SALISBURY — Val Michalski was almost at the end of his rope.In his studio in North Egremont, Mass., he was testing successively stronger solvents on an 1844 portrait of Maria Birch Coffing of Salisbury by painter Edwin White.The painting, acquired by the Salisbury Association Historical Society in May 2012, had been sent to Michalski for restoration. (He had previously restored a companion portrait of John Churchill Coffing, Maria’s husband.)This painting was in rougher shape, Michalski said. (“Quite appalling,” was how he put it.)He said the painting had been revarnished with a substance that resisted his battery of solvents.“I was stymied,” he said. “I had one technique left.”He used a small scalpel “to physically lift the varnish off.”Once he worked the size 15 scalpel in, “Lo and behold — the varnish just shattered.”The process actually went fairly quickly from that point. He was able to change to a size 20 scalpel — “you could take a leg off with that one” — and get the stubborn varnish off.Which still left a faint gray haze, and some damaged areas that had been touched up at some point with black wax.Michalski said that when he could see the figure a little better, he called historian Katherine Chilcoat (who works for the Salisbury Association). The painting shows Mrs. Coffing sitting in the foreground — and, very unusually, a younger black woman behind her.Regina Madigan, who researched and appraised the painting, said, “I almost fainted” when she saw the black woman.Madigan’s research indicates the woman was a domestic servant — not a slave — in the Coffing household named Jane (or Jenny) Lee.She said including black people in American portraits wasn’t unusual in itself, but they were usually thematically and literally apart from the main subject — slaves working in the background, for example.Here, Jane Lee is close behind Maria Coffing. Michalski’s own observation was that Jane’s expression is “very caring but also commanding.”Michalski, along with appraiser Madigan, frame restoration expert Regina Wenzek and Chilcoat spoke about the Coffing portrait at the Scoville Memorial Library Sunday, Jan. 13, as part of the “Era of Elegance” series.Chilcoat gave a thumbnail sketch of the Coffings and how the painting came to the Histrocial Society, and left the audience with a glimpse of a love letter, early 19th-century style sent by John Churchill Coffing to his future bride.Coffing was 37 at the time, a widower with four children. Maria Birch was 30, unmarried and a schooteacher. He made the first move, sending her a note that said:“Miss Birch, as the first advance belongs to the part that I am, this is directly to inform you madam that I have it in contemplation to make some pertinent propositions to you and should you think proper to adhere to nuptial stipulations, candor shall direct the alliance. Yours with esteem, John Church Coffing.”Maria Birch’s reply: “I am bound to tell you that my heart is buried with a man who lies I know not where, but if you still wish it, I will marry you, and be a mother to your children to the very best of my ability.”Chilcoat said she had the story of Maria Birch’s lost love, but it would have to wait for another day.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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