Back in the early 1970s, the late Frances Walker Phipps envisioned an antiques show that would establish itself as one of the country’s most important venues of authentic early American furniture. Thirty-six years later, Phipps’ vision prevails as the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show once again provided a showcase for American furniture and decorative accessories made prior to the year 1840.
The two-day event, conducted March 14 and 15 at the Connecticut Expo Center, just north of downtown Hartford, gathered nearly 70 antiques and fine arts specialists in room-setting displays to warm the hearts of serious collectors from throughout the tri-state area and beyond. Well-run by show manager Karen DiSaia and members of the Haddam Historical Society, the show was opportunity rich in fine dealers and desirable merchandise.
Buckley & Buckley from Salisbury, Conn., captured the warmth of a gracious colonial home with its display anchored by a New England four-drawer chest, a sawbuck table with great overhang and knee room and a rare Pilgrim Century great chair. The dealers believed the chest, circa 1780‹0, to be the work of Maine cabinetmaker Joseph Short, and it exhibited an unusual “lobster tail” bracket base, original red wash, beaded edge to the top and drawer dividers and its original brasses.
The Pilgrim great chair, circa 1680‹0, made of maple and ash, displayed exceptional turnings and bold finials and wore its multiple black paint history as a badge of honor. The seat height was 19 inches, and the natural rush seat had been replaced. From New England, circa 1800′0, the pine and maple sawbuck table had its original scrubbed two-board top with breadboard ends and it stood on a base in original red paint.
Brian Cullity showed a sugar bowl from the Pittsburgh region, circa 1830, in deep cobalt blue with marvelous white looping among his decorative accessories. Furniture highlights in the Sagamore, Mass., dealer’s booth included a mahogany Chippendale drop leaf table from Salem, Mass., circa 1780, with crisp ball and talon carved feet and a walnut corner cupboard from Tennessee, circa 1820.
Hilary and Paulette Nolan brought an Eighteenth Century New England Queen Ann oval top tea table with splayed legs and large pad feet. The maple and pine piece, circa 1780‱800, had nice color. A pair of Maine nine-spindle bow back Windsor side chairs, circa 1810‱5, exhibited nice old graphic white paint in the Falmouth, Mass., dealers’ booth †all overseen by Keeper, the couple’s 12-year-old dog.
Keeper would have felt right at home with a wonderful hand sewn “pointillist” rug, circa 1860, depicting Man’s Best Friend that drew customers to Tom Jewett’s and Butch Berdan’s booth. Here, they could also marvel over a Maine server in old red paint, circa 1840, and a diminutive blue canted sea chest from Maine, circa 1820.
“The show turned out just fine for us, and we thought the crowd was great on both days,” commented Jewett following the show. “People were cautious and took their time in their decisions. We sold a child’s three-drawer paint decorated chest, a candlestand and a very good decorated box and some good smalls. All in all, it was good. We also had a follow-up sale from a customer at the show. We like the Connecticut spring show and find that those who attend it are very interested and in tune to what is offered.”
Merrimacport, Mass., dealer Colette Donovan showcased a New England bedstead that had been found in Newburyport, Mass. Completely original with mortised joints, the late Eighteenth Century to early Nineteenth Century double bed was topped by an early “husband” bed rest, a rare example with ratchet back adjustment that had been newly reupholstered in watermelon calamanco. Behind the bed hung an Eighteenth Century whole cloth wool coverlet with naturalistic reapplied American crewel work depicting insects, snails and salamanders.
A cherry Connecticut River Valley highboy, circa 1730-40, was a furniture highlight at Lewis Scranton, Killingworth, Conn. An oil on canvas, “The Dream of Arcadia” after Thomas Cole, and a mahogany card table, circa 1800‱0, were also notable.
Marking his second year as an exhibitor at this show, Don Olson of Rochester, N.Y., brought a rare set of five golden plover shorebird decoys from the South Shore of Massachusetts. Crafted circa 1900, the complete gunning rig evinced nicely carved birds with split tails, bold paint patterns and original bills. Visitors were also appreciatively eyeing an American carved sculpture or plant stand of rhododendron root, circa 1890, one of a handful of similar “Seussian” pieces from a Pennsylvania carver featuring owls, waterfowl and a cat.
