This summer’s edition of the East Hampton Antiques Show, a benefit for the town’s historical society, offered a fresh approach to this annual event. In a show filled with early Twentieth Century styles and folk art as well as traditional antiques, visitors were treated to a wide array of home furnishings.
Produced by Ferguson and D’Arruda, it was a three-day affair starting with a Ralph Lauren-sponsored preview party Friday, July 10, and continuing July 11‱2. The event is a platform for styles and taste, the trendsetting changes offered to this affluent audience here in the Hamptons.
Linda and Howard Stein have been selling to the Hamptons’ customers for many years, to the extent that they now have a shop in Bridgehampton. Even so, they divide their time many weekends to be at shows such as this with a collection that includes Noll or Lowey designs in upholstered pieces mixed with a Nineteenth Century thrashing table as the stand for lamps and potted plants. Another piece they were offering was a glass-topped coffee table.
A big cat was the sale highlight for Karin and Bill Podmore, Centerport, Long Island, dealers. Made from a nonferrous metal, probably bronze, Bill believed, it stood more than 4 feet tall and 5 feet long. Another of their big pieces to find a new home was a campaign desk on sawbucklike stands. They said the show also produced sales of many small accessories.
Natural sculptures from old, slightly decayed cypress tree stumps found in the Florida everglades were part of the collection brought by Jeffery Henkel. From Pennington, N.J., Henkel finds many different objects that are offered for their eye-catching appeal; giant gourd-shaped copper water barrels as planters, a garden arbor converted into a large lighting device and some antiques in their original state, such as a vanity mirror and Continental furniture.
From Here to Antiquity, Cheshire, Conn., is the business of Fiona and David Smernoff. Their collection included art found in the Northeast and also in Buenos Aires, their second home. In addition to art, they were selling jewelry and household decorating accessories with good value for their artistic composition and the materials used in construction.
American Antique Wicker from Nashua, N.H., is a dealer of just that †antique wicker furniture with some rattan thrown into the mix as well. James Butterworth’s exhibit was overflowing with several sets of furniture, all in excellent condition, with pads in either excellent early condition or freshly covered.
Quilts were selling very well for Michelle Fox, a textile dealer from Grandview, N.Y. Her collections included early Twentieth Century vintage window coverings, linens for the bed and dining table. She also sells early Bakelite jewelry that she said rarely ever fails to sell well.
Many of the dealers are local to Long Island, with great variety to their personal collections and inventory. T.J. Antorino is from Oyster Bay, with a collection of fine English small antiques from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. At this show he was also offering furniture for the modern breakfast room, white painted chairs and table with early French and Irish pine complements, such as a hanging shelf and small side table.
Katherine Stevens of Huntington had a collection of early boxes, including several tea caddies. One such box was in tortoiseshell, circa 1840, in excellent condition for $1,800. Jolie Kelter and Michael Malce reside in Bridgehampton with their novel collection of folk art. Malce has exhibited at many shows over the years, showing his eye for art in ordinary objects such as an airplane wing that had been made into a long bench in polished aluminum.
The folk art was in evidence with many of the dealers. Jim Hirsheimer, Erwinna, Penn., was all folk art. Toys, figural advertising pieces, mannequins, ships figureheads and some paintings in “folkie” topics were filling his exhibit area. Furniture in folk art style was also offered by Joan Evans, Lambertville, N.J., who showed a set of chairs made of aluminum in the form of antlers. They were so realistic it seemed that antlers were used to make the molds for the metal.
The show accommodated nearly all taste in décor and art. Scott Estepp, Cincinnati, Ohio, was showing Midcentury. Susan Parrish who lives in New York City and in Columbia County, N.Y., brought country furniture and accessories. International Antiques was showing European furniture from the last two centuries. Wilmert and Newell are Mainers with early American garden décor and art.
Morgan MacWhinnie was showing fine hardwood furniture from the Georgian period, both American and English. His shop in nearby North Sea is filled with more, but he does the show to let the local audience know he is there. MacWhinnie is a producer of shows in the area with two, one-day affairs, both also sponsored by East Hampton Historical Society.
For more information about other Ferguson and D’Arruda shows, 401-273-5550. The East Hampton Historical Society can be reached at 631-324-6850.
