Mr. Fendelman explained that some pieces were made as a reaction to the more formal furniture of the time.

It's hard to imagine many Americans today having a taste for all this formal French furniture.

In the 19th century, "it was common to see fanciful painted pieces mixed in with much more formal furniture," she said.

It's formal furniture boiled down to the essence.

And a computer screen - out of place among the formal, faintly early American furniture - flashes bond prices and interest rates.

The collection attracted just about every major dealer in the country who specializes in formal American furniture.

The woods spell the biggest difference between Chinese formal and folk furniture.

"Some of the fine carvings on the formal furniture are exquisite," she said.

More than 50 northeastern dealers will exhibit formal and country furniture, fine art and decorative accessories.

They evoke an honest architecture that, while naive, has much the same spirit as the more formal furniture's.