As it nears the half century mark, the Ellis Antiques Show has proven once again that it is a major draw attracting a coterie of collectors, dealers and museum and auction house staff into this city, the home of the bean and the cod. Situated with the elegant confines of The Castle, the massive granite 1897 First Corps of Cadets armory and itself a national historic landmark, the Ellis Show took place from October 30 through November 2.
Now in its 49th year, the event was well received, with manager Chris Jussel remarking that the show met with higher attendance on Saturday and Sunday than observed in recent years. Traffic was steady and dealers were satisfied. A roster of 35 dealers with diversified tastes displayed a mix of objects with a local connection and those with more exotic appeal.
Merchandise seen around the floor ranged from an impressive selection of ceramics in the booth of Elinor Gordon, who has participated in the show since its inception, to rare books displayed by Imperial Fine Books, marine items in the booth of Hyland Granby and stellar American furniture offered by C.L. Prickett.
Front and center in the booth of Yardley, Penn., dealers C.L. Prickett, was a remarkable New Hampshire Federal mahogany serpentine front sideboard attributed to George Rogers of Concord. The piece was alive with herringbone, bellflower, shield and pellet drop and line inlay. An important New Jersey Federal figured mahogany tall case clock with gilded floral rosettes and a pierced scroll board had an inlaid liberty cap on a pole. It was made around 1788‱802 by Matthew Egerton of New Brunswick.
Other fine furniture of particular interest were a pair of Queen Anne compass seat chairs and a Queen Anne easy chair, along with two lolling chairs from about 1790. The Prickett brothers, Craig and Todd, also showed a Connecticut River Valley Queen Anne bonnet top secretary made around 1760 and a sweet Pennsylvania Chippendale walnut child’s high chest from about 1785. Paintings for sale included the 1909 “Unexpected Visitors” by Edward Lamson Henry, “Portrait of Mrs Bowie and Son” by Philadelphia artist Robert Street and W.S. Reynolds’ 1891 “The Evening Star.”
The doyenne of all dealers, Elinor Gordon of Villanova, Penn., now at 90, is showing no sign of slowing. Her booth is the destination of a lot of her friends and longtime clients in Boston who make a point of catching up with her. She showed two French armorial plates that on careful inspection revealed the concealed image of Louis XVI, and the choice orange, green and blue Fitzhugh, armorial and early Imari for which she is known. She also had a pair of Pronk plates in the Parasol pattern made for the Dutch market, circa 1740.
Vareika Fine Art claimed the distinction of the most expensive picture in the show: The 1842 “Ship Squall off the Coast of Gloucester” was signed F.H. Lane and priced at $2,300,000. The Newport, R.I., dealer tempted Boston palates with such gems as the James E. Buttersworth “Two American 74-Gun Ships, off Brooklyn Navy Yard, East River, New York,” an oil on panel from about 1864‱867 and Benjamin West’s circa 1767 painting, “The Drummond Brothers,” depicting the sons of his patron Robert Drummond.
The gallery showed three paintings by William Trost Richards, the 1885 “After a Stormy Day,” the New Hampshire view “Whaleback Light off Portsmouth” and “Sunset at Second (Sachuest) Beach.”
Venerable Vose Galleries of Boston, now in its 168th year, featured a prime Boston scene, the impressionistic “Busy Winter Day, Tremont and Park Streets” by Arthur Clifton Goodwin that was of great appeal to Bostonians. Other pictures with a local focus were Alfred Thompson Bricher “Near York Beach, Maine,” John Whorf’s “Harbor Activity, Provincetown, Massachusetts” and “The Sadie Newman Frozen in Smith Cove” by Emile Gruppe.
Bricher’s “Near York Beach, Maine” and his view of Grand Manan Island were only slightly farther afield.
A Parisian street scene by son of Boston artist Frederick Childe Hassam was highly evocative. Vose Galleries attracted much interest and expects some residual sales from the show.
New this year, Lee Gallery of Winchester, Mass., was a breath of fresh air, with a booth of choice Twentieth Century American photographs made before 1970, photographs from the Photo-Secession and the circle of Stieglitz and an assortment of Nineteenth Century images. There was much to consider and visitors were pleased with the choice.
Henry P. Bosse, the Nineteenth Century photographer of the Mississippi River was represented by an 1885 cyanotype image of the US towboat Alert . “Towing the Reed,” was the evocative 1885 platinum print by Cuban born photographer Peter Henry Emerson. Edward Weston was represented by the 1926 “Three Fish Gourds” and the 1924 “Tina Reading,” while Alfred Stieglitz’s “Spring Showers” was for sale.
