⁉t was approachable and fun, just a beautiful show,†stated co-manager Karen DiSaia in the days following the second annual running of The Fairfield County Show, Fine Art & Antiques, conducted over the weekend of December 1′.

By: David S. Smith      

As anyone who has visited the venerable Tillou Gallery here will attest, the shop has three floors full of fine American furniture, paintings, folk art and related accessories of the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries. On December 1, however, all the action was on the first floor where a gala preview reception ushered in a large, convivial crowd eager to see the dramatic exhibition of the large-scale, dreamlike photographic landscapes created by Kim Keever and meet with the artist himself.

On Saturday, April 13, at 8 pm, the Antiques Dealers†Association of America, Inc, will honor Peter Tillou as the recipient of the 2013 ADA Award of Merit in recognition of his extensive contributions to the fields of fine art, American decorative arts and antiques.

Jerry Greene got his first train set in 1946 when he was just three years old, from his father, Ben, a toy train dealer. He grew up in Brooklyn, playing with toy trains so it was only natural that when he was 18 and had moved to Philadelphia, Jerry started acquiring his own collection of trains, embarking on a collecting journey that would span 50 years. Today, the Jerni Collection (named for Jerry and his wife, Nina, who not only supported but encouraged his collecting) is making its museum debut at the New-York Historical Society, New York City, in the exhibition ⁈oliday Express: Toys & Trains from the Jerni Collection†on view through January 6. While the colossal collection numbers more than 35,000 pieces and fills six rooms in Greene⁳ 5,400-square-foot basement, the exhibition cherry-picks the collection to present highlights from the golden age of toy making in Europe †some 350 pieces in all and what pieces they are! Handmade and hand painted colorful train stations, model trains, accessories from well-dressed figures to working kerosene lanterns from renowned makers such as Marklin, Bing, Carette and Rock & Graner will delight viewers of all ages.

A chest of drawers that is widely considered to be the most iconic piece of early Kentucky furniture is now part of the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) at Old Salem Museums & Gardens.

A rare and important Eighteenth Century, Polish parcel-gilt silver filigree spice container was the star lot at Kestenbaum & Company⁳ Judaica auction from the collection of the Jewish Historical Society of England on December 6.

On December 3 Heritage Auctions conducted a Signature jewelry auction that was led by a record-breaking 9.26-carat unmounted, emerald-cut diamond that sold at $902,500, including the buyer⁳ premium.

A strong selection of stoneware and redware offered at auction by Crocker Farm once again saw substantial prices paid on November 3. Nearly 500 lots of American pottery and associated items were sold during the course of the sale, with strong prices established from the opening lot until the end of the auction.

A two-piece Nineteenth Century cupboard from a Southbury, Conn., estate was the marquee lot at Brookfield Auction⁳ December 1 antiques and estates auction at the Litchfield Firehouse..