Big, beautiful and bountiful. A tall order for any antiques promoter to fill when setting out the parameters for a quality antiques event. Yet that is exactly what throngs of shoppers were treated to at the inaugural D.C. Spring Antiques Show as the expansive display area inside the cavernous Walter E. Washington Convention Center was chock-full with an attractive and varied selection of antiques.
It is not just about being “big” for the Palm Beach Show Group, although the show certainly qualifies. One look down the 200-plus-yard-long aisle sets the stage. It is the appearance of the show that matters to promoters Robert Samuels, Scott Diament and Kris Charamonde. Beauty overflows into the aisles at every turn. Bountiful is another measure of the show, as booth after booth is filled to the brim with a quality offering.
Presented by the Palm Beach Show Group and opening for a four-day run on March 6, the show encompasses more than 200,000 square feet of display area and is said by the promoters to be the largest walled-booth show in the country. For the elite shopper, six-figure paintings were offered by some of the world’s top art dealers; for the average shopper, paintings and artwork appeared around the floor in the three-digit range. Orientalia followed suit, as did furniture, jewelry and silver. Add to the list a host of other items that ran the gamut from expressive and affordable to expensive and elegant, and you have just begun to scratch the surface of this extensive show.
“In excess of 20,000 people attended the inaugural D.C. Spring Antiques Show,” according to management, “and guests were impressed at the size, quality and caliber of the show.” Featuring more than 250 international exhibitors, the show presented a diverse offering for the crowd.
“The best investment a person can make, especially in today’s economy, is in hard, tangible assets like antiques, art and jewelry,” touted Charamonde. Mega-sized shows are sometimes shy on furniture offerings and quality often wanes as one nears the back of the show; not so at the D.C. Spring Antiques Show. A good assortment of material spanning numerous periods and regions was offered with merchandise ranging from Oriental to English to country American.
The elaborate furnishings of Francois Linke captured the interest of the D.C. crowds with a one-drawer “table de milieu” with mahogany top and bronze embellishments, one of several pieces by the maker offered by Palm Beach dealer A.B. Levy. The stylish display also included a classical pair of Serves vases and a KPM painted plaque, “Tavern Scene,” signed T. Schmidt. The dealer reported an opening day sale of a circular rosewood and crossbanded center table, French, circa 1870.
A Nineteenth Century English satinwood and marquetry bonheur du jour and a William and Mary side table were attracting attention from the crowd at William Cook, London, and from the other side of the ocean, a country American chair-table with a scrubbed top and old red painted base was getting looks in the stand of A Bird in Hand, Floral Park, N.J. Dealer Ron Bassin reported additional interest in Americana smalls, with the sale of a handmade hooked wall hanging titled “Shadows” by Grenfell.
A rare Sheraton sheveret by the English maker Gillows, a satinwood lady’s writing desk with removable book carrier, was at Michael Pashby, New York City, Mid-Twentieth Century furnishings were offered by Bridges Over Time, Newburgh, N.Y., and a wonderful country blanket box in grain paint was at Jeff Bridgman, Dillsburg, Penn.
Among the items reported sold by Bridgman was an important “Confederate 1st National” flag with a rare crescent star formation that had been captured by US Navy Lieut. Charles H.B. Caldwell during the Battle of New Orleans. The dealer also reported the sale of four other antique flags of various sizes and significance.
Americana dealer Thurston Nichols charmed the crowd with an exceptional prancing carousel horse in old park paint displayed in the front of his booth under an early wooden arched doorway. A large spread-winged eagle with arrows clasped in its talons was displayed over an impressive two-part tall chest with banks of two-over-four graduated drawers in the top section and three larger drawers in the base.