Also new this year was The DeYoung Collection of New York. The dealer showed glittering diamonds and other sparkling gems, such as a diamond necklace with a 31.77-carat sapphire by Fred Jewelers Paris and a Harry Winston ruby and diamond necklace, bracelet, ring and earrings and a Cartier and Oscar Heymann necklace, which was available for $450,000.
London jeweler Sue Brown of England was back for her second year. She admittedly specializes in the quirky, which made her booth a destination of choice for lots of visitors. She had a wide selection of jewelry in the form of insects and musical instruments, a dandy cobalt enamel and gold bangle bracelet with the royal portrait that Queen Victoria presented to a lady in waiting in 1845 and a plique a jour in the form of a Riva speed boat. Brown also specializes in teddy bears and one example was made from blister pearls. An especially fine four-strand coral necklace from about 1800 attracted much interest.
Andrew Spindler of Essex, Mass., the only dealer to ever have sold a brown paper bag at Ellis (a six-foot example that was snapped up by a collector at last year’s preview party), was back for the second year. This year he brought along a 52-inch wood coat hanger trade sign from the 1920s. Although that remained unsold, he did sell such disparate objects as a pair of Art Deco lamps, a George III settee, a Regency upholstered armchair, a set of nine framed table mats by the Folly Cove Designers, a Boston taxicab light and a 1930s laminated wood die used to create penguins.
Spindler said after the show that he could have sold a Max Kuehne table ten times over, but he only had the one †which sold soon after opening. He also had an interesting tankette table with articulated black metal plates that allow it to roll, like a tank. It was made around 1987 in Italy by Paolo Pallucco and Mireille Rivier. Also offered was a credenza in the manner of Paul Frankl. Gleaming silver is a perpetual draw when Robert Lloyd sets up shop and this year’s show was no exception. Lloyd wrote in an email after the show, “We had our best Ellis ever, selling across the board, English, Irish and American. We met several new clients and are very pleased.”
Objects of high interest included two spoons made by Paul Revere Jr in 1785. They were of different sizes but each bore the same monogram. Objects of particular interest included a Jamaican silver salver from 1750 by William Duncan with the mark of assay master Anthony Danvers. Two English George II small salvers from about 1735 were for sale, along with a George I coffeepot made by Paul deLamerie of London around 1718. A Russian silver cigarette case, circa 1900, bearing an image of the devil seemed to suggest that tobacco is a vice.
New Canaan, Conn., dealer Sally Kaltman, Sallea Antiques, fills cases and shelves with intriguing objets de vertu. A selection of mother of pearl objects attracted the most attention and resulted in some sales. Some of the interesting crystal boxes found new homes as well. Sallea had an array of fine tea caddies, the most unusual and rarest of which was a circa 1810 English octagonal bombe tortoiseshell tea caddy with a pagoda top. Writing boxes, tartanware and ivory made an attractive display as well.
Antique clocks are a family business for the Delaney family of West Townsend, Mass. They exhibited a grand total of ten tall clocks, such as a carved mahogany example made in Glasgow and a Concord, N.H., maple tall clock example in a case by David Young, who made cases for Levi and Able Hutchins and Timothy Chandler of Concord, among other makers. Another example was made by Samuel Solliday of Doylestown, Penn., around 1825 with a tombstone door that was carved with a bird. Others included a cherry case clock by Nathaniel Hazeltine of Danville, Vt., and a Pennsylvania Chippendale walnut example by Griffith Owen of Montgomery County. Not so tall, but very interesting was an Eighteenth Century silver and brass dial clock by London maker George Wren.
Janice Paull came from her Portugal base with rare and colorful Mason’s ironstone, such as a circa 1815 footbath in the “Sacrificial Lamb” pattern and another circa 1830 footbath in the Chinese Vista pattern. She also showed a trio of Mason’s potpourri jars, including one in the Bandana pattern. She showed a choice selection of Rose Mandarin porcelain as well. When we visited her booth early in the preview party, she had already sold a contemporary piece; that is, a circa 1900 Mason’s plate in an unrecorded pattern.
Carswell Rush Berlin had a one-of-a-kind figured mahogany dining table with a single pedestal that seats ten that he described as “as good as it gets.” The circa 1815′0 table was attributed to Duncan Phyfe and was set with Spode Imari style porcelain. The New York dealer also had a Boston Restauration cheval glass with candlesticks and acanthus carving based on an 1828 design by George Smith, derived from Thomas Sheraton. A Boston mirror was signed on the back indicating ownership by Senator Nathaniel Silsbee and his Beacon Street, Boston, address.
