Miami Beach Convention Center hosted the largest antiques show in America, according to the producer, dmg World Media. The Original Miami Beach Antique Show ran January 22′6.
The flagship affair filled the giant hall with exhibitors in oversized spaces offering collections from every continent. Diamonds from Africa, furniture from Argentina, porcelain from China and a large quantity of all sorts of antiques from throughout Europe and America were offered from an international assembly of exhibiting dealers.
Silvia Petroccia from San Telmo, Argentina, had a shipping container’s load of furniture, which she and her daughter were offering. They have been regulars at the show for many years, shipping their inventory, all ready for immediate use. The pieces were being sold to local Floridians, but also much was reshipped to destinations far afield.
Cincinnati Art Galleries was offering some of its collection of fine art for the visiting audience. When asked which piece was his favorite, dealer Randy Sandler was hard pressed to pick one. He finally settled on a Victorian-era portrait of a lady in colorful garments.
“We have the largest collection of oyster plates anywhere in the states,” said Henry Powell of Monique’s Antiques. The Dundalk, Md., dealer should know, and there was to be no argument as there were several hundred on exhibit at the show, with more in the boxes under the tables and more at home. Powell’s home area is also home for the famous Chesapeake oysters, so there was probably a good market for buying and selling there.
From Bridgewater, Va., Neale & Schlotfeldt offered bird decorated luncheon plates and also hand painted portrait plates among their antiques.
Tiffany lamps are the majority of the Ophir Gallery collection. This Englewood, N.J., exhibitor was offering a variety of table lamps, including a 16-inch belted Rose at $125,000, a Geranium for $165,000 and a Daffodil for $130,000. A five-light hanging chandelier Moorish design was $65,000. All these were genuine Tiffany Studio pieces, circa 1910.
Displays at the show were all varieties. Some were simply offering their best collections on the tables as John’s Antiques of Aventura, Fla., was doing. His inventory was early English and American silver but not simply dining table paraphernalia. He had silver boxes, trays, jewelry and household accessories as well.
Others were creating elaborate displays with showcases and safes for overnight storage. In fact there were more than 2,000 showcases and 300 safes rented by the dealers for the show. Bradford House Antiques from Litchfield, Conn., was using several cases and the safe in its exhibit for heirloom silver and some small pieces in counter cases. The silver was virtually all sterling, with pieces from the last 250 years offered.
Carter’s Antiques, Clarksville, Tenn., trades in a very large collection of small antiques and art. Jasper ware, porcelain case clocks, fine art from Europe and early American portraits are all in Linda Carter’s collection and were offered at the show.
Best of France Antiques is a very large shop and traveling collection from Lambertville, N.J., and Mechanicsville, Penn. Its buying obviously is concentrated on French antiques, mostly furniture. One piece it showed was a startling chair made to look as if it had been a human skeleton. It was in excellent condition for being 150 years old and was priced at $5,800, but there were not too many people checking it for comfortable seating, as the bones seemed to wrap about the sitter.
Amy Bergman Antiques predominantly exhibited frames. This Great Barrington, Mass., dealer had big frames, small frames, wooden frames and silver, brass and gold frames. Most were from the last 150 years, including many of the colorful ceramic and mosaic frames used to add color to the black and white of early photographs.
Marvin Baer, New Milford, N.J., had new additions to his valuable collection of early Chinese ceramics. Porcelain figurines, early Canton, Peking and Nanking vases and special dishes were offered in his oversized exhibit.
Richmond, Mass., dealer David Anthony Antiques was showing Continental art and figurines. There were some Black Forest carvings, Nineteenth Century oil paintings, lighting from Victorian and Edwardian periods and brass figurines.
Antique Elements brought a very French-looking sitting room from its Roslyn, N.Y., headquarters. The setting consisted of two armchairs with a pair of drum-shaped tables, mahogany and other inlays, with ornate boulle work inlays and overlays as well. Also from New York, Hadassa Antiques had two pairs of urns, both of early Chinese manufacture. The first was Cantonese, more than 3 feet tall, selling for $45,000, and then there was a pair of Rose Medallion covered urns, about 2½ feet tall for $22,000.
Spenceola Antique Center was represented by the owners, Bob Hockaday and Julie Moriarity from Bel Air, Md. Moriarity deals primarily in jewelry, while Hockaday likes folk art.
The Main Event is from Eustis, Fla., but Tom Boswell and his crew do so many shows they are rarely there. For Miami Beach, he contracted one of the largest exhibit spaces in the show to offer thousands of valuable early dishes and dining table accessories.
Christopher English is originally from New England but now lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., when not doing an antiques show. He was offering an eclectic collection of early decorator items. There were some stuffed birds, furniture, dishes, silver and even a preserved giraffe.
From Worcester, Mass., Art and Antiques Gallery was offering an oil on canvas of a sailing ship by listed artist Stanislas Lepine, circa 1860, for $125,000. Trifles from Bath, Maine, was showing a room setting of Continental furniture. Chrissey’s Antiques, Newnan, Ga., offered mostly American art and home furnishings, but her husband found an early iron fire engine toy, which they added to their collection for the sale. Elegant Reflections, Northfield, Ill., filled its booth with figurines made from bronze, marble and other stone elements and wood.
At one corner of the convention center, Michael Sams of Louisville, Ky., was showing several room settings. His taste covers many styles, including French Empire chinoiserie, English and early American. Gregory Afrodit is from Ankara, Turkey, where he collects antique rugs for the American audience at the show.
Jewelry dealers exhibiting there were from all over the world. There were exhibitors from the area, from throughout the United States but also from Israel, Italy, England and throughout Europe. They also came from Argentina, Chile, China and other Pacific Rim countries as well. Many of the jewelry dealers came to trade among themselves for their own changes of inventory. In some cases, there were several independent dealers in a single booth with separate safes for their collections.
Postshow interviews were generally in agreement with show manager Andrea Canady, who said “Our traffic was good, while not a record breaker and the people that came were there to buy something or many things. There was not the casual visitor as we have had sometimes in the past, but there was pretty good buying.”
Canady said she and her crew were already working on their new Washington D.C., show slated for October 15‱8. Next year’s dates for this show will be January 21′5.
For more information, www.dmgantiqueshows.com or 239-732-6642.
