The Gramercy Park Antiques Show opened on October 24 to a wave of optimism carried over from the success of the previous week’s Modern Show, said Michele Oswald, manager of the back-to-back Stella Show Mgmt Co. events. Certainly, the armory on Lexington Avenue looked as lavish as it has in previous years, maybe more so, given the volume of first-time vendors and the quality of the merchandise infused into the show by them.
“More than we have had several years,” Oswald explained of the new dealers that included several Americana specialists such as Jeff Bridgman and Roberto Freitas, and English porcelains specialist Earl Vandekar of Knightsbridge.
Stella Show Mgmt put forth several attention-getting initiatives for Gramercy Park, such as free admission passes in the trade papers. Targeting tentative buyers, they scheduled a complimentary Show Walk with Helaine Fendelman, Hearst Publishing investment columnist and collector. As Fendelman told the group, antiques hold their value in the long run. In the short term, “Practical is the name of the game.”
Not so coincidentally, several show veterans had come prepared with practical offerings geared toward holiday entertaining. Janet Drucker of Drucker Antiques, Mount Kisco, N.Y., showcased Jensen flatware and gravy boats. “Everybody needs a gravy boat at Thanksgiving,” she said, “especially a Jensen one.” There were, of course, the irresistible trifles that make exceptional gifts. Georg Jensen’s #1 necklace of silver, the first design from the renowned company, among them. Also offered was a selection of Wiener Werkstätte necklaces and shell jewelry by Marguerite Stix, a California artisan who created unique jewelry for Hollywood starlets.
The Spare Room, Baltimore, Md., attracted a group of Southern tourists on a shopping spree to its display of Mason’s Ironstone, Coalport and Minton. The tureens, bowls and punch bowls, circa Nineteenth Century, proved the epitome of both investment and practicality. It was, however, the case of estate jewelry that drew wandering eyes in close.
Nearby, Marion Harris displayed a collection of dinner bells, perfect for calling the gang to gather ’round. The bells, Harris said, were mostly stock glasses that manufacturers had turned upside down and enhanced with tongues and handles.
L’Iris Blue, who displayed a large collection of whiteware porcelains of varying form, also had outstanding lamps. One pair was made from massive conch shells.
As for a table to hold the lamps, several dealers were ready with period offerings. Broadway Antique Market (BAM), of Chicago, and first-time exhibitor to the show, appealed to contemporary taste with a Paul Frankl table topped with cork that was a showstopper. Its matching credenza had cork-faced doors. Duane Cerney commented that BAM separates its retail store inventory from show inventory so that everything displayed at the armory was fresh. He then pointed out an aluminum tabletop mobile by Phyllis Mark. Comprising three circles with a jack-shaped pendulum suspended from the top center, the 1950s work, typical of the modular mind-set, breaks down.
Another first-time exhibitor, Chinalai Tribal Antiques of Shoreham, N.Y., showed a Nineteenth Century Chinese wooden table amid a background of Yao minority paintings of pigment on paper that were originally made for ritual use. The booth’s outstanding single object was a 2,000-year-old Cambodian dung song (bell), also intended for ritual use.
Lance Hoyt Antiques offered two marble trestle tables with metal bases that attracted enormous attention. And just in case one’s intended guest list might not be impressive enough, an 11-foot-tall tin Abe Lincoln could have been taken home. The sculpture had been a site-specific work for the Lincoln National Bank of Syracuse, where it stood since 1967.
Greg Weiss also showed a table, an Eighteenth Century Italian trestle that measured at least 10 feet long. Amid the eclectic mix of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century to Modern offerings was a helmet that dealer Ann McLaine called “Attila the Hun.” As it turned out, the headgear was Turkish and made of silver and gold. Offsetting this was a display of mirrors made by the Weiss/McLaine team that pretty much said all there is to say about recycling. Round and trimmed with pink vinyl sanitation brush bristles, the creations worked from a design standpoint. Interestingly, after they had been configured, Weiss and McLaine found a similar pair referenced in an old edition of World of Interiors magazine that had been created by a French artist, circa 1978.
Bridges Over Time, Newburgh, N.Y., captured the green theme with an eight-piece set of furniture made as part of an eco-friendly Peace Corps initiative in Ecuador, circa 1960. The four chairs, two ottomans and two tables were designed by a Scandinavian artist named Mcgee. They are a rare combination of Scandinavian taste and Ecuadorian hand-tooled leather murals of Inca lore.
Here to Antiquity, of Cheshire, Conn., had its seating group, too, only theirs was an English oak settle with two armchairs. Hung salon style on the walls were traditional oils, such as “The Red Doll,” artist unknown. Painted by an American, circa 1860, the small but dramatic portrait showed a young woman holding her dolly.