As the preview party began to unfold, sales were recorded in the booth of Georgian Manor Antiques of Fairhaven, Mass. Dealer Ricky Goytizolo commented that his favorite object from the display was a small English Regency cabinet that opened on both sides. He also expressed a certain affection for a Continental pair of giltwood and composition oval mirrors, circa 1880, and a Regency Anglo-Irish clear cut water pitcher.
Philadelphia dealer Alfred Bullard presented handsome Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture and decorative accessories. Included was a diminutive (42 inches) George III mahogany bowfront sideboard from about 1790; a circa 1830 Hepplewhite Pembroke table with olive, tulip, holly and hare wood inlay; and a Regency beech armchair painted black with a classical terracotta scene. There was also a George IV carved ebony inkstand from about 1830. Two small carved African chairs added a note of interest.
Jewel-like Tiffany lamps from New York’s Lillian Nassau included an alamanda lamp, a begonia example and a dragonfly lamp that are a consistent draw at Ellis.
The Fort Washington, Penn., gallery of Irvin and Dolores Boyd tempted Bostonians with such fine furniture as a Delaware Valley Chippendale walnut tall chest and a New Jersey Chippendale linen press from around 1775 that was made in red gum wood, cherry and maple. There was also an English figured rosewood lingerie chest, circa 1840; a Pennsylvania pie safe; a painted blanket chest; and a nice selection of stoneware.
A four-part Federal mahogany cylinder top secretary desk was a standout in the booth of Chadds Ford, Penn., dealer R.M. Worth, who also showed a 1740 Chester County, Penn., Queen Anne chest. The booth also brought back to Boston a set of ten bow back Windsor chairs made in the Charlestown section and with the branded signature of Thomas Cotton Hayward. There was also a New England Federal tall clock made in about 1800 with a fan carved base and copious reeding.
Pride of place in the Philadelphia Print Shop booth was a dramatic print of Audubon’s 1829 painting of the beautiful blue Columbia Jay engraved by Robert Havell. A map of Boston had already made its way out of the booth even before the preview began. Don Cresswell said several days after the show that he had had success selling six or seven prints or maps each day. He described them as “a little bit of everything.” He said he observed steady attendance throughout the show and said he had also made several sales during the Young Collectors’ Night.
Diana Bittel brought a mouth-watering selection of fine sailor woolworks, sailor valentines and other impressive shellwork objects for which she is known. They surrounded a handsome curly maple and tiger maple chest-on-chest. She also offered an English architectural watch stand made around 1790 with shell inlay, a group of ivory toys and an English mahogany shell cabinet and mirror. Harkening to her Pennsylvania location, she showed a Pennsylvania walnut blanket chest, circa 1790‱800, with three drawers and tulips.
Boston collectors love the marine art and antiques that overflowed the booth of Hyannis Port, Mass., dealers Hyland Granby. They had much to choose from among the fine examples of scrimshaw, brass, navigational instruments and clocks, figureheads, shellwork and four narwhal tusks. Among the fine marine paintings for sale was Fred Pansing’s oil on canvas scene “US Frigate Constitution Approaching New England Shore under Light Breeze” marking the occasion of the ship’s return to Boston for its centennial celebration. Another was Antonio Jacobsen’s signed and dated 1889 early portrait of the steam sailing vessel Breakwater.
A Civil War presentation naval bowie knife made in England in 1860 was of interest and a pair of German silver spurs from the same period attracted many eyes, as did the imposing neoclassical figurehead of a woman that had been given to the New Bedford Whaling Museum in 1905.
The whimsical charm of majolica is the draw in the booth of Solebury, Penn., dealer Charles Washburne, who brought such unusual pieces this year as an almost full size turkey centerpiece with candlesticks made by Hugo Lonitz in about 1880. Washburne also showed several game pie dishes, including a Minton example with a tree stump and a fox chasing geese and a George Jones example, circa 1875, with a hen and chicks. There was also an Austrian absinthe bottle made at the R.M. Kraus factory and a Minton beehive Stilton keeper.
Among the oldest antiques shows in the country, Ellis celebrates the half-century mark next year. The day after this year’s event closed, Jussel met with the committees to brainstorm about the celebration of the 50th next November.
The Ellis, as it is known in Boston, benefits the Ellis Memorial and Eldredge House annually and another charitable organization each year, which this year was the Whittier Street Health Center. For information, 617-248-8571 or www.ellisantiques.com .
