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 

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.

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.