The estate of Dr. Stephen J. Provenza. Major Baltimore collector of Apothecary and pharmacy items

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with collections of art, toys. Book, etc, but this new estate will be one that I will remember. I am happy to have the privilege to see and I hope in the near future, to have the pleasure of selling some of the items from one of the best Apothecary collection I have seen. Coming from one of the top collectors in Baltimore for his time, from the 1940’s onwards, this collection was the focus of Dr. Stephen J. Provenza.

I enjoy discovery and adding a piece of the puzzle of Baltimore’s History. Baltimore is one of older cities of the East coast, having or had had a large industry of Iron Works, the emanate Johns Hopkins University, the old Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, The Walter’s Art Museum (now and then) the BMA., and the list goes on. Having the chance to add to the discovery is a good feeling for Sturgis Antiques and me. I hope I can bring to light a forgotten collector and his collection.

Back to the collection of Dr. Stephen Provenza, he was a graduate of Baltimore City College, a Bachelors and Graduate Degree from Maryland School of Pharmacy as well as a Doctorate Degree from Milton University. He owned and operated his Pharmacy in famous and beautiful designed Medical Arts Building on Cathedral Street and Read Street for years. I will have a photographed posted soon of the Pharmacy that the estate has allowed me to show.

The Estate has kept this collection intact for over 40 or more years and this will be a re-introduction of the collection. In fact, they have copies of an Article written for the Baltimore Sun and Photos by A. Bodine. In the Article, it gives a background of Dr. Provenza as well as highlights of his collection. I have copied this article for you to read, please see attached photos.

This is a brief introduction of Dr. Provenza and his collection. The amount of items the estate has will be a large undertaking.  Some of the items I have photographed are for sale and others will not be. Items that are for sale will be posted on the site. If you see an item in the photos and would like more information, please contact me.  I hope you will enjoy seeing some of these items as much as I have.

If you have questions or if you are interested in a particular item, please feel free to contact me.