Sean Baker’s favorite find? The red-yellow-and-gray Transformer in the second row: “I found Blaster at a thrift shop for $1.25. It’s worth between $70 and $100.”

Inside the Rare Collections of Six Locals

A look at their amazing collections of sneakers, antique purses, and other treasures.

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Contents
  1. Sean Baker
  2. Benedict Hastings
  3. Matt and Wendy Crandall
  4. Laura Brown
  5. Bat Favitsou Boulandi

Sean Baker

Transportation specialist

Collects: Vintage toys

“I do a lot of traveling for work, and I always check out thrift stores for vintage toys. I could go out and buy an NIB [new in box] Optimus Prime in pristine condition, but there’s no fun in that. I have about 500 Transformers, so this is the kind of collection that deserves to be displayed. But it also needs to be protected. Until I find the right way to do that, my collection is bubble-wrapped and in containers. I don’t have any on my mantel or nightstand. I’m not like Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I like the company of women.”

 

“I’m particularly interested in Russian porcelain from the Winter Palace,” Benedict Hastings says, such as the plate with a double eagle at its center (above, far left). “That’s Russian Classicism at its best.” Hastings also owns an embellished cigarette case that belonged to vintner Louis Roederer (bottom row) and flatware (top row) made for the coronation of Alexander II.

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Benedict Hastings

Antiques dealer
Collects: Russian silver and decorative arts

“I’m a monarchist at heart. When I moved to Washington in 1980, I went around signing up for all the cultural events at the embassies. When I met the wives of the ambassadors, I would ask them what they collected and they would give me tours of their collections. In the 1930s, the Soviet government was still selling off the treasures of Imperial Russia. This was how Marjorie Merriweather Post was able to buy her Imperial fine and decorative arts. Eventually, when some ambassadors retired, these purchases often wound up at estate sales.”

 

“A mutual friend who worked for Disney introduced us in 1991,” Wendy Crandall says. “Our wedding vows included a line about building a life together—including our collection.” Adds Matt: “In the last two or three decades, Disney has gone into overdrive with products. We’ve had to limit ourselves to things related to the original release of the 1951 film.”

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Matt and Wendy Crandall

Digital asset management (Matt) and retired master aesthetician (Wendy)
Collect: Alice in Wonderland memorabilia

“When I was six,” says Matt, “my dad took me to Disneyland. We were standing along Main Street, watching the parade of characters, when Alice came right up to me and shook my hand. I was so entranced. I wouldn’t let my hand get wet for the rest of the day because I didn’t want to wash off the Alice on me.” Adds Wendy: “Fairy tales always had a princess. In the book, Alice is never described physically. Anyone can be Alice. She talks back—and talks back to the Queen. I could really relate to that.”

 

Laura Brown’s favorite is a silk friendship purse from about 1790 (top row, white with two panels): “There are two little watercolors set into the purse, one showing two women with a dog [the symbol of fidelity]; the other reads ‘To sincerity.’ It’s never been used. Whoever received it must have treasured it and tucked it away because it was so special to them.”

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Laura Brown

Retired social worker
Collects: Antique purses

“I have 50 purses that are just fantastic. I have 250 that are also great. They date from the 19th, 18th, and 17th centuries. For the really rare ones, I have specially made padded boxes, which I paw through about once a week just to look at them. What I love about them is their relative smallness and the fact that they are functional, dimensional, and yet the canvas for something personal. It’s the idea that something so ordinary and utilitarian can also be a work of art. I never use them—they are so fragile. I carry a small Baggalini. It’s utilitarian and not beautiful.”

 

In Bat Favitsou Boulandi’s collection is a pair of red women’s Nikes with a leopard print (top row, second from left): “They don’t even fit me. I’m saving them for my wife-to-be or daughter-to-be.” Other kicks, such as the red J. Crew/New Balance collaboration (bottom row, far left), he says, “are great investments. I bought a pair for around $80 that’s now worth around $200.”

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Bat Favitsou Boulandi

Art teacher, Norwood School
Collects: Sneakers

“I was really into breakdancing as a teenager. I went to a Summer Session Jam, a breakdancing competition at American University, and noticed that all the best B Boys had the best sneakers. I saw one guy in Nike Air Trainers in the Viotech color­way—purple, yellow, and gray. I just had to have those sneakers. That’s when I began building my artillery of sneakers. I was 17 then; I’m 40 now and probably have 400 pairs of sneakers. I’ve actually lost count. I buy what speaks to me. I love sneakers. The craft, the fabric, the whole experience.”

This article appears in the July 2022 issue of Washingtonian.

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