Sunlight streamed into the White Plains High School through banks of windows and skylights, casting a clear bright light onto 45 room settings at the revitalized White Plains Winter Antiques Show. The show’s manager, Marty Greenstein of The Last Detail Antiques Shows, Ltd, took over this event a few years ago and has dedicated himself to building a new identity for the show †apparently with great success †as seen this past January 12‱3.
“There was a steady stream of attendees, starting right at 10 am, and continuing throughout the weekend,” Greenstein said in regard to the show’s gate. “The attendance ended up being quite good. It’s an absolutely great area and the people at the school are very accommodating,” he continued.
At Yesterday’s Luxuries, Hamden, Conn., Bob Voss and Rick Linehan agreed with the promoter. The dealers displayed an English mother-of-pearl inlaid tilt top table, with a flower pattern and border, circa 1860. Facing the sunlight, the mother-of-pearl was glittering and it, along with a small 1910 bench upholstered in gold painted toile, sold to a customer within five minutes of the opening. “We’ve had a good show already,” Bob said later, “but no one is ever satisfied when it comes to selling.”
The team sold several other pieces of furniture, smalls, lighting and sterling silver items. “One of the lamps was very interesting; it was old Paris porcelain in ‘Tiffany’ blue with three white panels with paintings of women in period 1820s costumes,” Voss said, adding, “We had many customers asking about it, especially after it was sold!”
Carole Ann Hart’s booth was an eclectic mixture with an antique telescope, British campaign furniture and a wonderful leather covered French automobile trunk, complete with original stickers from exotic locales. The Stamford, Conn., dealer said, “The show went quite well. I sold my industrial table and a pair of 1930s loveseats.”
Hart is best known for her antique telescopes and among her offerings was a late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth century solid brass example set up on a large tripod. Signed by London maker S.B. Solomon, it retained the original green leather cover and was priced at $3,500.
Arline and Bob Kimerling came from nearby Chappaqua, N.Y., with a large assortment of porcelains, among which was a complete set of pre-1880s Meissen dinner service, marked with crossed swords on the bottom. The set included platters, vegetable bowls, gravy boat and more and was decorated in the Blue Onion pattern. Also prominently displayed was a set of early Limoges Game plates, each artist signed with exceptional borders.
Set up in a large corner booth, Peter Nee’s Millwood Home Antiques featured a pair of alabaster lamps, about 2 feet high, posed on a pair of Art Deco burl inlaid side tables. The booth also sported a pair of English leather wing chairs, deeply buttoned, and a large statue of the Buddha carved out of wood. From Millwood, Va., Nee also had a pair of wood and leather drum-topped ottomans, with brass tacks similar to the leather chairs.
Nicholas Di Benedetto brought a selection of fine art and some Regency furniture and smalls. Among the paintings offered by the East Quogue, N.Y., dealer/restorer was a signed Gretchen Cook painting depicting a lighthouse at the Cape Cod port of Woods Hole, circa 1942.
Grantham, N.H., dealer Marilyn Bierylo has been doing shows in Connecticut and New England as Falcon’s Roost Antiques for decades; however, more often than not, it is now her son Mark Stadtmiller who travels to shows. The dealer offered several pieces of furniture, including a Pennsylvania walnut linen press with original pulls and tombstone doors over an unusual setup of three drawers over three drawers. The circa 1860 piece was sold before the end of the show. The cupboard was filled with quilts, Shaker boxes and other smalls, which also sold well. A circa 1730‶0 figured maple highboy was displayed on another wall; it featured period brasses and unusual drawer slides that were dovetailed through the back panel.
“This is a great area for sales, with New York City just a short drive away, and Greenwich, Conn., close by,” stated Stadtmiller.
Maile Allen has been coming since Greenstein took over the show, bringing her signature maps, botanicals and Curtis Indian photographs. The Colona, N.J., dealer featured a large map, “Le Nouveau Paris, Panorama de tous ses monuments et gardens,” that was marked $1,500; a set of six framed botanicals from the Valentine edition of Florilegium Novum, 1719, by Theodore de Bry, $4,800 for all; and many lovely small etchings and prints of insects and plants from 1831, London.
“The show was good for us. Many of our old customers did come in and some large pieces were sold; and also, of course, some new customers as well,” reported Ari and Timo Parviainen of Arti Antiques.
The Brookfield, Conn., dealers travel to Europe every year to buy and their booth was filled with fresh merchandise that “arrived just last Tuesday,” Ari said. The dealers reported numerous sales including an “Art Deco grandfather clock, an Art Deco sideboard with marble top, a floor lamp, the walnut sideboard, the Biedermeier chest sold, also, and some smalls.”
Fine jewelry from Tiffany, Cartier and Van Clef & Arpels, among others, was beautifully displayed at Brad Reh’s booth. As is expected from this Southampton, N.Y., dealer, he had a special necklace to show: a circa 1950 Tiffany with 9 carats of diamonds and two matching bird brooches. “We have many longtime customers who are very happy we are coming to White Plains,” said Reh.
A good selection of paintings and fine art was offered at the show. At Southbury Fine Art, Southbury, Conn., Christopher Velush displayed a circa 1910 German sculpture of a fisherman carrying a soaked “damsel in distress,” whom he had just rescued from the sea. “The artist is Vravrutt and look at the wonderful detail; you can see every muscle and vein in his arms and even hair on his chest,” Velush said. “It’s an amazing piece.”
All art is not just fine art, and at Fardin’s Antique Rugs, Buik Fardin was offering what was termed “textile art.” One piece she sold “was an unusual and fairly rare Termeh, an embroidered and woven personal textile that is used for Islamic prayer. It had a precious metal threaded lion, a symbol of the old Persia. I sold this to a lady who had lived in Persia and had seen a similar type there a number of years ago.”
A large greyhound sprang across the wall at Hamptons Antique Galleries, Southampton, N.Y., and Stamford, Conn. Most likely an advertisement for a race track, the dog was larger than life and joined Modern and 1960s furniture, such as a pair of bamboo chairs made in Hong Kong with original fabric and a Maitland Smith writing desk marked at $5,800.
Greenstein’s next show will be take place in Bedford Hills, N.Y., on February 23′4. For information, 914-572-4132.