If anything could adequately capture the yearning for spring, it was an oil on canvas under the spotlight at the Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Conn. “Return of Spring” by Charles Howard Davis (1856‱933) depicts a verdant hill and dale, halcyon blue sky and puffy white clouds. Signed C.H. Davis lower left, the 30-by-25-inch painting was stickered $35,000. Nearby was a Guy C. Wiggins (1883-‱962) oil on canvas, “Summer Breeze,” and an outside booth wall was hung with Winfield Scott Clime’s (1881‱958) “Pleasant Valley.” Contacted after the show, gallery director Joe Newman stated, “We were happily surprised by both the sheer number of attendees on Saturday and their generally high level of enthusiasm. The mood was upbeat and the outlook positive.”
A Federal wing chair from New England, probably New Hampshire, circa 1800‱5, looked inviting in the booth of Jeffrey Tillou Antiques. The Litchfield, Conn., dealer had also brought a Queen Anne bonnet top high chest that was attributed to the cabinet shop of Simeon Pomoroy, made in the Amherst-Northampton area, circa 1770‸0. The cherry piece with pine secondary exhibited many similar features to other known Pomeroy pieces, including one owned by Historic Deerfield.
Claudia and Bob Haneberg of East Lyme, Conn., filled their booth with a Connecticut cherry highboy, a Massachusetts turtle top one-drawer stand in mahogany and a pair of paintings depicting the Bay of Naples in the daytime and at night. The highlight, however, was clearly a rare Federal eagle back chair by Richard Fosdick, New London, Conn., circa 1795. The rare chair, similar to ones at the Lyman Allyn Museum and the New London Historical Association, was probably from the same set made by Fosdick for Thomas Shaw of New London, according to the dealers.
“We were very pleased with the response to the show,” said Americana specialist Arthur Liverant. “The attendance was outstanding both Saturday and Sunday. The crowd was enthusiastic, so it demonstrates that the interest in Americana is alive and well. Collectors came out in force to see good things, and many sales were made throughout the weekend.”
The Colchester, Conn., dealer reported that the firm sold more than 30 pieces of treen ware and cooperage that it had brought from one collection. “Many plates, bowls, tankards and spoons were sold, and collectors of treen were delighted to see such a comprehensive collection,” said Liverant. “We also sold a tall case clock and a hutch table.”
A trio of rooster-form weathervanes also crowed Americana from their perches in the booth of Ronald and Penny Dionne, Willington, Conn. Penny Dionne explained that the largest example was from Rochester, N.H, while the next largest, from a New England maker and dating from the second half of the Nineteenth Century, had features that were more gamecocklike than the other two. A small Jewell of Waltham, Mass., was the earliest example among the three weathervanes. And birds of a different feather comprised a sweet little folk art sculpture bird tree, circa 1870‱900.
In a beautifully appointed booth exemplifying the marriage of early American furniture and fine art, Peter Eaton and Joan Brownstein of Newbury, Mass., each recorded a successful Hartford show. “My most notable sales were two very special portrait miniatures to longtime collectors,” said paintings specialist Brownstein. “One was a rare and very beautiful portrait a young woman by John Brewster Jr, and the other was the only example I have ever known of a miniature on ivory, signed and dated by the artist, Maria Davenport. She’s an artist who happens to interest me, and I have sold perhaps a dozen small watercolors on paper by her over the past few decades. Interestingly, they have often been from places identified on the back of the image, and one of my projects is to research her possible itinerancy. Needless to say, there were not that many documented female itinerant artists in the Nineteenth Century.”
Brownstein said that she had also brought a large group of watercolors to the show that she had repriced, “both wanting to ‘turn them over’ and to show people that there were affordable things to buy today. I sold 20 items from this group of small portraits, memorials and family records †some to other dealers and some to collectors,” said Brownstein.
