Finnegan Gallery, Chicago.

Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring

RHINEBECK, N.Y. — The three-day Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff to summer, with parades, picnics and — for those whose passions and preferred pastimes run towards antiquing — Barn Star Productions’ Spring Antiques at Rhinebeck show. The show returned to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds May 25 and 26, hosting more than 125 dealers within three spacious pavilions on the fairgrounds and welcoming hundreds of visitors of all ages.

“Mother Nature was kind to us, we had beautiful weather both days. Attendance on opening day was through the roof — I think it was a record — while Sunday was a bit slower but consistent with previous shows. One of the nicest parts was seeing how many young parents came through with children and were walking around, buying things. Overall I was very pleased,” Frank Gaglio, antiques show manager said. He confirmed there were fewer than a dozen new dealers, some of which stepped in when he had some cancellations.

Toward one end of the middle pavilion, Isobelle Taylor — who goes by “Taylor” — was making her show debut. “This is my first year in business as ‘Moxie Sparks’ and Rhinebeck Antiques was my first show. I spent the last five months hunting and gathering fixtures to restore. I rewired them all personally, keeping them as period appropriate as possible, but adding dimming switches to all the table lamps. Who doesn’t love a dimmer!

Isobelle “Taylor” Taylor, center, buys antique lighting from antiques stores and restores and rewires them and pairs them with art glass. Her business, Moxie Sparks, was making its antiques show debut. Rhinebeck, N.Y.

“The show was very professionally run by Frank Gaglio. In the months leading up to the show, I was able to connect with him several times as we live very close to each other. It was comforting for me to have a relationship with Frank prior to the show. He has been so kind and supportive of my business since our first call in January.

“My main aim for the show was to advertise the business and that was definitely a success. I basically ran out of business cards to give out. There aren’t too many people rewiring lamps and old fixtures anymore, especially not with the level of detail I adhere to. I offer other residential electrical services as well, but my main focus is lighting.” The novice exhibitor noted that she had a lot of interest and questions. While few sales transpired, she felt the experience was a positive one that would inform future shows and shape her business going forward.

Robert Sherwood had an exceptional set of six hand-carved wooden prints block that was one of four used for the four faces of the astronomical device or tellurian housed in Engle’s Monumental Clock, which was designed by Stephen Decatur Engle (1837-1921) and took 20 years before it was completed in 1878 (the clock is on display in the National Watch and Clock Collector’s [NAWCC] Museum in Columbia, Penn., while Engle’s tellurian is in the collection of the History of Science & Technology at Yale’s Peabody Museum). According to the NAWCC’s website, the tellurian, which was also patented by Engle, “illustrated the positions of the moon, constellations and zodiac relative to the rotating earth.”

Though he has had this six-piece carved print block for several years, it was the first time Robert Sherwood had brought it to a show. It created one of four faces of Stephen Decatur Engle’s tellurian in Engle’s Monumental clock. He’s shown here with a small print of the large clock, which measures 11 feet tall. Cambridge, N.Y.

Next to Sherwood, Erb’s Antiques, Lancaster, Penn., had a festive bounty of Steiff stuffed animals, Christmas belsnickels and vintage Halloween and Thanksgiving collectibles as well as a small basket and painted boxes.

From Vergennes, Vt., Greg Hamilton, Stone Block Antiques had several impressive and interesting things. Falling into the former category were two large pond models, while the latter category was easily covered by a 14-piece set of Napoleone Martinuzzi ware, a set of six transfer-printed roundels and an abstract stone statue by Jon Isherwood.

Across the aisle from Hamilton was the booth of John Spencer and Red Shutters Fine Art and Antiques, from Great Barrington, Mass. Works in metal, porcelain and wood jostled with painted and formal furniture and framed artwork from the Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries.

The Rhinebeck show has deep roots in Americana and, while it’s broadened its scope considerably, there are still a good number of dealers who deal in it exclusively. Among these would be Rhinebeck locals Valerie and Dennis Bakoledis, who had a small but choice selection of country furniture, weathervanes, brass candlesticks, baskets, redware and stoneware and folk portraits.

One of a handful of deals sealed by folk art dealers Tom Jewett and Butch Berdan was this elaborate gate that came from the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Jewett-Berdan, Berwick, Maine.

