A Visit to the Winter Antiques Show

This year's Winter Antiques Show was, as usual, filled with many treasures.  Below are some of our favorite things.

A Peacock Garden Embellishment greeted show-goers at the Park Avenue Armory's Winter Antiques Show 2016.  From Barbara Israel's outstanding collection of garden furnishings, the bird offered a royal welcome to collectors and antiques fans who seemed not to notice record blizzard warnings from weather forecasters.

From the loan exhibition "Legacy for the Future: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art”.

Giorgia de Chirico.  Costume for the Astrologer in “Le Bal”, 1929.

In the booth of Frank and Barbara  Pollack, a rare Schoolgirl Drawing signed “Hannah P. Badger 1811 and 1812”.  Watercolor and pencil and paper depicting and interior scene where Hannah Pearson Cogswell Badger (1791-1869) and her sister Julia are instructing a female class at The Atkinson Academy in Atkinson, New Hampshire.  Note the amazing and colorfully painted floorcloth. A precursor to Woodard Weave!

Also in the booth of Frank & Barbara Pollack ,  “An Extraordinary Carved and Painted Wedding Scene”.  Found in Massachusetts.  Circa 1900-1920.  The seventeen carved and paint decorated figures are wood, adorned with fabric clothing.

Also in the booth of Frank & Barbara Pollack, “Two Exceptional Paint- Decorated Chalk Ware Cats”.  Pennsylvania.  Circa 1860-1900.  Molded plaster of paris with original smoke painted decoration.

Tom Woodard and Joseyane Young seated in the booth of Robert Young Antiques.  Behind the table hangs a “Spectacular Georgian Architectural Turret Clock Face in untouched original condition, circa 1800”.

From Arader Galleries, an exceptional and rare Aquatint engraving by John James Audubon.  American, 1795-1851.  London, 1827-1838.

Olde Hope Antiques displayed “An Exceptional Graduated Stack of Eleven Shaker Finger-lapped Oval Boxes.  New England.  Circa 1830-1860.

Also featured in the booth of Olde Hope Antiques a “Portrait Bust of a Lady”.  Mario Korbel (1882-1954).  Carved and polychromed wood on a carved and gilded oak base.

In the booth of Elliot & Grace Snyder, a “Stone Carving of a Woman”.  A naïve and powerful stone carving of a woman in period dress.  Ohio.  Circa 1850-60.

The Snyders also displayed a charming and unusually detailed pastoral needlework picture featuring a shepherd and shepherdess with their dog and sheep, as well as a fisherman, within a primary border of flowers and leaves.  Early 18^th Century needlework at its best.  England, circa 1720.

Peter Fetterman Gallery: Platinum print by Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) of Audrey Hepburn, 1954.

Also from the booth of Peter Fetterman Gallery, Henri Cartier Bresson, 1908-2004.  Gelatin silver print.  Aquila Degli Abruzzi, Italy.  1952.

At the Winter Antiques Show  on Monday, January 25th, 2016, old friends gathered to celebrate the life of preeminent Shaker dealer Suzanne Courcier.   Pictured with her partner, Robert Wilkins (center), are Leigh Keno (left) and Thos. K. Woodard sharing a toast to Suzanne, whose expertise, knowledge and good humor will always be remembered 

Antiques Week 2013: Annual New Hampshire Extravaganza

It's what antiques fans wait for all year: The 56th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show in Manchester, NH, August 8-10-2013. It is the grand duchess of a week of royal antiques shows in the area, in what is billed as Six Great Events in One Great State!

Ron Bourgeault's Northeast Auctions Summer Americana Auction in Manchester starts the ball rolling with the usual big bang, featuring prime items from important collections. Then, off to Deerfield Monday morning for Nan Gurley's Americana Celebration Antiques Show.  

Next is Frank Gaglio's Mid-Week Antique Show in Concord, followed by a return trip back back to Manchester, just in time for Antiques in Manchester.

Stay put in Manchester for the opening of the long-running event of the jam-packed antiques week, the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association Show. Everybody who is anybody gets in line early to find that special treasure or two. Afterwards, everybody gets together to socialize and to catch up on what's new in antiques.

Whew!  Even though everybody was tired, they wouldn't admit it and, of course, could not miss Frank  Gaglio's Pickers Market Antiques Show Friday morning, where one always hopes to find the bargain of the year.