And while antique furniture expert Eaton observed that the case pieces that sold seemed to be at the “furnishings” level rather than “collector” level, he did sell a “very good Pilgrim Century armchair, a Chippendale molded leg tavern table, a country Chippendale desk on frame and a nice Belknap portrait.” He also recorded postshow sales of a six-drawer red painted chest and a Federal secretary.
For Ipswich, Mass., dealers John Fiske and Lisa Freeman, the show “was our best since 2007. We sold five pieces of English Seventeenth Century furniture, including an important enclosed chest of drawers with carved split-spindles †a truly unique item,” said Fiske. “We also sold a trio of Bessler botanicals and a number of early smalls. Let’s hope it’s a sign of a turnaround and not just a flash in the pan!”
With Hartford’s exacting standards regarding the exhibition of early American-made furniture and accessories, it was not surprising to see the constant thrum of activity among the reference shelves at Russack & Loto Books. Formerly F. Russack Books and Antiques, the Northfield, N.H., business now run by Judy Loto specializes in out-of-print reference books about American and related decorative art of the Seventeenth through Twentieth Centuries. The trend seemed to be people searching for titles dealing with ceramics and American furniture, according to Loto. A treat for collectors attending the show on Sunday was a book signing with the three authors of the newly released book Harbor & Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850 †Brock Jobe, Gary Sullivan and Jack O’Brien.
The show also featured booth chats on several collecting topics. Portland, Maine, dealer Don Heller of Heller Washam Antiques was among the lineup of experts presenting chats on Sunday. Focusing on furniture styles of Connecticut and Massachusetts, Heller had ample visual aids in his booth, including a superb Queen Anne carved cherrywood bonnet top highboy from the Glastonbury area of Connecticut, circa, 1775, and a rare Chippendale maple reverse serpentine chest of drawers from Massachusetts, circa 1780. Beyond furniture, Heller Washam also presented a nest of seven Nantucket lightship baskets, circa 1900, ranging in size from the smallest at 3¾ inches to the largest measuring 8½ inches.
Paul J. DeCoste, West Newbury, Mass., brought a circa 1840 painted mural showing the skill of the artisan who put paint on plaster. DeCoste explained that when he had removed the mural from the home, he had to deal with the original carrying beams as well as support the ceiling during the removal process. He was offering it as found, but colors were crisp because it had been under wallpaper for some years.
An apothecary on display had been brought by a collector from Newburyport to Florida in 1940. Acquired by DeCoste at a John McGinnis auction, the apothecary was now back in New England, and it boasted all dovetailed construction. A pre-Griner American doll from the mid-Nineteenth Century, 38 inches tall and with replaced hands, was also being offered.
A Connecticut chest, circa 1720, in original red paint and with a nicely scalloped apron came down to the show from Limington, Maine, with dealer Bill Kelly and his trusty feline companion Salem. An unusual pair of slide top candle boxes with dovetail construction were boldly stenciled with the dates 1839 and 1844, respectively. Above the chest and candle boxes hung an Eighteenth Century Eastern European mirror of carved and gilded walnut with its original glass.
Right across from the show’s entrance, David Good and Sam Forsythe from Camden and Columbus, Ohio, shared a large booth, highlighted by a New Hampshire tester bed in original red paint, circa 1810, and a large selection of treen and burl.
Charles and Lisa Hammell of Philadelphia-based Noonmark Antiques commented that within the first hour, they had sold a Mariner’s Compass quilt with a rare diamond pattern, which the couple had advertised in a special show section of Antiques and The Arts Weekly. “By midday, we had sold an adorable framed Arnold Print Works pug,” added Lisa Hammell. “Many people admired a glowing paint decorated Berks County, Penn., blanket chest. A discerning couple purchased the chest by the afternoon. We also had strong interest in our pair of large painted firkins in wonderful condition, unique stoneware and collection of affordable and whimsical Hudson River itinerant art.”
For further information, www.ctspringantiquesshow.com or 860-345-2400.