Butch Berdan and Tom Jewett, Berwick, Maine, have a large booth in the center of the first pavilion and always bring spectacular pieces of furniture, folk art, holiday and — for the this edition — jewelry. Jewett shared his thoughts with Antiques and The Arts Weekly after the show, “The show turned out great. We thought the crowd was strong for such beautiful weather over the whole weekend! We sold across the board: decorative, country, folk art, holiday and jewelry, with jewelry being especially strong. And, no, Jewett-Berdan hasn’t branched out into jewelry; my mom Kathe bought and sold estate jewelry on the side and she did shows with me when first starting out. Two of the most expensive pieces sold: a 3.5-carat diamond, solitaire stone and a three stone diamond ring set in platinum. We also sold an elaborate iron gate that came from the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, a wonderful set of four Maine paint-decorated chairs attributed to Daniel Stewart, a couple early German Santa candy containers, signs, garden and other objects and smalls. We love the crowd at Rhinebeck, which seems to be a younger, hip crowd – that buys – than you see at most other antiques shows.”

Sandy Jacobs went from Rhinebeck to Las Vegas for another show and sent feedback in via email, saying most of her sales were jewelry and most of those on Saturday, with the sale of some smalls throughout the weekend.

Tim and Charline Chambers are Missouri Plain Folk, hailing from Sikeston, Mo. In 2001, Tim and collector Selby Shaver published part of Shaver’s collection of gameboards in the landmark and essential tome on the subject, The Art of the Game. With only a few copies left unsold, the Chambers brought some to Rhinebeck.

Tim Chambers holding The Art of the Game, which he co-authored in 2001 with gameboard collector, Selby Shaver. Missouri Plain Folk, Sikeston, Mo.

While the Chambers were in Rhinebeck, they missed the tornado that swept through their part of Missouri; thankfully all of their family and friends were spared and with minimal damage.

“Both of us were born and raised in Missouri so we’re used to them and we had reports immediately so we knew everything was OK…but it was nice to be away. The show was good and we were very pleased. We started doing it when it first started, back in the 90s, when Bill Walters did it. We took a break for several years and started doing it last fall. It’s a really friendly atmosphere. We primarily sold to people we didn’t know and had never seen. We sold a pair of four-leaf clover plant stands we found in the Midwest that came from New York State and we thought it would be good to bring them back; three different people wanted to buy them. I also sold two gameboards to a client of ours in Hudson. The great thing about Rhinebeck is its always been a show where we could express ourselves. Everyone around us was happy with the show; this business works when everyone is successful.”

Several dealers doubled up, sharing large or even small booths. Doing so were Tom Baker, Baker & Co, from Delmar, N.Y., and Barbara Boardman Johnson of Pewter & Wood Antiques, Enfield, N.H., and Cave Creek, Ariz. Their large joint booth had rugs and jacquard coverlets, framed objects, painted wooden objects, weathervanes and, in one corner, a small barn that had been discovered in Maine and provided the perfect place to show small carved horses, sold separately.

Iowa City Art & Antiques, Iowa City, Iowa.

A truly amazing piece of furniture — and one of the earliest items on the floor — was in the booth of Iowa City Art & Antiques, from Iowa City, Iowa. When we asked Scott Carpenter what some of his most interesting things were, he wasted no time showing a William and Mary collector’s cabinet on stand attributed to Thomas Pistor of London, circa 1695. Veneered with kingwood on a frame of quartersawn oak and pine, he had numerous doors, secret compartments and glazed upper doors. He had acquired it in February and it was the first time he had taken it to a show.

“People thought it was cool but it didn’t get serious interest,” Carpenter told us after the show. He reported selling a small circa 1730 New England chest of drawers, an English Victorian burr walnut canterbury and a range of decorative art — early American to midcentury — to both repeat and new customers.

Garden antiques and architectural elements are a specialty of Chicago’s Finnegan Gallery, run by Kaye Gregg and Marty Shapiro. For those interested in French antiques, the pair offered a Seventeenth Century cast iron gueridon, a Nineteenth Century cast iron jardiniere and a Nineteenth Century cast and wrought iron table du boucher, or butcher’s table. For those with Anglican tastes, a circa 1800 carved marble basket finial, cheese maker’s cart marked “Wm L. Smith” that dated to circa 1925 and a Nineteenth Century apothecary would all appeal. A truly outstanding piece was a Nineteenth Century curved English tavern settle that dominated one full side of their expansive booth in the center of one pavilion.

