I suspect most of us enjoy collecting antiques because we love to learn. Its a fundamental passion for most collectors as you want to know who made it, how it was made and then who owned it. Some dive deep into any one of those wells and become experts because of their quest for knowledge. The flip side is the small number of collectors, in my world around five percent, who could not care one iota about the objects they buy. They love them in the here and now and have zero interest in the story behind an object. Such a view is most often found in those who are passionate about fine art. They love the work for what it says to them now but lack any curiosity about others. Knowledge in the antiques trade is the most valuable commodity. Most of us have known dealers or curators or auctioneers who are incredible fonts of knowledge. People who not only have amassed knowledge, but who also wish to share it. For me, one of my mentors was the late John J. Snyder, Jr. of Lancaster. John was one of those people whose knowledge was so amazing that I trusted his guesses more than I trusted many peoples facts. John had an identic memory where if he saw something in a collection, he would remember it. I recall one time talking about Chippendale desks with shell interiors. He was the only person other than myself who knew that the John Harris Mansion in Harrisburg had such a desk. He further knew that it belonged to the Kelker family who donated it and that they had originally come from Lebanon County. The desk was part of a group of desks with shallow relief shell carvings that all seemed to come from Lebanon. How John knew that was breathtaking (and I only knew it because I worked at the John Harris Mansion in my youth). John sadly never wrote down all that he knew, which I still regret. He was one of those scholars for whom all the open doors for future research never closed. Thus even though he might crack a mystery, it opened the door to another mystery, and so on. He was like Alice in always going down the rabbit hole to more and more unique discoveries. One of my favorite stories about John was his research into a distant relative of his named John Musser. Musser was an affluent 18th-century Mennonite whose household goods were among the finest one could imagine. How did John know that? He researched him across several county lines, chasing his possessions down through family members to the 20th century. Some he acquired, and others he documented. It was an amazing story. All of us need to have a John Snyder in our lives. Someone who can share not only their knowledge but their passion for the quest. John died more than a decade ago, but I recently came across some of the letters he wrote to me. In them, I find that insatiable curiosity that drives all of us as collectors. Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth of antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.