Birchwood Manor Featured Art Glass, Fine Art & Antiquities

WHIPPANY, N.J.

:At the Birchwood Manor Antiques Show on January 6-8, in the booth of Sword and Pen, there was Colonial currency printed by Ben Franklin, a patriot known for among other things his famous adage, "A penny saved is a penny earned." But for patrons admiring the art glass, silver, jewelry, fine art, Asiatic, bronzes, lighting and Continental furniture at this show, frugality was not on their minds. Thoughts of saving turned into decisions on investing with many of the treasures on view.

And in the booth of Harvey Moledzky and Jack Franks, Ammerman House Antiques, and Westfield, N.J., dealer Linda Brannigan, the possible investment decisions were numerous when it came to both fine porcelain and fine art.

"The best piece of Mont Joye you'll ever see," was how Harvey and Jack called attention to one tall French enameled cameo glass vase with a twist-formed body. The piece, covered with rich, gold enameled scrolls and heavily enameled pink and white dahlias, could be added to one shopper's collection for $2,900. And not one Doulton vase by their most famous artist, Hannah Barlow, but a matched pair of these 1875 stoneware vases, with a deer scene cut into the clay, awaited Doulton collectors for $3,500.

A pair of circa 1880, oversized pedestal, majolica ewers also captured our attention. By the French master Delphin Massier, each ewer was covered with modeled clay to form raised flowers and foliage, $3,900. Rounding out their art glass selections was a circa 1925 blue Loetz art glass vase with feathers in great iridescence, a wavy rim, dimpled sides, and a full polished base, $2,400.

Some of their fine art included an oil on canvas "The Bridge at Darby Creek," by Giovanni Martino (American, 1908-1998) for $9,500 and a James Brade Sword (American, 1839-1915), oil on board "By a Woodland Pool," $5,800. "Interesting and unusual," was how Ammerman House Antiques referred to a circa 1890 triptych by Charles Greville Morris that featured all three scenes of an English countryside scene - morning, noon and night - on one piece of canvas, $5,200.

Artwork of a different sort, in the form of a KPM lamp shade, shone in the booth of Jerry and Marsha Ritch, East Amherst, N.Y. This electrified, late Nineteenth Century chased brass oil lamp featured a five-panel lithopane, signed KPM, shade. The shade scenes included Mount Vernon, a landscape, a farm scene, a woman in prayer and the Passaic Falls in Passaic, N.J., $1,495. Known for their lighting, the Ritches also showed an 1870s Manhattan double posted, student lamp complete with its original shade. Referring to this lamp, Jerry said, "An exact representation is in President Garfield's house." And at $3,500, their "Lamp of Learning" Harvard student lamp made the grade with us.

Several of the Ritches' furnishings included a set of French Louis XVI giltwood armchairs and settee, with laurel leaves and acanthus medallions, which was attributed to Charles Honore Launnier, $5,900; a Smeigen and Coatson, two-part, corner cupboard, $7,250; and an American, circa 1820, tiger maple and cherry chest of graduated drawers, $2,750.

What would make Luis Artavia leave warm and sunny Tampa, Fla., and travel north to spend January in New Jersey? Undoubtedly, it is good sales - such as the ones he already had on Friday afternoon - that keeps him coming back. Artavia's Antique Expo, kicked off this three-day event with the sale of a large carrara marble, neoclassical representation of a reclining nude; and one of its turn-of-the-century bronze and gold plated chandeliers will light up a Philadelphia estate.

Asiatic also had a strong presence at this show. Marvin and Matt Baer, Ridgewood, N.J., who reported having a good show, showcased a Fukagawa plate that measured 18 inches in diameter. Referring to the fish and foliage scene, Matt commented that the central aquatic scene and strong gold border made this both a very unusual and very desirable piece. Along with several other pieces of fine Fukagawa, the Baers showed an extensive inventory of fine Satsuma from artists such as Yabu Meizan and Kinkozan.

It was not Satsuma or Fukagawa, but a large Chinese jade carving of a tiger that captured our attention in the booth of Cynthia Bartky, Livingston, N.J. Surrounded by minerals and fossils, this mid-Nineteenth Century bicolored carving weighed about 40 pounds and carried a price tag of $1,900.

Patrons had a good mix of Asiatic from which to select. From large jade carvings with the Bartkys, we moved on to cabinet-size Japanese vases in the booth of Reldan Antiques, Vestal, N.Y. Its Japanese cloisonné vase collection included one Ginbari bud vase from the Meiji period (1868-1912), and a bud vase with butterflies from the Showa period. They also exhibited a signed Japanese bronze vase with grapes from the Meiji period.

A bronze also captured our attention in the booth of La Madeleine Antiques, Montclair, N.J. It was a late Nineteenth Century bronze reduction of "The Lion of Belfort," by Frederic Auguste Barthold, $2,495. Cleverly reminding the viewer of the monumental size of the original French work, Barthold chose to incorporate a tiny figure of a man next to the lion in his work, to denote the scale of the work. Another French work was a circa 1900 bronze mantel clock of a putto next to a globe. This heavenly being charted the world for $2,795.

"This must be the oldest piece at this show," noted Bob Mascarelli as he and his wife Gloria pointed out a 400 BC clay vessel. Next to this vessel was a not-so-new Ming dynasty gesso statue. Bob and Gloria, who reside in Patchogue, N.Y., but are snowbirds every winter, co-manage the Great Tampa Bay/Suncoast Antiques Show with Birchwood Show Managers Jesse and Rona Kohler.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, what damsel wouldn't appreciate some medieval period jewelry from her modern day Crusader? From the times of Ethelred the Unready to Henry VII (the Eleventh to the Fifteenth Century), these archaeological treasures were exhibited by Scott Condello, Sword & Pen, North Wales, Penn.

History comes to life in Scott's booth with walls filled with framed signatures of historic, military and literary figures. Included in the selections was a rare pair of signatures, dated June 6, 1858, of the British poets Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband Robert Browning. Colonial currency printed by Ben Franklin and a signed military document by Louis XIV, the Sun King, all shed light on world history. Patrons also paused to reflect upon the words on a circa 1830 antislavery metal that read, "Am I not a man and a brother."

As a specialist in antique phonographs, Crank Up The Memories, Port Crane, N.Y., pleasantly surprised us with a framed signature of aviatrix Amelia Earhart. While Earhart was famous for her flights, courage.... and disappearance, it was patrons who were "lost" in the world of treasures at this booth, and the 90 other exhibitors at this show.

Mini-oils packed a mighty punch in the booth of exhibitors Thomas and Celeste Dynan. A pair of Nineteenth Century oils by George Wattles Waters (1832-1912) measured a mere 4 by 21/2 inches in size. In original condition, it read in pencil on verso, "Distant view of Utica in the Mohawk Valley." $6,500. This Kennebunk, Maine, couple started the show on a positive note with the sale of an oil painting of Rockport, Mass., by Burdoin, and an American mahogany server.

Arja and Timo Parviainen, Arti Antiques, Brookfield, Conn., who are regular exhibitors at this twice-a-year show, sold a French walnut, eight-day, regulator clock early in the weekend.

JMK Show Management will be back at the Birchwood Manor celebrating its 100th show on July 21-23. For more information, 973-586-0820, or www.jmkshows.com.