The Winter Antiques Show January 24th - February 2nd, 2014

And we thought last winter was cold... Every January New York is warmed up - that may be stretching it a bit - with the magnificent, 60-year old Winter Antiques Show to benefit the East Side House Settlement. 

Everybody who has even thought about antiques is either putting on a show, or paying to get into the many events held in this whirlwind frenzy antiques month in the big, cold apple. The local auction houses long ago jumped on the bandwagon and usually throw big auctions; this year's star being the collection of Ralph Esmerian, "Visual Grace". The auction grossed $12,955,943, a new record for an auction of American Folk Art. But nothing compares to this old chestnut of shows that, like Cher, will live forever! And I mean that in a nice way. 

Nathan Liverant & Son, Colchester, CT.
Arthur Liverant heads up the third generation of this family business which has been dealing in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century American furniture, paintings, silver, glass and related accessories since 1920. I always try to tell Arthur that he really does not look 90, but he is always too busy with customers to joke around. 
(Just kidding).

Suzanne Courcier and Robert W. Wilkins, Yarmouth Port, MA.
Not only is Arthur Liverant not even close to 90, but Suzanne and Bob are not Shaker, although their strictness in exhibiting the finest of Shaker and Americana is worthy of old church discipline. They are a little looser when they party, however, thank Heav'n.

Olde Hope Antiques, New Hope, PA.
Veterans of 17 years at the Winter Antiques Show, this firm has always exhibited extraordinary examples of American Folk and Decorative Arts. It is not easy to make Americana seem fresh and crisp, but each year their booth hits a home run.

"R 20th Century", New York City.
Yep, Mod made it to the Winter Antiques Show. The elegance here is very seductive and we suspect we will be seeing more fine 20th-Century design at shows in the coming years.

Elliott & Grace Snyder, South Egremont, MA.
The Snyders are much admired authorities on early American furniture, paintings, textiles and Americana. Their presence at the Winter Antiques Show makes a significant contribution to the event. 

Barbara Israel Garden Antiques, Katonah, NY.
A fantasy comes to life here with garden furnishings of the highest caliber. Americans still have some catching up to do in this field of collecting, and Ms. Israel is here to help. 

David A. Schorsch - Eileen M. Smiles, Woodbury, CT.
Always with an outstanding collection, this year's booth included an Ammi Phillips masterpiece, a double portrait of twin brothers, Jacob Wessil Ten Broeck and William Henry Ten Broeck, painted in Clermont, Columbia County, New York, 1834.

The Winter Antiques Show, NYC, January 25-February 3, 2013

Cold winds and grim weather are no match for the warm and glamorous Winter Antiques Show at NYC's freshened up Park Avenue Armory. Blanche and I exhibited at WAS, as we are wont to call it, for 19 years! The show was in its heyday then, before NYC became nearly overpopulated with year round antiques and art shows. Originally started 59 years ago (No, Blanche and I were not there then) as a way to cast away Society's January blues and raise money for the East Side House Settlement, it soon became one of a few world class antiques shows. It is pure pleasure to visit the event now as an attendee, although it is hard not to see the well masked fatigue in the dealers' faces that only those who have participated in this 2-week marathon can imagine. Still the show of shows, the event, like Tina Turner, just keeps on rolling.

Edwin Hild of Olde Hope Antiques, New Hope, PA. is pictured in their booth filled with Americana treasures, including a pure form Windsor arm chair, an outstanding chest of drawers in original paint, and a smashing game board.

Elliott and Grace Snyder Antiques, South Egremont, MA., featured a bold theorum, New England, circa 1830, from a private collection.  An identical version, complete with a watermelon on a platter, is illustrated in Jean Lippman's American Primitive Painting attributed to the Holger Cahill Collection.

Elliott Snyder pretends he is not tired after a long day posting SOLD tags throughout his booth.  He is supported by a one-of-a-kind, elaborately veneered Vermont sideboard, made for the marriage of Sarah Smith, the daughter of a Revolutionary War General, circa 1817. The piece is signed Isaac Bucklan [later spelled with a d] Saxton River, Vermont. 

Frank and Barbara Pollack's booth always includes unusually beautiful American paintings, such as this charming oil on canvas portrait of a lovely young girl in an elegant white dress. Attributed to Thomas Ware, 1803-1826,  Pomfret, VT. A paper label affixed to the back of the portrait inscribed  "Harriet Newell Keyes. 1816-1832. Vershirre, Vermont", identifies her as the sitter.

Nathan Liverant & Son Antiques, Colchester, CT., the distinguished purveyor of 18th- and 19th-Century American furniture, paintings, silver and glass since 1920, provided importance and luster to the show, as always.

David S. Schorsch & Eileen Smiles, Woodbury, CT., exhibited one of our favorite pieces of textile folk art ever. Above the inscription "We's Free" two tiny figures dance among a peaceable grouping of wool applique animals and a little girl dressed in a pink dress of soft leather, probably a remnant of a kid glove. David, whom we have known since he was virtually a child prodigy in antiques, noted on the description tag that the piece, which we once owned, was published in our book, Crib Quilts and Other Small Wonders, 1981, E.P. Dutton, NY. Edited by Cyril I. Nelson.

Blanche photographed a happy, old home week moment, with youngsters Eliot(right) and Grace (seated) Snyder, and Barbara Pollack (center),  long time exhibitors at the prestigious show. The antiques business is rich with a wealth of knowledgeable experts in a variety of fields, people who also happen to make the best of friends.