A few of the red “sold” tags Jane Langol used up during the Rhinebeck show. Medina, Ohio.

Medina, Ohio, dealer Jane Langol had marked several things sold by noon on the first day, including a modern genre scene signed “Edw. Ptak,” a landscape signed “Ch. Rabin,” a pair of candlesticks, a teddy bear and green and white coverlet.

She told us, “Rhinebeck was quite wonderful this May! Within the first 45 minutes, I had six sold tags on items, primarily oil paintings. I sold well throughout the day and on Sunday sold three more paintings to another customer. Really terrific! I had a good interest in midcentury art pottery. I had a small one-drawer cherry Hepplewhite stand with a pair of blown Pittsburgh glass candlesticks and sold both items! The attendance was steady and fruitful. Many were asking good questions and were truly interested in the offered material. It was very refreshing indeed!”

David and Jane Thompson had marked a few things “sold” by noon on the first day, including a Reading Room sign, a green-painted bench and a sampler

“We were happy in the end,” noted Paul Vandekar. “We sold a good range, from a pair of very, very good vases to a hat rack, a French terracotta dog, creamware and some other things, and have some Madame Antoinette Pauline Knip (French, 1781-1851) bird engravings on reserve. People weren’t buying very expensive things, but they were buying.” He observed that the show presents a very large quantity of a wide variety of things — what many deem “a good critical mass” — that there is something there for everyone.

Making an impressive presence front and center in the booth of Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge were a pair of early Eighteenth Century Spanish tin-glazed earthenware apothecary drug jars, Talavera de Reina; the pair sold during the show. Downingtown, Penn. Paul Vandekar photo.

Donna Kmetz always hangs a lovely booth and this show was no exception, with landscapes in virtually every season. Two by Francois Gall (French, 1912-1987), one by Gabriel Spat (Russian, 1890-1967), and two of Cape Cod views were in prominent position along her back wall and she was sure we didn’t miss “Hanging out the Wash,” a sweet gem-like genre scene of a child hanging washing by White Mountain, N.H., artist George E. Niles (1837-1898) or William Baxter Closson’s (American, 1848-1926) “A Merry Family.”

The Douglas, Mass., dealer was glad to be there. “The show was surely busy. I did a great job selling off the little deals on my front table, and as the day went on, made some bigger sales too. I am thrilled that the two choice beach scenes by Gall sold as a pair. As I finished my paperwork, I noted that my sales included several new and younger customers. How great is that?!”

Interior decorator extraordinaire — or as he prefers to call himself, “visual architect” — Richard A. La Vigne was elegant in a corner near the door of the middle pavilion. Cooled by a gentle breeze, the proprietor of soon-to-open Knollwood Galleries in Lee, Mass., summed up the first hours of the Rhinebeck experience as “great location, great response!”

Knollwood Galleries, Lee, Mass.

Evidence of successful trading was evident throughout the show from the first moments it was open. Some of the things that sold included an Aesthetic Movement or Victorian side chair, some lusterware and a silhouette (Perkins & Menson Antiques, Ashby, Mass.); a modern bar cart (Partridge Hill Antiques, Georgetown, Mass.); a pair of strawberries, a carved figure of a child riding a dog, a painted blue box and a stand (Evan Grant Art & Antiques, Bremen, Maine); a folk painting of a dog, an Art Deco terrazzo, a Porky Pig cutout figure, a Nineteenth Century print of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and an Inuit carved stone seal (Francis Crespo Folk Art & Antiques, Lancaster, Penn.); a large pig-form planter, a metal hand, an optician’s trade sign and a set of painted bottles (Pumpkin Patch Antiques, Searsport, Maine); a painted cupboard (Joan Stauffer Antiques, Fresno, Ohio); a set of dining chairs (Mario Pollo, Holliston, Mass.) and a marble and iron table (Debbie Turi Antiques, Roseland, N.J.).

Barnstar’s Fall Antiques At Rhinebeck is scheduled for October 12-13, over the Columbus Day weekend. For information, www.barnstar.com.