Collectors
Click here to read about more collectorsThe lady on the license plate
By Elizabeth Licata
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When Shera’s family moved to Buffalo, he often spent weekends at his grandfather’s house in Wilson, while their Allentown Victorian was being rehabbed. He and his mother, Kathleen, would spend the weekend at yard sales and flea markets, and Kathleen decided that little Brendan should have something to look for while she shopped for bargains. They picked up a Statue of Liberty figure on one of their adventures, and from then on, Brendan was a collector. It became a family game for him to find Statue of Liberty figures amidst the crowded flea market and estate sale tables.
“The collection didn’t really stem out of patriotism,” Shera notes, “but more out of looking at it as an image/artwork.” He was no doubt inspired by the collecting activity of his parents, who are discerning connoisseurs of fine art and pottery, and over the years have had special interests in Victorian Christmas lights (colored glass candle holders that were hung on trees), old mixing bowls, kitschy tablecloths from the forties upward, linen napkins, and bakelite handled flatware. Brendan’s father, John Shera, is an artist, while his mother, Kathleen Rooney, is a former actress. A creative household, to be sure.
At the age of eighteen, Brendan Shera now has “a significant amount” of Lady Liberty figurines, as well as souvenir plates, pitchers, ash trays, spoons, a voice-activated dancing toy, a Teddy Bear version, handkerchiefs, trays, and other paraphernalia. At first he was sent to look for these objects as a way for him to have fun while his parents shopped, but he later began to choose objects that reflected his own developing aesthetic, and also began receiving Statue of Liberty-related gifts from family friends.
A freshman at Cornell, Brendan says that he has stopped actively collecting Statue of Liberty objects, and now focuses on more typical teen interests like concerts, crew, and backpacking through Europe. “Every now and then, somebody gives me another one,” he says. When he looks at them now, he says he most enjoys the “really bad replicas, where something is really wrong in the duplication.”
If Brendan were to continue his collecting, he’d find plenty of company, and plenty of objects. Ebay, for example, currently lists over 3900 Statue of Liberty-related objects, including 265 postcards, 100 photographs, 214 pieces of jewelry, and 236 “decorative collectibles,” among many other categories.
Like many collections, Shera’s seems to have snowballed, starting with a genuine interest in the image, and continuing through the sheer momentum of already having objects and therefore needing to add more.
Shera managed to break the chain reaction, thanks to the effects of adolescence. After he finishes college—he is studying Natural Resources and considering perhaps going into environmental law—he’ll eventually settle down. That will be the time for some serious collecting.
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The Meaning of the Statue of Liberty
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| * Torch: Enlightenment and the light of liberty * Crown (spikes): The rays of heavenly light that shine over the seven seas and the  seven continents of the earth.* Crown (windows): The twenty-five windows in the crown represent twenty-five “natural minerals” of the earth known in 1886.* Robe: Roman garment meant to evoke the Roman goddess Libertas. * Tablet: Book of laws on which the U.S. is founded. On the tablet is written JULY IV MDCCLXXVI, the date of the Declaration of Independence.* The Feet: The statue wears sandals, the footwear of a common person. She is walking forward, leading the way to peace.* Chains: Broken chains underfoot symbolize breaking the bonds of slavery and tyranny. The chains are visible only from the torch or from aircraft flying over the statue. |
Elizabeth Licata is editor of Buffalo Spree.
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