Federico de Vera's eponymous SoHo store, full of historical, carefully selected curios ranging from 18th-century religious figures to Victorian insect samplers, resembles a museum – with a key difference. "You can touch and buy what's on display," says de Vera. "In my shop, like at Sotheby's, you can actually have these objects." Ahead of the upcoming auctions Collections & Curiosities: Silver, Ceramics and Objects of Vertu and Collections: European Decorative Arts, we spoke with de Vera about his favorite lots in the sales. –ALEXANDRA OWENS
Collections & Curiosities: Silver, Ceramics & Objects of Vertu
19 October | New York
The Magnificent Botanical Library of D.F. Allen
26 October | New York
Collections: European Decorative Arts
27 October | New York