While there was little more than a foot of fresh-fallen snow on the ground outside the Westchester County Center on Saturday morning, February 9, the surrounding towns throughout Westchester County and Connecticut were not so lucky. Some coastal areas throughout the region experienced up to three feet of snow during the blizzard the previous night and some local governments had imposed bans on driving. This did not bode well for Allison Kohler and the White Plains Antiques Show scheduled to open on Saturday and continue on Sunday.
“We had about a dozen cancellations,” stated the promoter in regard to dealers that decided not to make the trip to White Plains, although with proper emergency management planning on Kohler’s part, the show floor was filled with dealers and the show went on as scheduled, barely missing a beat. “The crowd was light on Saturday,” according to the manager, although it picked up on Sunday with a steady stream of shoppers making their way through the show. “We made the best lemonade that we could,” stated Kohler, “and a number of dealers told me that they did very well on Sunday. The people that came to the show were serious buyers.”
Those that did make the effort to get to White Plains were treated to a smart-looking show with fare ranging from art glass and early ceramics to Modernist carvings and paintings and a broad selection of estate jewelry.
A splendid selection of art glass ranged from Steuben to Zsolnay and also included example of ancient Roman glasswares to a midcentury Venini glass vase by Tapio Wirkala. Several bronzes were displayed, along with a good selection of ceramics.
Gladstone, N.J., dealer Marc Witus was on hand with a wide selection of materials that ranged from a small collection of early tin litho toys to an assortment of delft and spatterware pitchers and coffee pots that lined a shelf. Somewhat out of place was a mocha pitcher with vibrant earthworm decoration; a similar form with seaweed decoration was displayed nearby.
Quirky utilitarian items displayed as art were featured at Vintage Matters. Among the interesting arrangement was a pair of glove forms, dough rollers from a bakery, building stars and newel posts.
Several booths featured art, including Florham Park, N.J., dealer William Jeffery, whose stand faced the entrance to the show. Bright Abstract Modernist works could not help but catch your eye, accented by a good selection of ceramic and wooden sculpture. One painting sold to collectors as the doors opened on Sunday morning, an abstract by Steven Zorky, whose work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Montclair Art Museum. Also displayed were interesting works by Don Bloom and Albert Mohr, as well as a selection of midcentury carved walnut and teak serving pieces and utensils in the Danish style that were signed Emilan.
One dealer that was set up at the show could not make it back to tend their booth on Saturday; snowed in and without power, Doris and Steve McKell of Tradewinds Fine Art were stuck in Rhode Island. One shopper at the show on Saturday expressed a serious interest in a painting to show manager Allison Kohler. “I kept trying to call them,” said the promoter, but they had no power and the phones were not working. We tried for over two hours and I finally had to tell the customer that he would have to return to the show on Sunday.”
The painting, a large nude titled “Studio Model” that dominated one wall of the booth, was an oil on canvas by Irwin Glass, a member of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The client returned on Sunday to find the weather-beaten dealers in their booth and purchased the painting. A Charles Gruppe oil, “Eastern Point, Gloucester” was getting looks from clients, as were two works by Providence artist C. Gordon Harris, “Autumn View,” that depicted a view of the city from a wooded hilltop, and a harbor scene with fishing boats and dories. The latter was marked with a sold tag.
“Race for Market,” an oil on canvas by Robert Danforth Hedges, depicted a sailing ship in open waters and was displayed at Jaffe and Thurston, Wawarsing, N.Y. The dealers rounded out their stand with a nice assortment of period furniture and a good selection of Rose Medallion porcelain.
An unusual hammered copper sculpture, “Horse for Troy” by William Neal Roy, was at 20th Century Design, along with select art pottery that included an Amphora vase and a pair of Hagenauer copper face plaques.
For additional information about the White Plains Antiques Show or upcoming JMK events, www.jmkshows.com or 973-927-2794.
