Diana H. Bittel, Bryn Mawr, Penn.

Review & Onsite Photos By Madelia Hickman Ring

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. — The 18th annual Newport Show took to the ice rink at St George’s School once again, marking a high point in Newport’s summer social calendar and supporting, as it has historically, both the Newport Historical Society and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County. A glittering gala preview party on Friday, July 24, provided a fun night out and was followed by two full days of selling for 39 dealers. A few new faces joined the team of exhibitors, which included those local to Newport and others from further away.

Anne Hamilton (Mrs S. Matthews V. Hamilton, Jr) is the show chair, who show manager Karen DiSaia acknowledges to be “the force behind the show.” In a phone call, Hamilton told Antiques and The Arts Weekly, “It’s a really lovely summer show and we have a great mix of dealers. I would have liked to have seen more people there on Sunday but there’s a lot going on in Newport. I was very pleased to see more younger people than we’ve welcomed in previous years. I’m a firm believer in not changing a working formula but the only thing we did differently this year was advertising the show for a month on the hop-on/hop-off golf carts people can rent in town. In the end, it’s all about giving money back to the beneficiaries and I’m thrilled that in the 18 years we’ve done this, that we’ve been able to raise millions of dollars for the Historical Society and Boys & Girls Clubs.”

The loan exhibition for the 2025 Newport Show.

The theme of this year’s loan exhibition — situated adjacent to the venue’s entrance — was “The Summer of ‘25,” a look at the sun, sports and spectacle of the Roaring Twenties. The wall text that introduced the display noted “Cosmopolitan Newport, the Queen of Resorts, sat at the heart of a thriving social milieu. This was a city ready to shake off the exclusive ‘closed door’ decadence of the Gilded Age and usher in an era of cultural change. Newporters eager to enjoy the fruits of economic growth and loosening social norms met the new decade with exuberance and gusto.” Archival photos accompanied bathing costumes, jewelry and shoes, while antique tennis racquets, an elegant place setting and Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs’ entertaining diary gave an idea of how early Twentieth Century Newporters spent their days.

Kevin Kleinbardt and Ahna Petersen are Yew Tree House and they were showing at Newport for the first time. After the show, Kleinbardt gave a glowing report back: “Overall, my first experience doing the Newport show was a good one. As an exhibitor, I was heartened and impressed by the dedication of the organizers, promoters and volunteers. They work extremely hard and it shows. Dealers are made to feel welcome and important, not just the backdrop of a social event.

“When I do a show for the first time, I’m not looking to make a fortune, and I’m happy to cover expenses while getting to know a new market. In that regard, the show was a success. I met several new customers and also reconnected with others I haven’t seen in over 15 years who now call Newport their home. I was pleased to see so many younger clients — which is always a very positive sign,” said Kleinbardt.

This sign came from an English pub but was discovered in Connecticut. Yew Tree Home, Greenwich, Conn.

He concluded, saying “notable sales included a very good English rustic comeback Windsor armchair and a ship weathervane. Interest was definitely on objects rather than furniture, which is often the case.”

Cape Cod-based fine art dealer Kevin Rita, Garvey Rita Art & Antiques, was also doing the show for the first time; he was ably assisted by Bill Wibel. When we came through their booth early on opening night, they were already writing up a Ray Ellis picture and ultimately reported “a very well-run show with attention to the dealers’ needs. Prosperous crowds with sales and conversations,” noting sales of Wolf Kahn, American Impressionist paintings, marine paintings, some Newport-related work and a Galloway garden bench. Rita said he would like to return to future Newport shows.

Rosior was a first-time participant, having showed at the Philadelphia Show in late April for the first time. Their displays incorporate elegantly carved wooden display cases with floral accents; for the Newport show, nautical rigging and sailing motifs added a touch of whimsy. The Portuguese jewelers put a lot of effort into their presentation and it was well-received during the gala preview party.

Relief-carved wooden showcases, embellished with nautical motifs and roping, was punctuated by Rosior’s signature blue and purple. Porto & Lisbon, Portugal.

Thierry Doussiere, Antique French Fine Arts, alternates time in both Baltimore and Marseille. He reported “a lot of interest” in his ormolu animalier bronzes and sold a Louis XVI style alcove clock to a local collector. A Pointillist painting by Yvone Canu and an Impressionist landscape by Édouard Pail were two of his larger fine art sales, along with a few smaller pieces. He dubbed it “a good show overall.”

English paintings specialists Gladwell & Patterson had a beautiful booth at one end of the show. Several small works by contemporary British painter Ollie Tuck found buyers early on, as had “Afternoon Light at Argenteuil” by Walter Helbig (German, 1878-1968).

Based in Marlow, UK, Leighton Fine Art was another international exhibitor, though the gallery has offices in New York City, Pittsburgh and Chicago. An early sale of a Hayley Lever painting was quickly replaced with another by the artist depicting boats in Central Park. Among the pictures Zack Hall, director of sales, pointed out, were “Children on the Beach” (1907) by Maurice Prendergast (1858-1924), Robert Antoine Pinchon’s (1886-1943) “Jardin du roses” (1912), Louis Valtat’s (1869-1952) “Barque sur le Lac du Bois de Boulogne” (1925) and Abram Molarsky’s (1880-1955) “Gloucester Harbour, Massachusetts.”

