One thing we always try to do when reviewing an antiques show is be mindful of the opening gate. Does it fill the entire lobby, does it spill out into the parking lot or onto the street, or does it wrap around the building as it did in the good old days at Jim Burk’s Greater York Show?
At Stella’s popular Antiques at the Armory, January 23′5, the criteria are quite different. Over the years the line has always started at the show’s entrance, backed up through the lobby, down the hallway and down a flight of stairs, ending up near the entrance to the men’s room. This year, in spite of the economy, it did it again, providing the show with a good opening gate populated by people looking to buy the right thing at the right price.
Michael Ogle of American Garage, Los Angeles, was first in line, and was joined shortly after 8 am by Jeff Cherry of Cherry Gallery in Maine. The show was, as usual, a well put-together mix of dealers with a good selection of folk art and country, some Oriental and hooked rugs, glass and china, Art Deco, garden antiques and furniture from many periods. Michele Oswald, who runs the show for Stella Show Mgmt Co., said the gate was just about the same as last year and “there was good energy on the floor, people came in with a purpose and a good number of our exhibitors came away with good shows.”
She noted that of the 90 dealers in the show, only about eight were new this year.
Holding down a large booth at the back of the show was Nancy Steinbock Posters of Chestnut Hill, Mass. “We tried to keep the back wall filled with American posters, but we hung some others to show the variety we carry,” Nancy Steinbock said. Holding down the American end of the display was “California This Summer †Travel by Rain,” “The Wick Fancy Hat Bands” and “Scribner’s.”
Eleanor and David Billet of New York City had a set of eight small urns from England, recon stone, circa 1930, that would dress up any patio or garden edge. “We have had lots of interest in the urns, principally because there are eight of them, which is hard to find,” Eleanor said. Against the back wall stood an Empire chest with full columns and paw feet in tiger maple and walnut. It dated circa 1825 and came from either Pennsylvania or New York State.
Years ago, at another show in New York City, Praiseworthy Antiques of Guilford, N.Y., offered a large rack with 75 cast iron frogs neatly arranged on it. “We offered it as a lot, frogs and stand, until a lady came along and made an offer for the stand we could not refuse,” John Lynch said. The frogs got packed away and have just seen the light of day again, as 16 of them, some with advertising writing on them, were offered in New York. “Again, we are selling them as a lot, and there are many more at home if we find a frog lover,” John said.
Furniture and some statuary filled the booth of From Here To Antiquity, Guilford, Conn., and the walls were covered with works of art. Among the paintings were “A Walk in the Park,” an oil on canvas by French artist Jean Puy (1876‱960), and a pleasant Connecticut landscape by George Davidson. Several portraits hung in the booth of Joseph Topping of New Jersey, and the back wall was blanketed with silhouettes.
Holding one of the large booths at the front of the show was Stevens Antiques, Frazer, Penn., with a patriotic shield, so large it could not be missed, painted wood and dated 1861‱865, hanging on the back wall. Seated in the middle of the booth was a life-size polychromed terracotta figure of a stevedore, late Nineteenth Century, probably by Bernard & Bloch of Austria.
Chuck White Folk Art & Antiques, Warwick, N.Y., offered a New England arrow back bench, circa 1810, in yellow with colorful paint decoration, “The best one we have ever owned,” Chuck White said. Among the portraits was a child in a red dress holding a flower, oil on canvas, 31 by 27 inches and possibly from Sheffield, Mass. A collection of meat choppers, 25 in all, was mounted on a board and offered as a collection by Manchester Antiques, Londonderry, N.H. A trade sign advertised “Smith Dance Studio.”
Mixed in with a long-tailed sheep, a horse, a rooster and a sulky weathervane was a car vane, full bodied copper, circa 1830, that was made by the Kennecott Copper Workshop and offered by Autumn Pond/Norma Chick of Woodbury and Bolton, Conn. Her signature mantel carried a five-piece delft garniture set, Holland, circa 1770.
“The last show we did in New York City was in 2001, at the piers, and we were pleased to be back in a Stella show at this important time in the city,” said Douglas Constant of Orient, N.Y. A set of six paint decorated Baltimore side chairs and a painting went to a buyer from Massachusetts, and “we had interest in things from people from all over, including Baton Rouge, Houston and parts of Virginia,” he said. “We did as good as we had hoped; there was steady foot traffic through the show and we were impressed with Stella Management. They certainly run a well-oiled machine.” Against the back of the booth a pair of inlaid Federal knife boxes, lids with an ebony and satinwood compass rose, circa 1790‱800, possibly Boston, rested on top of a New York State gumwood secretary in the original grain painted surface, ex-Boscobel Foundation.
