Jessica Stringer, antique dealer extraordinaire, 8th in a series…
Writing this series of people who played major parts in helping me find solid ground as a professional interior designer in South Texas during the lean years, I am compromised by the simple fact that I do not have digital images of those years. It is a shame! I can only provide images here of like items; Jessica would have selected things even more unique and worldly.

Jessica had an outstanding reputation among all the designers and those interested in fine, interesting furniture. She made regular journeys to France and had established quite a network of dealers there who assisted her in finding just the right pieces for our market. I was always amazed by her “eye”, and it was one of my most pleasurable work days when I knew she was unloading a new shipment or even had crude photos to share of pieces she had bought that were already in transit.

Not only did Jessica have one lovely location for her business after another, she treated budding young designers like me with such respect! I always felt she was foraging a friendship with me over the years and not just cultivating my business. I adored her, and I miss her to this day.

Jessica was one of the early victims of cancer; she fought such a brave battle, but medical technology was not advanced enough to treat her in those years. She worked right up to her passing, even making an exhausting trip to France to buy. I recall worrying so about her, as I had seen her the days leading up to that journey, and she was so very frail.

The partner’s desk she found for me, personally, remains a constant reminder of her attention to her friends and customers. Jessica knew I had a limited budget, but she also knew I had a strong aesthetic and wanted a piece with character and distinction. The day the FedEx envelope arrived with the photo of the desk she had located for me was, in my naïve mind, a miracle. (Remember: this is before email & digital!)This woman had made the long trip to France, picked out a desk for me, taken a photo, had to wait for a lab to develop it, gone to a FedEx station, and mailed it to me. I immediately called her hotel (no cell phones back then!) to say “Yes!”

That very same desk has been modified expertly and now serves as our beautiful, distinctive kitchen island…as well as a daily reminder of a dear, dear friend and business associate who helped me make good design decisions and gave me the best choices for the interiors of others. God Bless Her!