Caught resting amidst the madness are two legends in the antiques world, our good pal Scudder Smith, the famous Editor-in-chief and publisher of the renowned Newtown Bee and The Antiques & The Arts Weekly, looking as dapper as ever in yet another knock-out bow tie. And the esteemed owner of Northeast Auctions in Hampton, New Hampshire, Ron Bourgeault.  Some people never seem to look different than they did three decades ago.

Barbara Pollack of Frank & Barbara Pollack Antiques, Highland Park, IL, as usual, features mouth watering items in vivid colors and forms. Painted chests, theorems, and a stack of rare mid-19th-Century wallpaper hat boxes in rich hues add sparkle to the exhibition. At the right is an unusual departure from the 19th-Century, a store display figure of a glamorous woman wearing a fashionable evening gown with upswept hair in a do typical of the 1930's.

Betty Berdan of Newsom & Berdan Antiques, Thomasville, PA and Hallowell, Maine, displayed a superb textile; a museum quality appliqued mat from the early 1800's. “ A New Hampshire Town Celebration” depicts a colorful gathering of town residents in militia uniforms, top hats, and best clothes, enjoying a memorable day. This wonderful naïve work depicts the joy it’s maker felt about the town, it’s inn dated 1744, the town church, children and animals.

Shaker experts and dealers  Suzanne Courcier & Robert Wilkins, Yarmouth Port, MA, somehow make it look easy to come up with rare Shaker and other period American furnishings year after year. It is not easy, and their efforts are always impressive. With a careful eye and tons of knowledge, Suzanne and Bob never fail to make an impact.

One of our favorite Southern belles, dealer and consultant Deanne Levison, is shown in the booth chatting with Bob. 

Olde Hope Antiques, New Hope, PA, can always be counted on to bring an elegant collection of fine Americana. A graduated stack of seven oval Shaker boxes circa 1830-70 shares the spotlight with a House Hooked Rug circa 1900, a Swan Decoy in old paint, a Centre County Pennsylvania Dower Chest Circa 1810-20, and three early folk portraits among other fine wares.

Elliot & Grace Snyder of South Egremont, MA, well known for their knowledge, expertise and wonderful taste, exhibited their usual array of early furniture, fine textiles, folk art, English and American metalwork and related accessories.

"The Fruits of Industry", a charming hooked rug designed by James and Mercedes Hutchinson in excellent condition.  American, Ca. 1925-35. Cotton on burlap. Also displayed in their booth is one of Grace and Elliot's favorite paintings, shown below.

Portrait of a Young Woman. This exceptional oil on canvas is a hauntingly sensitive portrait of a young woman in white, possibly the work of Henry Folsom. American. Circa 1810-20. Oil on canvas.

The Winter Antiques Show - Part 2

A second visit to NYC's Winter Antiques Show offered another opportunity to enjoy more outstanding exhibits, and a chance to chat with friends.

Visitors to the show included veteran show manager Sanford Smith, chatting with dealer Barbara Pollack, Ms. Velvor Rhone wearing her dazzling Hermes scarf, and a very young, smartly dressed collector of the future.

 

 

Peter Fetterman Gallery of Santa Monica, CA, exhibited wonderful photographs, including one of Jean Paul Belmondo and the American actress from Marshalltown, Iowa, who won the hearts of the French, Jean Seberg. Jean's grandmother and mine were sisters, which made me her fourth cousin. My parents used to sell hearing aids and batteries to her parents, Dorothy and Ed Seberg at their drugstore. Other photographs, "Hats at a Father's Day Picnic" and "Models in the Window" also added striking images to the exhibit.  (see our facebook page for images)

Suzanne Courcier and Robert W. Wilkins, Yarmoth Port, MA, are the ultimate authorities in the world of authentic Shaker furnishings. A major sale of the show was their spectacular Shaker case piece with an intense chrome yellow painted surface.

Al Katz has significantly raised the level of folk art connoisseurship with his outstanding discoveries, such as this irresistible Tobacco Shop Trade Stimulator: "The Comical Bust" (Sold) now inviting visitors into his exhibit.

Hannah, Gigi and Arthur Liverant displaying a copy of their 2013 calendar, "The Swimsuit Edition"

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.