Orientalia was represented in numerous booths around the floor, including T.K. Asian Antiquities of Williamsburg, Va., where a rare ancient robe and cap from the late Tang/early Liao dynasty, and made for the nobility of the Khitan Empire, was exhibited. Numerous sales were reported by the dealer, including a rare rabbit figure made of jade, gold and silver from the Liao dynasty, circa 916‱125; a camel-shaped box made of stone, gold and silver from the Tang dynasty, circa 618‹06; a glazed porcelain jar with a lid decorated in foo dogs, flowers and leaves from the Ming dynasty; and a selection of Dali marble murals.
Japanese porcelain exhibitor Marvin Baer, New Milford, N.J., was pleased after posting sales in five figures on opening day, and he reported that trend continued for the remainder of the week. Among items that sold as the show opened to the public was a fine Satsuma piece by Ryozan and a Satsuma vase by Seikozan.
A marble Buddhist sculpture from the Tang dynasty, circa Ninth Century; a stone sculpture of an ox from the Chou dynasty, circa Eighth Century; and a bronze tiger sculpture, circa Fourth Century, were among the numerous sales of Asian artifacts listed by Jem Hom, Richmond, Va.
German dealer Peter Hardt was on hand with a stellar selection of Tibetan and Nepalese artifacts. Both the first time in Washington, D.C., for the dealer from Cologne and the first time exhibiting in the United States, Hardt brought a varied assortment of merchandise, including a bronze with silver and copper inlaid Sadaksari Lokitesvara, Thirteenth Century, Tibet.
The old saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” rang true for many dealers. When in Washington, what better material to present than that which is historically related to Washington.
Adding to its selection of fine art, Questroyal Fine Art, New York City, filled one portion of its booth with important historical documents, including a copperplate engraved printed copy on woven paper of the Declaration of Independence, originally commissioned by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams in 1820. Dealer Brent Salerno also pointed out numerous other historically significant items, such as a rare Lincoln-signed letter addressing his desire to fight the expansion slavery, $200,000, and an officer’s commission signed by Lincoln.
Dealer David Lowenherz, Lionheart Autographs, New York City, displayed a Thomas Jefferson-signed letter, $30,000, and an autograph album with more than 200 congressional signatures, including President Abraham Lincoln, $25,000, that were among hundreds of books and documents in his stand.
Graham Arader, New York City, also went with the local theme by featuring prints of the nation’s capital by Currier & Ives, views of Washington, D.C., and other important views of the area, including several of Alexandria, Va.
A slightly more contemporary take on the political memorabilia was at Frogtown Books, Toledo, Ohio, where dealer Peter Baughman showed a rare photograph of the Kennedys. The presidential couple was pictured with the Washington Memorial in the background, and the image was autographed by both JFK and Jackie Kennedy.
Paintings were plentiful at the show, and the impressive assortment included “April Blossoms” by Edward Redfield at McCarty Gallery, Philadelphia.
David Koman, Koman Fine Art, Vero Beach, Fla., devoted one wall of his booth to an Aldro Hibbard oil titled “Vermont Landscape,” $62,000. Another wall of the booth featured a set of commissioned Virginia landscapes, all pastels, by artist Wolf Kahn. The rare set of paintings sold soon after opening.
Paintings by Clyde Singer were featured in the booth of Paramour Fine Art, Franklin, Mich. A contemporary of Reginald Marsh, Singer was the subject of a recent retrospective at the Butler Institute of Art.
Questroyal Fine Art reported a good show, with the sale of at least three American works: “Winter Road” by Henry Martin Gasser, “Twilight Landscape” by Hal Robinson and “Ships on the Thames” by Frank Myers Boggs.
Modernist paintings by Emile Chambon were shown at Primavera Gallery, New York City, including an interesting portrait of a woman titled “L’Indescret” and a voyeuristic view of a nude woman being watched through an open window titled “Le Pullover Jaune.” Other Modernist items in the booth included jewelry and a brass and copper tea service attributed to Marianne Brandt, circa 1924.
New York City dealer Jason Jacques was on hand with an extravagant selection of art pottery focusing on Vilmos Zsolnay. Sales from the booth included a Zsolnay beaver vase of Eosin glazed earthenware, circa 1900.