For traditionalists, Roberto Freitas, of Stonington, Conn., another first-time exhibitor, anchored his booth with a Chippendale mahogany bonnet top desk and bookcase secretary, circa 1790, by a New York maker. The stately piece was flanked by two American tall case clocks. In the foreground, a pair of William and Mary maple banister back armchairs, attributed to Thomas Salmon, circa 1730‱740, with pierced heart and crown crest, made it apparent that fine Americana is unfailing in its appeal. Decorative pieces included a Liverpool ware pitcher dated 1791 and decorated with neoclassical scenes of Apollo and Artemis, and two massive Japanese Imari vases of brick and blue, circa 1860‱880.
Gordon Converse cleverly showed how, when done right, modern accessories update a traditional room. In the middle of his exhibit, a Seventeenth Century, English gate leg table showed well against two large pieces of Outsider Art. One, by Jim Bloom, appeared to reflect motion and anxiety. The other, by Thornton Dial, was a drawing well executed in charcoal that seemed a fluid representation of the female form. Incidentals in the booth included fine hand beaded Native American moccasins.
Linda Gumb of the United Kingdom showed a circa 1940 chair upholstered in needlework with a gaming motif. She also had 11 Alice in Wonderland hand painted images, circa 1900, depicting the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and other characters from the famous tale. Eleven Rajasthan clay figures, diminutive and quiet, commanded a great deal of attention, too.
A couple of aisles over, Anita Taub Fine Jewelry was also ready for holiday shoppers with a broad selection of vintage and estate jewelry. According to Taub, her items are direct from the owners. She does not buy at auction. Consequently, when one considers something as magnificent as the a ruby flower pin with invisibly set stones, weighing about 72 carats and complemented by diamonds, one can be pretty certain it is new to the market.
Among the purely decorative, Carlo Giovannelli led with fine Nineteenth Century portraits and portrait miniatures that drew a crowd early on day one.
Given buyer’s penchants for seeing their homes in the best possible light, it could be argued that even decorative items are practicalities. For instance, Jesse Davis Antiques of the United Kingdom, back in the show after an absence of four years, presented a broad array of pottery, from majolica to Staffordshire. The eye-catcher, however, was a slim wall filled with English shell ware †mostly photo cards rimmed in seashells. The seaside souvenirs date from the 1880s through 1910.
John Lynch had an eclectic booth that featured poster print blocks, circa 1939. Handmade and with reverse images, the 41-by-54-inch woodblocks from the Triangle Poster Company were probably made to advertise a state fair. Such gems have been standard components of high-tech printing of the time. Two whimsical fountain pens were offered by Lynch. They were extremely large display models of Shaffer’s “snorkel” pen, perfect for a loft wall.
William Woody of Darwin Antiques covered a wall with Peter Hujar photos of clowns, which are atypical of the celebrity photographer’s work and therefore quite desirable. On a smaller scale, was an Opera Store crock, signed Evan Oachs, Pittstown. Woody believes the store likely occupied the first floor of the Opera building.
Ruth Zager of J. Gallagher, North Norwich, Conn., specialists in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century fireplace collectibles, showed off a small that was both beautiful and idiosyncratic, if not practical. The engraved silver cache with original liner was topped by a sardine finial and set upon four lion paw feet. Even more practical was the handsome British bookcase of flame mahogany that was positioned front and center against the wall. One could imagine His Lordship sitting by the fire, his favorite books at hand, having a bit of a midnight snack.
Tanzania dealer Kip McKesson, whose shop is in Michigan, has made it his business to “field collect” authentic ritual items. In the sparely decorated but commanding booth was a hide skirt from the M’anghati people of New Tanzania. Created during an initiation ceremony into a female secret society, a young woman would have been given the hides and some ornamentation before being placed in seclusion for a number of days. During that time, her job was to turn the hides into personal ritual garb. Another unique piece was a Nyamwezi articulated ancestral figure of a man with one crippled leg. McKesson said that the entire village had suffered from a polio epidemic. The carver merely incorporated local history into the figure, intended for rain ceremonies.
Jeff Bridgman was geared up for Election Day and was prepared for any political outcome, as long as it involved the American flag. A leading dealer of American flags, his featured item was a 35-star double-wreath pattern flag from Bull Run. The stripes were overprinted with battle honors from New York’s 7th Volunteer Infantry. A homemade and very large Civil War flag showed only 25 stars, exemplifying the exclusionary status visited upon the Southern states. On the lighter side, a fan, made in the Orient and framed in its circular open position, had stars made of vegetable stain. Two weathervanes completed his setup. The more outstanding one was a Houdini. The full copper body with zinc nose and ears captured a racing horse, midstride, elongated and elegant, circa 1850 to 1870.
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