Authenticity is pointed out by the lack of markings left by modern day power tools. Saw and sanding traces, stain and varnish finishes, glue residue, wooden or metal fasteners, no detail escapes their eyes in the effort to guarantee authenticity and assign a market value. They are each excitably animated, and give you a sense they have been at this game for truly a long time. And at 59 they have been at it a long time, ever since they were 12, when apparently they were doing business on their own, separate from their antique-loving parents.
I've recognized the brothers on two occasions, seeing either one of them twice, or each of them once. Unless the TV puts their name up as as a "bumper" I am never really sure who's who.
One time, passing The Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan, I spotted either Leigh or Leslie in an animated conversation with some people just as they were about to pass through the restaurant's front door. As either Leigh or Leslie were holding the door open I wanted to tug on one of the other people's sleeve and warn them not to let Leigh (or Leslie) turn the table over inside with food on it. Wait till it was cleared to assess its origin and value. As quick as I thought this, I also didn't say it.
The other time was sometime around 7:45 one weekday morning as I was leaving the upper level of Penn Station and making my way out to 31st Street. I saw one of the brothers headed toward me, well dressed, carrying nothing, headed for what I theorized would be an 8:00 Acela train (No. 2109) that would get him to Philadelphia in an hour and twelve minutes, if on time. (I took it once.) I figured he must have something to do with Philly if antique American furniture is involved.
Despite their notoriety and TV fame, it was quite surprising to see a Page 1, NYT Arts Section story on what is considered to be strange behavior on their part at New Orleans auction house in April. It seems the brothers, one online, the other on the phone, bid against each other multiple times on several items, having the effect of driving what would have been modest expected prices upward by tens of thousands of dollars, and then not paying for their successful bids.
This is like having two Disney characters stiff a restaurant after ordering expensive meals for a room full of people. American icons do not stiff.
Neither brother apparently agreed to an interview for the NYT, but apparently explained their actions to the auction house in an email from Leslie. It was all a silly mix-up between two brothers who, in their excitement, became confused. And if that doesn't settle the matter for you, there is the quote from the email: "This was a situation where my brother thought I was bidding on the lot, and I thought HE was bidding on it. We made a mistake, and I would hope that given the amount of property we purchased, you would forgive us for this mistake."
Huh? They can't tell each other apart? Did one steal the other's identity? Does Leigh believe he is Leslie, and does Leslie believe he is Leigh? What would Freud say about this?
Their explanation is more confusing than "return codes" in programming, where with enough negatives you come back to where you started.
During one of our breakfasts at a diner in Glens Falls during the Saratoga racing season I overheard the grandma waitress express frustration at not being able to tell her twin granddaughters apart. She mentioned this out loud, as her granddaughters and daughter were there in front of her, that she thought a tattoo on one, or both of them would help her out. I cringed.
In the case of the Keno brothers, as you might expect, lawyers are involved and a settlement of some kind will likely emerge.
I now wonder if tattoos will be suggested.
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