N&I Franklin, London, was one of several silver dealers to participate in the fair. “The Hamilton Tureens,” a majestic pair of George III oval soup tureens †one from 1786 by Benjamin Laver and the other made in 1800 by Wakelin and Garrard †were inscribed as “presented to Sir Alexander Hamilton&⁓anctioned by Parliament to build our several ships.” Also inscribed with the Hamilton family crest, they were offered at $95,000.
A rare English silver tankard signed with the maker’s mark “SH” and in the style of the wooden bound tankards from the James I period, circa 1677, were reported sold from Franklin’s stand.
Jewelry was a major attraction at the show, and perhaps the most exquisite piece on the floor was seen in the booth of Camilla Dietz Bergeron Ltd, New York City, who displayed an exceptional silver topped gold necklace set with 50 carats of diamonds, circa 1870. Sold from the stand was an unusual pearl and fancy colored diamond brooch, as well as several pieces by Aldo Cipullo that were designed for Cartier, circa 1970s.
Several sales were made by New York City dealer A. Harris, including a gold, diamond and sapphire pin, a pair of 20-carat diamond hoop earrings, a wood bangle with embedded gems by Seaman Schepps, a rare Victorian mother-of-pearl cameo, a carved emerald bracelet, a Cartier ruby Art Deco bracelet and three retro chunky gold bangles.
Jewelry exhibitor J.S. Fearnley of Atlanta sold a multigem and diamond Seaman Schepps bracelet, various bold golden bracelets and a gold presidential Rolex women’s watch with diamond bezel, while Acanthus Antiques, Kensington, Md., sold several rings, including a beautiful sapphire ring, as well as a ring by Cartier.
Jack Ophir, Ophir Gallery, Englewood, N.J., was busy with clients as the show opened to the public. Participating in only a couple shows each year, the Tiffany specialist offers a good selection of materials ranging from leaded glass lamps, such as the spectacular Dragonfly lamp in hues of blues and purple, to bronze items for the desk and home.
Also presenting a grand selection of Tiffany lamps was the New York City firm Lillian Nassau. A varied assortment of Twentieth Century works of art from the stand included several bronzes, among them Harriet Frishmuth’s “The Vine,” and “Rhapsody.”
Colorful quilts brightened up the center aisle of the show, with several bright examples on display at Betsey Telford’s Rocky Mountain Quilts, York Village, Maine. Highlighting the booth was a quilt that had ties to the quilts of Gees Bend, Ala., a rare African American-made quilt made in the pine burr pattern, from Evansville, Ind., circa 1900, that was stickered at $25,000.
Those attending the show were treated to a series of educational lectures. “It has always been our goal to provide an environment that fosters the understanding and appreciation of antiques,” said Judy Oppel, lecture organizer. “The lecture series enhances the total show experience and was well received by guests.”
Popular lectures included “Tiffany Favrile Glass and the Quest of Beauty” with Arlie Sulka of Lillian Nassau LLC, “Dining in Style with Georg Jensen Silver” with Janet Drucker of Drucker Antiques and “A Journey of Artistic Splendor: Twentieth Century Jewelry Design” with Gus Davis of Camilla Dietz Bergeron Ltd.
Although recovering from an automobile accident and unable to exhibit at the show, dealer Beverly Norwood was on hand to present a lecture on American antiques.
“The D.C. Spring Antiques Show was the perfect fit for the sophistication and culture of Washington, D.C.,” stated show co-manager Diament. “The inaugural show was the largest antiques show in our nation’s capital and we look forward to the show becoming an annual event.” The dates for next year’s event are March 5‸.
The Baltimore Summer Antiques Show, September 3‶, will be the next show scheduled for the Palm Beach Show Group, followed by another inaugural event, the Dallas International Art, Antique & Jewelry Show, November 5‹.
For additional information, www.dcspringantiques.com or 561-822-5440.
