Two allied, medically oriented organizations united again for the 47th Benefit Antiques & Fine Arts Show at the Science Museum of Virginia, February 6‸. The Richmond Academy of Medicine Alliance Foundation, Inc, and the Richmond Academy of Medicine have been running this show to raise revenue for their long list of charities, which includes the museum, as well as many health and community service organizations.
The museum building, on West Broad Street, was originally the Union Railroad Station in the late Nineteenth and first half of the Twentieth Century. When Amtrak changed the rail routes, the museum was the inheritor of the wonderful old Federal-style columned building, where the show is set up among the variety of interestingly shaped rooms.
Fletcher/Copenhaver is an art dealer from Fredericksburg, Va., with a long-walled exhibit space †just what was needed for all the works displayed. The dealer’s collection included many French and American works, some quite old and others more contemporary. One piece was by Marcel Delmotte (1901‱984), a modern work of dancers, “La Danse,” gouache and lead pencil on white wove paper, and priced at $18,000.
Helen Storey, Charlottesville, Va., was just inside the entrance, offering a large collection of French and English furniture. Her inventory also included fine art and many household objects †the kind of things that were brought out for company. Also located at the front door was Time and Strike, the clock business of John and Patricia Snead, McLean, Va. Their collection of clocks come from all over Europe and the United States. Whenever necessary, the works are restored by John, so all of the time machines offered are in good working order.
Brill’s Antiques from Newport News, Va., has been exhibiting at the show for many years, with items from its Georgian collection dominating the offerings. This year, however, a late Nineteenth Century firehouse Windsor was in the front of its display.
David Beauchamp is a New Hampshire dealer who makes this a regular stop on his annual antiques odyssey. Here he was offering a collection of fine hardwood furniture from the Georgian through the late Victorian eras. There was a tiger maple chest of drawers with double glove drawers on the top, a Baltimore-style sewing table in mahogany and a Victorian sideboard or server with unusual bowed legs, all looking for new homes.
Vilnis & Company is a Strasburg, Va., dealer with a shop offering a mixed variety of antique home furnishings and folk art objects. Its collection included a Biedermeier tilt top table, a Georgian sideboard and a carousel horse in fairly good early paint.
China was represented in McNeil and Reed’s exhibit with a large assortment of Rose Medallion and Rose Mandarin dishes. The Salisbury, Md., dealer was also showing some early fine furniture and textiles.
Art pottery was mixed into the inventory for Akanthus of New Market, Ala. The exhibit featured furniture from the Georgian period. Art on the walls was from later times, including an oil on canvas of a child and another with a child’s dress in a shadow box frame.
Shaeffer’s Antiques, Glyndon, Md., was selling fine English Staffordshire dishes and figurines. The Norwoods’ Spirit of America, Timonium, Md., has become very well-known for its folk art and Americana. Joan Parker’s Ingle Nook Antiques from Reedville, Va., was showing a small collection of American primitives †furniture, household objects and art.
A couple dealers came from Ohio with their assorted collections: Melrose and Duddy came from Poland with fine early hardwood furniture, while Seekers Antiques, Columbus, brought a large supply of earthenware and porcelain.
In one of the side rooms of the museum were Douglas Constant, Inc of Orient, N.Y., The Hanebergs Antiques of East Lyme, Conn., and Neverbird Antiques, Surry, Va., each in its own exhibit space, but offering very compatible collections. Constant had fine big furniture for a living room or dining room, and the Hanebergs had more of the same; Neverbird had all things to decorate the walls.
The show always runs on the first weekend in February, so look for it again next year at the same time. Because it is an all-volunteer operation, there is no single contact person. This year’s chairperson, Marsha Merrell, will take calls for more information, 804-213-0634.
