Fall Hartford Antiques Show Shines

HARTFORD, CONN.

: Somewhat like the days of old, the Fall Hartford Antiques Show opened to a lively and passionate crowd of collectors, dealers and retailers that rushed into the hall and proceeded to buy, buy, buy. Sold tags popped up all around the floor with a good mixture of materials finding new homes ranging from a painted cupboard in the booth of Ben Karr to weathervanes in the booth of Roland and Marilyn Kemble to a Bergen County chair in the booth of Don Heller to a paint decorated wall box in the booth of Stephen-Douglas.

Management terms the show, "The incomparable source of period American antiques," a statement that rings true, although in a slightly different tone than it did two decades ago. Fall Hartford continues to evolve and it is distancing itself more and more from its timeworn reputation as a strictly "brown furniture show." The show is colorful, folky and fun, yet all the while it maintains the balance needed for it to still be regarded as one of the most serious of the Americana shows.

Amidst a light drizzling rain on Saturday morning, October 22, a crowd began to form at the entrance more than an hour before opening. Buyers in the crowd, according to management, included someone who flew in from the Los Angeles area specifically for Hartford and a couple Canadian buyers that came down for the show. Both were reportedly shipping numerous items back home.

Optimism among the dealers was high for the two-day event, and the buying public proved to have similar sentiments as sold tags appeared across the floor within moments of the show opening its doors. There was an air of excitement that resulted in sales slips being written all around the show.

"I'm a happy camper," commented show manager Linda Turner in the days following the show. "Attendance was up 20 percent from last year's show and lots of the dealers remarked about what a great show they had." The manager reported a steady gate throughout Saturday and a better than expected gate on Sunday. A lot of people reportedly came to the show after church midday Sunday and were there for the well-received booth chats. Janice Stauss had more than 50 people around her booth while she discussed the key points of evaluating American furniture, Lee Hanes and Joyce Ruskin spoke about fireplace furnishings and silhouettes, respectively, and Ed Weissman provided an upbeat and informative chat about period brass candlesticks.

Roland and Marilyn Kemble reported one of their better Hartford shows to date and within minutes of the opening, the dealers were engrossed with clients, while at the same time busy writing up slips. The dealers reported the majority of their transactions taking place with the large retail crowd in attendance. "Almost every sale we made was to retail people," commented Roland Kemble. "There might have been two or three small items that we sold to dealers, but predominately all the top dollar stuff was retail." The dealer reported about a "50/50 mix of new customers and old established customers."

"We sold a formal Federal inlaid bureau that we had out for the first time," said Kemble, "as well as a hackney horse weathervane by Fiske, a Harris full bodied cow weathervane in great original surface, a flame mahogany Federal candlestand and lots of really neat early accessories."

Woodbury dealers Harold Cole and Bettina Krainin filled their booth with traditional Hartford fare including a Norwich or New London area highboy in cherry with the original brasses and a wonderful old surface. "Its out for the first time," commented Cole of the highboy. "It has been in storage in a Ridgefield estate for the past 15 years and its priced at $48,000," he said as he admired the shapely proportions and the carved shells.

Other mainstays from the booth included a blocked-front Massachusetts desk that was ticketed at $38,000 and a corner cupboard in a spectacular dry blue paint that the dealer had reacquired from a client after having sold it more than 20 years ago. "I doubt there is another piece of paint on the floor that will beat it," exclaimed the dealer of the circa 1760 cupboard priced at $45,000.

Don Buckley reported a "darn good show" and was another dealer reporting a mix of sales to both established customers as well as new retail buyers. The Buckleys have been doing Hartford for more than 25 years and the Salisbury, Conn., dealer commented, "So many of the shows around today have become so eclectic. What makes Hartford great is that serious collectors are coming back to what was once regarded as the great source. They are coming back to the show that has traditionally been, and still is, the place to buy early American."

Among the items to move from the booth of Buckley and Buckley was a rare tall case clock with wooden works by Thomas and Hoadley, made during their brief partnership between 1810 and 1813. With a strongly grain-paint decorated case, the clock, which sold retail, had nice finials and fretwork and was termed a "good Connecticut piece." Other sales included a Connecticut corner chair in old black paint over the original salmon with three-ball stretchers all around it that went to a new customer, and a "killer" Eighteenth Century Dutch brass six-light chandelier that also went retail.

In his 16th show in Hartford, Oriental carpet dealer Joe Namnoun was extremely pleased with the show, moving three "very expensive" large carpets and a host of smaller ones to what he termed an "observant and appreciative crowd." A landmark in the city of Hartford after having been in business there for the past 25 years, Namnoun was another of the dealers to comment that he was pleased not only to service his regular customers, but to also be expanding his client list with several new customers.

The carpet in Namnoun's booth that attracted the most attention was a 7-by-10-foot yellow Ferehan that was committed to a client early on Saturday. Namnoun commented that he never considers a major carpet sold until it has been placed in the home for approval. By Sunday, a second client expressed interest in the carpet and placed a "second hold" on it. Other carpets sold included a "super-fine" Heriz with a rust colored ground and a fine 12 by 14 Heriz. All three of the rugs were shown for the first time, according to the dealer.

"We had to come in Sunday morning before the show opened and do an awful lot of redecorating," stated Newburgh, N.Y., dealer Karen Olson, who with her husband Dan had to restock their booth several times on Saturday. The couple reported a "spectacular show" selling numerous items that included art, furniture and lots of accessories. "This was one of the best shows that we have ever had in Hartford," stated the dealer, "and we had quite a few customers that were new to us."

"We always enjoy Hartford," stated Ms Olson. "The camaraderie with the other dealers and the customers. Everyone is on the same page at this show," she said, "enjoying the Americana. It is really nice to see people enthused about the quality and the offerings that are always present in Hartford." Among the reported sales from the Olsons' booth was a Queen Anne three-drawer blanket chest in cherry, a card table, a tavern table, a signed Philadelphia Windsor in first surface, a primitive portrait of a gentleman and a little girl, a folk art bank, a Hudson Valley landscape and four watercolors.

New to the show this year were Hamilton, Ohio, dealers Claude and Sharon Baker, who commented that the show "was absolutely beautiful. We sold a couple pieces of furniture, but it was the smalls that carried the show," stated Ms Baker. The dealer reported selling a Hepplewhite bow front inlaid chest with French feet and a "wonderful" tiger maple Queen Anne candlestand. Also citing strong collector and retail sales, the dealer commented that they sold a bunch of "pretty expensive smalls" including a stoneware jar decorated with a spread-winged eagle and a serpent. Probably Ohio in origin, the jar was one of two nice pieces of pottery to sell. Other sales included a watercolor, a theorem and an Eighteenth Century child's highchair in the original paint.

Iroquois, Ill., dealer Ben Karr started off the show with a bang selling three major items from his booth within five minutes of opening. Located in a booth in the rear of the show, it took a few minutes for buyers to reach it, but when they did, they snapped up a narrow corner cupboard with canted sides and two single blind doors separated by a single drawer in a nice mustard grained paint, a banister back side chair, a banister back armchair and a tin mold.

Regrouping and focusing on presenting a solid Fall Hartford Antiques Show was clearly the accomplished goal of manager Linda Turner. Echoing the sentiments of many dealers, Don Buckley said, "We just love this show and Linda does a great job for us all."