The New Year’s Antiques Show at Birchwood Manor January 5‶ offered a variety of fine antiques and art, ringing in the new year with wonderful old things for sale.
“The show went well, I am very pleased to say! Great way to start the new year. Our Sarasota, Fla., show the week before was also very strong, which is very encouraging for the beginning of this year and our industry as a whole. Saturday was incredibly busy and we had a fantastic attendance; there were lots of packages going out the door. Sunday was normal, good attendance and lots of buying as well,” said show manager Allison Kohler of JMK Shows.
“I am grateful to have started the new year on such a positive note in attendance and buying. I will continue to work hard as we move forward with our show schedule, to provide the exhibitors with well-advertised, quality, well-managed shows and the visiting public with a vast array of treasures,” she added.
Among the dealers pleased with the show was Bill Lynch of the William Jeffrey Gallery, Florham Park, N.J., who has lately been promoting the paintings of New Jersey artist Don Bloom, a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient for creative painting in 1961 and has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art and other institutions. Lynch displayed four of Bloom’s oil paintings at the show and happily reported one, a colorful scene of three vibrant women sitting on a park bench, went to a good home. The gallery’s booth was distinguished by bold, colorful paintings, Modernist sculptures, studio pottery by important Twentieth Century ceramic artists and art glass.
Among his other sales were a fun little coffee mug by Edwin and Mary Scheier to a client who has been building a collection of these mugs for years, and an unusual chess set of handcarved wood with the pieces in the form of the Catholic Crusaders versus the Muslims. The chess set came in a carved wooden box with a Roman Catholic cross as well as a Muslim crescent moon and star inlaid on the front.
“This was our first time at the Birchwood Manor show, and we sold a little bit of everything, meeting nice people, and making some new clients along the way,” Lynch said.
A wide mix of antiques and collectibles was offered at the show, from a 1970‷1 NBA East All-Star sports trading card of forward Billy Cunningham to antique lighting at J&M Antiques, East Amherst, N.Y., to smalls and advertising items at Of A Certain Age, Old Greenwich, Conn.
Phillip Chasen, East Norwich, N.Y., reported sales from the stock of fine Tiffany lighting for which he is known. Also on offer were several sublime examples of Gallé and Daum glass.
The show was a sparkling affair from the massive glass chandeliers in the ballrooms to the fine yellow gold and diamond Hermes brooch in the booth of Brad Reh, Southampton, N.Y., to New York City dealer Anita S. Taub’s booth, whose standouts included a 18K yellow gold necklace with emeralds and diamonds, circa 1950s, and a rare butterfly necklace with watermelon tourmaline, 18K yellow gold and diamonds. According to Kohler, jewelry dealer Lorraine Wambold, Doylestown, Penn., had her best ever showing here.
JMK Shows’ next events are the Sarasota Winter Antiques Show January 18′0 and the new Jewelry Show at Pratt Mansions in New York City January 19′0. The Birchwood Manor show returns July 27′8. For more information, www.jmkshows.com or 973-927-2794.
