Wilton DAR Antiques Show Last Gleam Before The Fall

WILTON, CONN.

:Not all of the news coming out of the Gulf Coast in mid-September turned out dire. Just ask Norma Chick of Autumn Pond Antiques.

The Woodbury, Conn., dealer who specializes in delftware and antique weathervanes had been set to participate in the Houston Theta Antiques Show on September 15-18, but that show was cancelled when its venue, the George R. Brown Convention Center, was pressed into duty as a temporary shelter for Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

As a result, Chick was one of three Theta show "dealer/refugees" who signed up at the last-minute to participate in the annual one-day Wilton DAR Antiques Show - and she is glad she did. "I am very happy as I had a very good show," reported Chick, who in the last hour on Sunday, September 18, sold six weathervanes - including eagles, horses, arrows and a rooster - to a single elderly collector.

Of course, not all of the 82 dealers show manager Marilyn Gould assembled for this main fundraiser for the DAR Drum Hill Chapter could speak of such glowing results, but when the curtain went up at 9 am for early buyers at the DAR show, the dealers inside the Wilton High School field house knew that the show must go on, even if the ranks of the buying crowd seemed to be thinner than in earlier times.

"The gate was down, pretty substantially for early buying and even for the regular show hours," said Gould. Still, she said, some dealers did surprisingly well, and the sales were not in just one particular category.

Thomas and Beverly Longacre of Marlborough, N.H., were among those who noticed that the early buying crowd was very small compared to past Wilton shows. Whether due to the date conflict with another show - the Maine Antiques Dealers Association - or a desire on the part of would-be shop-pers to eke out one more summerlike day outdoors before the official start of fall, many regular faces were not to be seen, said the Longacres.

"When the show opened at 10 am there was a small but steadily increasing crowd throughout a con-siderable part of the day," they said. "We found that quite a few retail customers did come through the show who have bought from us in the past and we were pleased to have repeat sales. We didn't have as many sales as other Wilton shows but those we did have were significant."

A couple of highlights in the Longacres' booth were a paint decorated cupboard, circa 1840, with no restorations, probably from Maine or Vermont, and an all-copper ship weathervane, circa 1930, that was unusual for its size and the great number of sails. "For us, clean, fairly priced objects continue to sell quite well," the dealers concluded.

There was a big difference between this show and the May Wilton show, according to Jason Hietala of Jason Hietala American Antiques, Bolton, Mass. The May show yielded steady traffic and sales throughout the day. Although foot traffic was brisk in his booth throughout the morning on Sunday at this most recent show, Hietala had to wait a few more days for the sales to come. Apparently, three attendees needed some time to think about his items and "ask around" about him. They visited his shop in central Massachusetts a few days later, resulting in the sale of a lowboy to one. The others, a couple, purchased a highboy similar to one they admired in his booth.

Hietala said he considers a show a success "whether you sell that day or have residual sales resulting from your appearance."

"The Wilton show was a huge success for us," said Richard Vandall of American Decorative Arts, Ca-naan, N.H. "We sold several pieces of Mission furniture - the highlights were a very large Miller slag glass lamp of oversized proportions, its very first showing, some very good baskets, a shadow box of handiwork from Shaker Sister Ethel Hudson of Canterbury, N.H., a couple of framed pieces of Shaker ephemera and quite a few Shaker smalls, as well as art pottery." Vandall added that callbacks have been recorded, "bringing us to one of the best September shows at Wilton ever." Postshow sales in-cluded a large oval Limbert table and an L&J Stickley Morris chair.

Several dealers reported having a strong "preshow," that is, selling to other dealers. That was the case for Jim and Debby Richardson of Westport, Conn. "We had a very good show. The strength was from dealers as opposed to the public," they said. Two such sales were a modern looking hooked rug that in reality was from the 1930s with an abstract expressionist design, measuring 31 by 48 inches, and a set of Pennsylvania chairs.

Among the other highlights in their booth was a statuesque Eighteenth Century Rhode Island Win-dsor chair featuring an old black over brown surface, nice turnings and a high brace back. Also, the scale of a pair of owl andirons from the turn of the century made them standouts in the booth, their glass eyes designed to glow with the light from a fireplace.

