A folk art water witch floated by rows of small animals rigged for ice fishing, by wire bumblebees, butterflies and birds. Rows of chunky Bakelite bracelets and necklaces arranged by color hung side-by-side with vintage costume jewelry from the 1920s to the 1950s. Miniature frames, glassware, silver memorial spoons, World’s Fair ephemera, flatware and antique smalls all caught the eye at Cord Shows Ltd’s 22nd annual Antique Stocking Stuffers Show and Sale at the Greenwich Civic Center on December 9.
Jewelry enthusiasts were in their glory, as were dealers who plan for this annual show for the whole year. “I always think, when I find something small, ‘That will be perfect for Vivien’s [Cord] Stocking Stuffers show,’ and I put it away,” said Debbie Gioello from Yonkers, N.Y., as she unwrapped her personal collection of trinket boxes from the 1940s‵0s. Among the boxes was a hand painted cut alabaster pink round box with an old hinged lid; hand painted and repoussé pre-1950s Japanese boxes and iridescent carnival glass bowls from the early 1930s. Gioello was also arranging Wedgwood boxes and glass and silver salt and pepper pairs.
The requirements for items shown at the Stocking Stuffers are simple: they must be no more than 6 inches in dimension and they must be old †no new items, regardless of how artistic or finely crafted, are allowed.
Vivien Cord could be seen, periodically, walking up and down the aisles as dealers were unwrapping and setting up, looking closely at what was being displayed. While no ruler appeared, it was clear she was going to enforce the rules.
“It makes it fun for everyone, and that’s what this show is about †fun and getting into the spirit of the holidays. Plus buyers can find unusual and unique gifts for everyone,” Cord said.
Carol Craig from Dover, N.H., also loves this show. “I’ve been coming down for about nine or ten years,” she said, “and its always fun and a good show for me. I bring boxes filled with different smalls. I don’t bring jewelry or glass, but different things †this year I brought 20 or 25 boxes. Frames sold very well and some banks, such as an Art Deco face bank that was cute, animal banks; and a very unique Charlie Chaplin windup toy, with small figures that danced, sold to one of my loyal customers.” Craig also sold small metal and papier mache animals and ephemera and advertising.
David Virrill’s tables were loaded with fish decoys †handcarved lures used by Native Americans to tempt big fish and bottom feeders to swim to the surface where ice fishermen could spear them. Each lead-filled lure is a miniature, one-of-a-kind folk art carving priced anywhere from $75 to hundreds of dollars †a good catch for shoppers of the unique. The Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., dealer was also showing a folk art water witch, tiny decoys and small folk art handcarved decorative art.
Dorothy and Erwin Goldman brought sterling novelties and souvenir spoons from North Bergen, N.J. They had a large collection of miniature Japanese 950 silver salt and pepper pairs made for the export trade. Among the set shapes were parasols, rickshaws, cottages and instruments.
Chappaqua, N.Y., dealers Rachael and Michael Marks were also showing silver, Georg Jensen jewelry from the early Twentieth Century. Next table over, Judy Silver from the Bronx, N.Y., belied her name and was offering Victorian Christmas ornaments and other smalls.
A large silver toucan seemed to loom over the table of Joyce and Gene Starr. It pushed the 6-inch rule, but was an eye-catching introduction to the handcarved abalone tie slide Gene was wearing. Made by Navajo designer Gomez, it was set with turquoise and hung on a leather tie. The Englewood Cliffs, N.J., dealers had cases of silver and semiprecious stone jewelry from Native American to European and Oriental, and were doing a brisk business from the moment the show opened.
“The afternoon slowed down significantly, due to the weather and weather predictions,” Cord mentioned, “but the morning was so busy, we still had over 700 attendees.”
Coming the farthest, Anna Tapay brought flatware sets with French ivory and mother-of-pearl handles from her home in Castiglione Del Lago, Italy. From just around the corner, Tammy Greeman was showing fine art for dollhouses from her The Small Wall shop in Larchmont, N.Y. She collects small paintings, tintypes, die-cuts, weavings, etchings and lithographs to bring to the Stocking Stuffers. “There were a few ‘secret’ presents purchased after the browsers left my table, with the buyer circling back to make the purchase. It’s always fun to be a co-conspirator in giving someone something they really want!”
Fine Eskimo and Inuit art was on display at Inuit Images’ tables, where Victoria Prescott and John Synnott from Sandwich, Mass., had a carved stone image of a woman mending her boot, circa 1960, by artist Evie Koperkuluk. Other fine indigenous stone carvings were of traditional Canadian animals and birds.
Strolling down an aisle, shoppers found Van Briggle and Tiffany perfumes, crystal pyramid prisms and chandelier prisms selling fast at Elegance; 1950s and 1960s Christmas ornaments at Joan Ruggiero from Milford, Conn.; and small Twentieth Century art and design items such as pottery, photographs and textiles (and jewelry, of course) at New York City dealer Janice Vrana’s table.
Specializing in early 1970s designer jewelry by Kenneth Lane and Alice Cavinass, Patricia Frazer, Vintage Couture Jewelry, Easton, Conn., had a rhinestone and gold electric plate necklace and earring set and a sterling alligator belt buckle by designer Barry Kieselstein-Cord.
Graham Nye has come to Cord’s show for “many, many years” with his collection of American pottery. The Cranston, R.I., dealer had several Clarice Cliff pieces, one a creamer in the Crocus pattern, tucked among the cut glass, silver and art glass wares. Brenda Perrone, Pound Ridge, N.Y., had Victorian-era American China Co. pieces as well as a Victorian glass Christmas tree candleholder on display.
First-time dealers Laine Dyer-May and Doug May from Westbrook, Conn., had salesman’s samples, Estee Lauder perfumes, doll-sized playing cards and a 1908 New Year’s card all decked out in a hinged top, two-drawer slant-top box.
The show will be back again on December 14, and Cord Shows has several other shows on the calendar between now and then. For information, www.cordshows.com or 914-273-4667.
