obituary Arthur Stannard Vernay Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 58 249 250 Field Museum News January 1930 Retrieved 6 May 2020 Field Museum News November 1930 Retrieved 6 May 2020 Ward F Kingdon 1941 The Vernay Cutting Expedition November 1938 to April 1939 Report on the Vegetation and Flora of the Hpimaw and Htawgaw Hills Northern Burma Brittonia 4 1 1 19 doi 10 2307 2804984 JSTOR 2804984 S2CID 38972960 Lunde DP 2007 MAMMALIAN SPECIES Vernaya fulva PDF 806 1 3 Archived from the original PDF on 3 March 2016 Retrieved 17 May 2012 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Beolens Bo Watkins Michael Grayson Michael 2011 The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press xiii 296 pp ISBN 978 1 4214 0135 5 Vernay p 274 External links editOld English glasses by A S Vernay Vernay and Cutting in Tibet History of Vernay s antique business Antique dealer notes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Arthur Stannard Vernay amp oldid 1200206769, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