Leighton Fine Art, New York City, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Marlow, UK.

Hall was quick to follow the show up with an email report, saying, “The show was a great success! We saw existing clients and met new people from the area. We even had the pleasure of meeting several new clients from different parts of the country all coming in for the show: Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Chicago. Before the show, we were in conversation with a family from Chicago about a few pictures. I encouraged them to visit the show and take in all that Newport has to offer, from the great food to beautiful architecture. They loved their time in Newport and ended up buying a few pictures and other antiques! Overall Newport is just a gem of a town with a great appreciation for art and cultural heritage that make this show a perfect fit!”

Across the aisle from Leighton, Arlie Sulka and Mindy Moak had set up Lillian Nassau’s booth. A Tiffany Studios Wisteria table lamp was among their most important recent acquisitions, but a circa 1906 Tiffany Studios Venetian lamp came with a fun story: it had been purchased from Lillian Nassau in the 1960s, and Sulka recently bought it back from the son of the original purchaser. The seller remembered going to Nassau’s store as a child and getting “great burgers” at PJ Clarke’s, the iconic New York City restaurant around the corner from Nassau’s shop, where Nassau herself used to dine frequently.

Brad Finch and Parke Madden shared space as well as a nautical eye. Among the pieces Finch pointed out to us was a framed map; the card next to it read “The single most important map of colonial Rhode Island ‘A Plan of the Town of Newport, published by J.F.W Des Barres, April 24th, 1776.’” He had acquired it from a private collection in Taunton, Mass.

Lillian Nassau was handling this circa 1906 Tiffany Studios Venetian desk lamp for the second time; the firm had originally sold it in the 1960s and Arlie Sulka reacquired it from the son of the original buyer. New York City.

Madden had arranged one wall to include a painting by Stanislaus Lepine (1835-1892), two Nantucket baskets with swing handles and warm patinas, and a painted mermaid whirligig he said dated to circa 1940.

English furniture dealer Jayne Thompson anchored one wall with an early Twentieth Century Uzbekistan suzani silk embroidery with a vine border, which she hung over a mid Eighteenth Century English oak dresser. On one of her other walls, an impressive Gothic revival style breakfront bookcase cabinet was stocked with a Wood and Bowen Ironstone service.

Gary Sergeant, G. Sergeant Antiques, brought both English and American furniture. The Woodbury, Conn., dealer likes to show where his pieces were previously published (or are comparable to ones that were) and among the objects that met that criteria were a Chippendale mahogany drop-leaf table, attributed to John Goddard of Newport, circa 1755; a Chippendale games table, also from Newport; a pair of English Chippendale chairs; and an American shield-back chair. A small wooden box with pierced sides and top sported a red “sold” sticker early on preview night.

G. Sergeant Antiques, Woodbury, Conn.

Sheryl Dunleavy, The Ann Parke Collection, was quick to point out a Staffordshire pearlware “Roran” lion, circa 1830, and a watercolor and gouache genre scene by Charles Hoffbauer (1987-1957) that depicted George Washington in military garb making a toast at dinner; a Black attendant — possibly William “Billy” Lee, his personal servant.

The resident silver specialist is Jasmine Doussiere of Silver Art by D&R, who also splits her time between Marseille and Baltimore. Reporting “a good solid show,” she noted significant interest in her “majestic” Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century sugar bowls, including “a gorgeous one” by Charles Antoine Amand Lenglet with an impressive crystal that she sold “to a charming couple.” Several French silverware sets were also snapped up and a regular client purchased “an amazing 1684 sundial and compass by Michel Butterfield.”

Additionally, Doussiere shared, “What makes the Newport Show a true success is the work behind the scenes, with the relentless dedication of Anne Hamilton who keeps drumming up interest and bringing in clients, as well as keeping us catered to in an amazing way, and also Diana Bittel and Karen DiSaia who manage the logistics and the very undisciplined group of antiques dealers we are, and make it a very special show. We can never thank that group enough and look forward to next year!”

Jasmine Doussiere anchored this circa 1895 silver table jardiniere and surtout by Odiot with a pair of four-light silver candelabra, made circa 1880 by Henin & Cie. Silver Art by D&R, Baltimore & Marseille, France.

Shoppers looking to acquire local views — paintings, prints or maps — had ample diversity of choice at Arader Galleries. Among Lori Cohen’s offerings was Alfred Thompson Bricher’s (1837-1908) “A Showery Day – Narragansett Pier”; two lithographs of Newport by John Perry Newell (1832-1898); “The Yacht Squadron at Newport,” a hand-colored lithograph by Currier & Ives; Richard W. Rummell’s (1848-1924) copperplate engraving of Brown University; and maps of Newport by Edmund M. Blunt (1770-1862) and Joseph Scott.

Given its heft and stature, garden statuary is unlikely to be an impulse purchase, but garden antiques specialist Barbara Israel brought several small ornaments that appealed to show-goers. That might have been because they were in animal form: a mid Twentieth Century composition stone curly-haired sheep that was only 16 inches tall, a late Twentieth Century composition stone rabbit and a composition stone figure of a crouching cat of similar vintage.

The 19th annual Newport Show is expected to return to the Ice Rink at St George’s school July 25-26, with a preview party on July 24. For information, www.thenewportshow.com.