“Deco and Modern are selling,” Ed Koren of Bridges Over Time, Newburgh, N.Y., said, and he had a few red sold tags about the booth to prove it. Early into the show he parted with a pair of Art Deco chairs, a pair of walnut benches and a circa 1920 chest of drawers. A Haida carving, Argilite, circa 1898, was one of the largest known carvings, and a large hourglass sported a red tag. “It’s really an hour and 20 minutes glass,” Koren said.
“This show is usually a blood bath, but it is a bit slower this year, reflecting the state of things,” Tim Brennan of Brennan and Mouilleseaux, Northfield, Conn., said. The booth, which had to weigh in at many tons, offered a wide range of garden antiques, including a set of four American cast iron chalice-form urns, circa 1880, that were recently found near Saratoga Springs, N.Y. An impressive provenance came with a pair of cast stone reclining horses that once rested on the Fairfield County Luce estate. The pair, with opposing heads, dated circa 1910‱930.
“The best piece of stoneware we brought this time is that 3-gallon crock by J&E Norton, Bennington, Vt.,” Steve German of Mad River Antiques, Granby, Conn., said. He pointed out the piece that was cobalt decorated with a hawk on a stump, circa 1856‱859, and was featured and pictured in Birds of Bennington by Steven B. Leder and Fred Cesana. “There could have been up to three known at one time, but at present this is the only one known,” Steve said.
Victor Weinblatt’s show got off to a grand start even before his truck pulled away from South Hadley, Mass., and headed for New York City and the Stella show. Eighteen phone calls came in to inquire about Skeezaks-Farfel, the great American stuffed dog, circa 1890, Maryland, ex-Fred Hansen, that was advertised in the Antiques at the Armory show section in Antiques and The Arts Weekly . The popular pet has now taken up residence in New Hampshire and is not likely to come on the market until the going gets really rough.
“A serious and impressive crowd,” is how Victor described the attendance on Friday when he racked up sales, including a circa 1840 New Hampshire faux bird’s-eye maple grain painted mantel and door, a game wheel in bittersweet paint, three checkerboards, a large circa 1840‱890 New England basket of flowers theorem on velvet, a trade sign from Maine advertising “Rooms $1 with Bath,” cast iron anchor andirons, an Art Deco sailboat weathervane, and a mid-Nineteenth Century weavers’ skarn. Coming off his first Stella-run show, he commented, “They run it like a finely crafted Swiss timepiece.”
An American Federal tall case clock with eight-day movement, mahogany veneer, circa 1820, probably Philadelphia, was shown in the booth of Gordon Converse of Malvern, Penn. The dial featured two globes at the top, and baskets of fruit in each corner. In a booth nearby, Port ‘N Starboard Gallery, Falmouth, Maine, hung a luminous river landscape, oil on canvas, on the back wall, a work done by S.P. Dyke, 1870, measuring 24 by 42 inches. More than a dozen nautical paintings decorated the booth, and several boat models were offered.
A large still life, oil on artist board, hung in the booth of Bradford Trust Fine Art, Harwich Port, Mass., a work by Henry Hensche (1901‱992) that measures 30 by 34 inches. On the right wall several works by Henry Kallan (1912‱985) were shown, including “The Politicians,” an oil on canvas measuring 36 by 36 inches. Linda and Howard Stein of Bridgehampton, N.Y., and Solebury, Penn., showed a pair of carved limestone pan flute musicians dating from the early Twentieth Century, and interest was being shown in a wonderful ceiling rosette, cast iron, in the original paint and dating from the late Nineteenth Century. “We have someone measuring for it right now,” Howard Stein said.
“We did well, people came to buy, but most passed on the big ticket items,” Bruce Emond of the Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass., said. However, he had an impressive list of sold objects, including a mid-Nineteenth Century finely wood carved statue of a boy and girl, a set of three cast iron highway signs that warned drivers of bad curves in the road, a pair of andirons with brass ball tops, and a refectory table, Italian, and dating from the Eighteenth Century. Two large clock faces hung on the back wall of the booth, and both sold. “They are by E. Howard and came from the clock tower of a church in Attleboro, Mass., and date 1885,” Bruce said. He mentioned that another dealer also wanted them, so he also sold the pair he had in his truck, since he had room for only two in his booth. Each measured 5 feet 8 inches in diameter.
“It was found in a Connecticut barn,” Tom Longacre of Marlborough, N.H., said of his large airplane weathervane, 1930 “Gee Bee” racer that was made by an employee of Pratt & Whitney. He also noted that his watchmaker’s trade sign was “the largest one I have ever seen,” a piece dating circa 1880‱900 and from the Hallmark Cory Collection. On the first day, red tags hung from a graphic hooked rug, a pawn shop trade sign and a folk carving of a dog. “We did well and were happy,” Tom said, noting that there was selling each day of the show.
