While there are quite a number of social events upscale islanders want to be seen at during the high season here, few are as revered and impressive as the annual August Antiques Show. Sponsored by the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) and managed by the Antiques Council, this show brings quality to the forefront on several different levels, and that does not go unnoticed or unappreciated by the throngs of attendees.
The council and NHA took a different tact this year with their promotional efforts and blanketed the island, focusing mainly on the locals and summer residents. In the process, they created a sense of anticipation making it almost irresistible to Nantucket homeowners. The result, as many dealers summed it up, was tremendous. “It was fantastic!” exclaimed Fairhaven, Mass., dealer Enrique “Ricky” Goytizolo of Georgian Manor Antiques. “I sold almost the whole booth, almost all of the furniture, all of the mirrors, chairs, tables, practically everything that I brought,” he said.
As the preview party for the show prepared to open on Thursday, July 31, at 6 pm, a line of patrons decked out in sporty and colorful island attire extended out from under the tented entrance and down the sidewalk. Vehicles filled with those trying to get into the preview waiting to get into the parking area were backed up into the street as the valets hustled to and from the satellite lot, and anxious buyers repeatedly checked their watches awaiting the start of the show.
Cars continued to stream into the lot well after opening and the three floors of the Nantucket New School quickly became packed with shoppers. The two large tents behind the school, the first filled with dealer displays and the furthest utilized as a social area with food tables, raw bars, libations and live music, were also teeming with showgoers.
The crowd was enthusiastic and sold tags quickly began appearing in a variety of booths. Victor Weinblatt has developed quite a following, and there are customers that hustle right to his booth, passing up delicious offerings ranging from lamb chops to shrimp in an amazing number of forms along the way. Bare spots appeared on the walls immediately and the dealer was so busy tending to customers that it seemed difficult for him to fill in the spots with replacement items.
Dealers reported a steady crowd throughout the weekend, and happily commented that many prospective buyers who said they would come back actually did.
Nina Hellman, who maintains a shop on the island, was on hand with a grand selection of nautical materials, including numerous whale teeth with scrimshawed decoration. One tooth depicted an important naval engagement from the War of 1812. Deeply incised and colored, the tooth was inscribed, “The Essex and British Frigates in the Bay of Valparaiso.” Another tooth was decorated with a lovely lady in a long flowing dress of the period, surely a sailor’s sweetheart, while others depicted ports and ships under sail. Paintings, half-hulls, sailor’s chests and ship models filled out the rest of the dealer’s fare.
Solebury, Penn., dealer Charles Washburne reportedly enjoyed numerous sales from the extensive selection of majolica that he offered. A pair of rare sweet meat dishes with figural quail bases, one with a hen and chicks and the other with two birds among fauna, were featured in the booth, as were large figural egret vases that depicted the birds on a marsh style base with fish in their bills. Cake dishes with figural animals and cherubs, Palissy wall plaques with fish, snakes and crawfish, and a large assortment of floral decorated plates and pitchers also appealed to Washburne’s clientele.
The Cooley Gallery was an attractive stop for shoppers as the soothing selection of paintings brought to mind quieter and more peaceful times. James Carroll Beckwith’s large oil on canvas titled “Bertha in the Gardens at Onterora,” a softly depicted portrait in the Impressionist style, featured a woman donning a fancy hat and spending leisurely time in the sunlight-dappled shade of the gardens. “Summertime, Lyme,” by Wilson Irvine, depicted a stand of trees casting an inviting area of shaded hillside with its tranquil views extending to the Thames River.
Another pleasing work was John Joseph Enneking’s 20-by-24-inch oil on canvas titled “Sunny Day,” and a lively Eastman Johnson depiction of gents enjoying a toast, “To Your Health, Sir,” brought to mind other enjoyable pastimes.
