31 Successful Years For Pound Ridge Historical Society's Antiques Show

BEDFORD, N.Y.

:For 31 consecutive years and most recently on Thanksgiving weekend, the faithful members of the Pound Ridge Historical Society have gathered for their fund raising affair - the Fall Antiques Show. This year the show was held again at Fox Lane High School, Saturday and Sunday, November 26-27, with Martin Greenstein from The Last Detail Antiques Shows as show manager. Greenstein assembled 60 dealers with very diverse collections for patrons and customers to peruse and purchase.

While the school was in a state of construction, which made for a few difficulties, by late Friday evening the show was coming together. One of Greenstein's attributes is patience, and another is hard work. He smoothed the way by directing cars and marshaling more porters to assist in the unloading and setting up of booths. At the same time, he managed the usual aspects of putting a show together with his renowned patience and tact.

Saturday the show opened at 10 with visitors who were focused on their wants and needs. A couple from Manhattan's Upper West Side came looking for the right size table for their kitchen and the chairs to accompany it. They found the chairs but had to come back on Sunday for the table, which a local dealer brought in that day from his inventory. Jewelry was selling well; the very valuable pieces were available from Brad Reh, Southampton, N.Y., and costume from several others.

New Hampshire dealer David Beauchamp has a penchant for Federal and Regency period furniture that when it finally reaches his booth looks as it did when new. He restores the finish and can make any repairs, work which he does himself, then brings the pieces to the shows. Here he also was offering some of his collection of fine early art. William Nickerson is a Cape Codder, from Orleans, Mass.; the family name goes back to practically the Mayflower, and so does some of his inventory, or at least close, as he carries early American furniture from the earliest time to the Victorian Era. This weekend he had a cottage dresser in the original paint, an early hardwood secretary desk and much more.

The collection of Eleanor and David Billet was an interesting mix including several large pieces of kitchen furniture in original paint and kitchen cookware from earlier times. Their shopping is clearly not confined to America as some of their collection was from Western Europe. They were not the only dealers who shop outside the United States. Greenwich Oriental Antiques had its booth filled with early and very early Asian antiques. Robes of silk, framed for hanging, furniture and porcelain objects filled the booth to overflowing. Art Deco and some Art Nouveau styles were the design for Fair Trade from Shelburne Falls, Mass. The center piece of its exhibit was a pair of leather covered Art Deco chairs with arms constructed in rounded wooden shares and wood paneled sides.

Contrary to what many prognosticators have been saying, several dealers were selling furniture. Stephen M. Gero at Balcony Antiques, Canton, Conn., had a very good weekend selling several pieces of furniture for good values. Lost to his collection but finding new homes were a Connecticut Valley chest circa 1810, a Colonial Revival Hepplewhite settee and a sofa table along with "some smalls, actually a lot of them and a good painting," he said.

Ken Ware and Kathy Hanlon trade as Ware House Antiques from Boylston, Mass. Their collection was all early American-made pieces including a highboy from New England in cherry, several sets of matching Windsor chairs, a grouping of comb backs and another of bow backs. Ware also found an early kitchen table with round top and painted base. John Rose had early furniture and a large collection of early decorative glass pieces.

Jan and John Maggs carry the kind of furnishings that might have been found in a house in the frontiers of the West circa 1700-1775, which is where they live: Western Massachusetts, near Historic Deerfield. One of their most interesting pieces was a silver plated brass chandelier. Maggs felt the silver had been some unique demand from the original owner for he was not aware of any others like it. The condition was excellent for this Eighteenth Century piece.

Irene Stella and Martin Greenstein, friends and show promoters, were found visiting in the Easter Hill Antiques exhibit of the show.

Reh owns a jewelry shop in Southampton, N.Y., and he does some shows. Southampton is primarily a summer retreat for New York City people, so doing the Westchester County show keeps him busy and active. When asked for the most unique piece he had at the show, he went to a European piece from the turn of the century. Made of rubies and diamonds, it was in the shape of a heart, but fully articulated, that is each stone, set in platinum, was hinged to the next so the broach was not ridged but would move with the wearer's movements.

Schoene and Trites from Red Rock, N.Y., had a collection of mostly furniture ready from nearly every popular American antiques style. There was an early Nineteenth Century jelly cupboard, bamboo furniture for the Florida room and a Victorian fainting couch, among other things.

The show was not fixed in time as to the style of the offerings and neither were the customers. There was good activity for the historical society, the dealers and the promoter. Greenstein will use the facility again this winter for The Bedford Hills Historical Society, February 25-26, and will ensure easier access. His other shows include White Plains, N.Y., January 14-15, and Armonk, N.Y., in April. For more information call 914-572-4132.