Mary Allis (March 2, 1899 – May 8, 1987) was an American dealer of art and antiques. Allis was born into a

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

family of modest means, and moved to New York in 1929 to begin a career in the field of

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

. In the mid-1940s she opened an antiques store in central

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. At around the same time she began the restoration of the

David Ogden House The David Ogden House is a historic house at 1520 Bronson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was built in 1750 as an integral saltbox. The house is an exceptional survivor of a typical mid 18th century Connecticut farmhouse. There is a massive ...

in Fairfield, ultimately turning it into a showcase for eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century American folk paintings and furniture. She became an influential guide to many important collectors, such as

Stewart Gregory Stewart E. Gregory (1913–1976) was an American collector of folk art. Gregory was descended from a family which had lived in Wilton, Connecticut, for many generations. His interest in collecting antiques was sparked by his 1944 purchase of a Gu ...

. Allis gained recognition in 1958 when she purchased the collection of folk art assembled by William J. and Marion Raymond Gunn of Newtonville,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Of the 630 pieces, many of them folk portraits, in the collection, around 150 were purchased by Stephen Clark for the

New York State Historical Association The Fenimore Art Museum (formerly known as New York State Historical Association) is a museum located in Cooperstown, New York, Cooperstown, New York (state), New York on the west side of Otsego Lake (New York), Otsego Lake. Collection strengths i ...

; the remainder went to other institutions and private collectors. The

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location and ...

is among the institutions which purchased work from Allis. Once described as the "doyenne of folk-art dealers" and the "first lady of folk art", Allis was highly regarded among other dealers during her career. She died in Fairfield.

References

1899 births 1987 deaths American art dealers Women art dealers Businesspeople from Cleveland People from Fairfield, Connecticut Businesspeople from Connecticut 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen {{US-business-bio-1890s-stub