Vose Galleries was on hand again this year with a stellar selection of paintings, including a Childe Hassam oil on wood panel, circa 1886‱889, titled “Laundress on a Paris Street.” Thought to have been executed when the Boston painter was in Paris with his new bride, the stunning work was priced in seven figures. “Hassam’s depictions of urban life are among his most sought-after works,” according to the gallery.
Other paintings from the stand attracting attention included a Martin Johnson Heade oil on canvas titled “Sailboats off the Connecticut Shore (Black Rock)” and an Alfred T. Bricher oil on canvas titled “Low Tide and Cliffs, Grand Manan.”
Another standout from the booth was an Arthur J. Laws picture titled “Warping In, Provincetown.” It depicted crewmembers of a working vessel on still seas dragging the unrigged vessel into the harbor by means of throwing out the warp anchor and then pulling the ship toward shore.
English ship portraits were displayed by Running Battle Antiques alongside its early English furnishings. Nautical paintings traditionally prove popular at this show, and of special note was Richard Spencer oil on canvas titled “Shipping Off the Dutch Coast” that depicted a fully rigged vessel under sail. American artist Antonio Jacobsen was represented in the booth with the picture of the sloop-of-war Vandalia that was depicted in Provincetown harbor. The dealers said the vessel was part of Commodore Perry’s squadron at the opening of Japan, and her 1858 cruise is recorded in naval proceedings. The ship was lost while anchored at harbor during the great hurricane of March 1889 in Apia, Samoa.
Fresh off the auction circuit, having just completed the annual waterfowl decoy and sporting art sale in July, was Copley Fine Arts’ principal Stephen O’Brien Jr. Seeming content in the more subdued and peaceful atmosphere of the show, O’Brien quietly offered a good selection of sporting art and numerous decoys from his stand. Regarded as an authority on the subject of watercolors by Aiden Lassell Ripley, the dealer featured a large Ripley depicting two fisherman working a remote river with fly rods from a small rowboat, titled “Landlocked Salmon Water.”
Sitting atop a nice blanket box in salmon-colored paint was a pair of brant decoys by Martha’s Vineyard carver Frank Richardson. Recognized as one of the Vineyard’s premier carvers, Richardson carved in his own style, much different from other area carvers, stated O’Brien. The laminated hollow birds, termed by the dealer as “exceedingly rare,” were in overall excellent condition, retaining their original paint.
A decorative wall carving by Elmer Crowell was attracting attention in O’Brien’s booth. The rare spread winged and flying green-wing teal featured “superb ‘wet-on-wet’ drybrush feathering” and was marked on the backside, “To my dear friend J.B. Chase from Elmer Crowell, 1931.”
The silver of Georg Jensen was another item that hit home with islanders. Alastair Crawford’s popular display included a wide variety of wares ranging from small-, medium- and large-sized compotes with twist form shafts topped with bunches of grapes hanging below the bowls. A Modernist-style pair of two-light candelabra was offered, as was a pair of sterling shears with grape cluster decoration applied at the handles.
Irish silver of all sorts was offered by Silver Plus, New York City, with a large offering of repousse worked pitchers and creamers, reticulated silver baskets, bread trays, wine coolers and serving pieces.
Calling Nantucket home for at least part of the year, Guy Bush presented an eclectic mix of merchandise with classic American furniture at the forefront. A Chippendale kneehole bureau with blocked front was typical of the offerings, as was the handsome bonnet-top highboy with detailed fan carvings. Serious interest was being expressed in an inlaid Hepplewhite sideboard, while other customers perused card tables and dressing stands from the selection. An elegant porringer top tea table with a wonderful cutout skirt and stylish cabriole legs also captured appreciative looks from the crowd.
Complementing the formal furnishings was a selection of country items, including a wonderful blue-green vinegar paint decorated blanket chest, a large and ornate tramp art mirror frame and a pair of andirons in the form of leaping fish.
For further information on the August Antiques Show in Nantucket, www.nha.org or www.antiquescouncil.com .