An early sale of a tiger maple stand cheered Stephen and Alice Shapiro, whose Short Hills, N.J.-based SAJE Americana business specializes in federal period furniture and accessories. The Shapiros also showed a Salem piece from the McIntire/Hook school with carved and star-punched columns, circa 1825, and a pair of portraits - "an attractive young couple, perfect ancestors," quipped Stephen Shapiro. The framed oils on canvas were dated 1833 and signed by Hannah Marie Hudson.

A great piece shown by Cheryl and Paul Scott, Hillsboro, N.H., was a diminutive Chippendale maple desk on frame, circa 1780 and probably from New Hampshire. Twenty-five inches wide, the desk fea-tured an early well or secret compartment. A specimen marble table from the late Nineteenth Century with checkerboard exuded Grand Tour charm, and the Scotts had a landscape on canvas by Ridgefield, Conn., artist Robert Emmett Owen of a brook in winter.

One of the other Theta show "refugees," Eve Stone, Woodbridge, Conn., came with her gleaming array of copper and brass, including a set of swirl and diamond andirons from the Eighteenth Century with matching tools, an Eighteenth Century Dutch bedwarmer and a pair of taper sticks with nice form from England, circa 1710. Among her many interesting smalls was a Masonic scrimshaw pig carved and a Portuguese snuff box featuring a united hearts motif.

New York andirons, fireplace fenders and jamb hooks and tools galore also shone at J. Gallagher. The Norwich, N.Y., dealer specializes in Nineteenth Century American fireplace accessories, and his display was a timely reminder that as the days get shorter and colder, attention is quickly turning to having a well-equipped hearth.

Another booth agleam with a plethora of antiques - in this case, English and Continental pottery, furniture and accessories - was Bob Baker's Poverty Hollow Enterprises, Woodbury, Conn. Baker's country vignettes are carefully crafted set pieces, and he puts great care into creating a warm, attrac-tive environment for his merchandise. For this show, he had recently acquired an English pine cup-board - "I bought it within five minutes of seeing it," he said - and, he added, he was nearly loath to sell it because it served so perfectly as a display for a colorful collection of English pottery.

Baker got off to a nice start early in the show, selling an ironstone set of ten dishes, silver trays and a painting. Also featured in his booth were a set of Wedgwood plates in the Hollyhock pattern, a pair of mid-Nineteenth Century Staffordshire dogs, a ceramic Deco vase, a Hope & Carter service for 12 in a butterfly pattern from 1864 and an English pine side table, circa 1900.

China Trade antiques were abundantly displayed at Renee Carol Rush. The Elkins Park, Penn., dealer and her husband, Frank, pointed out as one of their booth's highlights a China Trade dish, circa 1790, measuring 151/2 inches with a floral vignette, all hand painted with some of the original gilding intact. Also offered were a Chinese carnelian and jade lamp, circa 1900, that had come out of a private home in suburban Philadelphia, and a portrait platter from the Mottahedeh collection, circa 1740-50.

Rufus Foshee, Camden, Maine, presided over a pottery paradise that included creamware, pearlware, spatter- and spongeware and some extremely rare pieces of mocha ware, circa 1780-1830. "We had a very good show," commented the dealer. "On Monday we saw a client in New Canaan who was not able to get to the show and made a sale that was more than all the sales at the show combined."

Jewelry dealer Amy Taylor of Cave Canem, New York City, brought a good selection of antique and vintage jewelry from the late Eighteenth Century to the 1930s along with the firm's new designs. Tay-lor said, "I think the show went pretty well. There was a good crowd, especially in the first half of the day. Some repeat customers visited, and we also were happy to meet some new ones. There was a lot of interest in our jewelry and some sales. Through the day, our stack of business cards got considerably smaller, which is always a great thing." On those cards is the logo of a dog, fittingly, because the busi-ness' name is Latin for "Beware of the Dog."

From Iroquois, Ill., Ben and Judy Karr showcased some examples of folk art and Americana, including a Jewell horse weathervane, circa 1880, with excellent verdigris, a hooked rug of cats and birds, circa 1900, various old door hardware, a Bellamy eagle and an interesting bird's-eye view watercolor of the Brayley & Pitts factory in Buffalo, N.Y. , circa 1865, which showed up in Illinois, according to Ben Karr.

Gould said that her full complement of 130 dealers are set to return to the Wilton High School field house for the always-anticipated holiday show, scheduled for December 4.

For information, 203-762-3525.