The largest weathervane in the show all but blocked the entrance to the booth of Roberto Freitas American Antiques of Stonington, Conn. This bull vane with strong verdigris surface, New England origin, late Nineteenth Century, measured 49 inches long, 31½ inches high and 7¾ inches deep. Against the back wall of the booth stood a Chippendale bonnet-top desk and bookcase secretary in mahogany, New York State, circa 1790, with carved bonnet rosettes and ball and claw feet.
“I was fine, sold every day, and enjoyed the people who came through the show,” Michael Whittemore of Michael and Sally Whittemore Antiques, Washington, Ill., said. Four roosters and a large ram made up his sales of weathervanes, along with baseball player andirons in cast iron and paint, a wooden horse that was once used as a photo prop, one of the two galvanized tables offered, a booth trade sign, and a few other things. Also offered was a long seafood dinner trade sign with a thermometer built into the center, and a cigar store Indian attributed to Samuel Robb. “I did the York Show the next weekend, and it was good down there, also,” Michael said.
“We went in expecting the worst, and came away with a good show,” Ron Bassin of A Bird In Hand Antiques, Florham Park, N.J., said. He added that he did not expect to sell furniture, “But we sold a tiger maple chest and a settee.” Smalls included stoneware, shooting gallery targets, three Grenfell mats and two paintings. From the corner of the booth Ron offered a nice country Federal corner cupboard, Pennsylvania, in poplar with a 12-light door on top, two drawers and two doors in the lower section. It dated circa 1820‱830 and had a green and cream painted surface.
Turkey Mountain Traders, Scottsdale, Ariz., showed a Navaho weaving, the earliest known example to incorporate letters in the design, and a Navajo child’s blanket, colorful, circa 1875, that measured 4 feet 2 inches by 2 feet 7 inches. Four very colorful portraits of a man and a woman hung across the back wall in the booth of Joshua Lowenfels, New York City. Each showed the same couple, with slight variations in dress, facial expressions and color. Titled “My Story,” they were oil on linen, Chicago origin, and dated circa 1950‱960.
“This show is going real good, we have had lots of sales,” Nancy Prince of Portland, Maine, said. She was sharing space with James LeFurgy and the booth was filled with all kinds of material, including five framed Moore’s Toy Marionettes, circa 1880; a mortar and pestle drug store trade sign, zinc and dating from the Nineteenth Century; and a child’s patriotic crib quilt with six flags, Nineteenth Century. An interesting piece of folk art was a diorama of gambling monkeys, wood carvings, circa 1875, labeled Thomaston Prison Art. By noon on opening day they had sold a number of pieces of jewelry, two Eskimo carvings, two American Indian pieces and a country scene painting.
Bruce and Deborah Phillips of Fair Trade, Inc, Shelburne Falls, Mass., did the show for the first time. “We enjoyed it, did some business and hope to come back next year,” Bruce said. They did not sell any furniture, but did move some lighting and jewelry. And the booth of Eve Stone, Woodbridge, Conn., once again sparkled with fireplace tools, steamers, molds, candlesticks and measures, among the many pieces of copper and brass offered.
Robert Snyder and Judy Wilson, Wiscasset, Maine, offered an impressive hooked rug showing a New England farmstead with four buildings, horses, a man plowing and ducks, wool and cotton on burlap. It was done by Barbara Westhaver of Maine, “but it is probably not a Maine scene,” Bob said. Probably the largest horse weathervane was running across the back of the booth, full bodied copper with zinc head, measuring 41½ inches long and 30½ inches high. The maker was unknown.
Thurston Nichols American Antiques, Breinigsville, Penn., was again at the front of the show with a very bright still life, “Bountiful Harvest,” by Severin Roesen. It was oil on canvas and measured 351/5 by 28 inches. A Philadelphia Chippendale chest-on-chest with fluted quarter columns and ogee feet, circa 1770, was against the back wall.
A selection of furniture shown by Andrew Spindler Antiques, Essex, Mass., included a Biedermeier daybed in fruitwood and a Grosfield House cabinet ebonized with Lucite, New York City, circa 1940.
Antiques at the Armory ran through Sunday at the Armory on Lexington Avenue at 26th Street. Stella Show Mgmt provided a courtesy shuttle bus that ran between both the Winter Antiques Show and The American Antiques Show for the convenience of their customers.
Stella will be in New York City again with The Pier Antiques Show, 500 exhibitors on Pier 94, March 14 and 15. The pier is at 12th Avenue at 55th Street, and will be filled with antiques from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Centuries, plus Fashion Alley & Vintage Collecting. For more information, 973-808-5015 or www.stellashows.com .
