Antiques And Design Bridge Over High Waters In The Hamptons

BRIDGEHAMPTON, N.Y.

:The rains Saturday established new record levels for the area but even so the customers came to the collections at the June 24-25 Bridgehampton Historical Society's Antiques and Design in the Hampton's Show.

Managed by Stella Show Mgmt Co., it has become a major fundraising activity and a social event for the local people and summer visitors to this luxury playground for the rich and famous. The opening reception was Friday evening from 6 until 9. With admission at $125 per person and, according to Leanne Stella, "a good gate" for the evening, refreshments were served and there were sales for many of the exhibiting dealers.

Leanne, the president of the company founded by her mother, Irene, was pleased with their customer support throughout the weekend in spite of very poor weather Saturday. In fact, Saturday's weather was so bad the $8 admission was waived. She said, "We had a good start in the morning but the rains definitely held down the total numbers. The dealers said they were selling though so those who came were here with a purpose."

Ed Koren who together with his wife, Betty, owns Bridges Over Time Antiques, Newburgh, N.Y., said "... [Friday] was certainly a fun evening. Saturday, however, was a different story. Six and a half inches of rain in Bridgehampton, it was unbelievable. Those who did show ... were certainly troopers. The Stellas did everything to make it work, even offering free admission on Saturday. We made a few sales and while it rained Sunday we managed to salvage our weekend with a number of late sales."

Offerings at this event were not restricted to the old formula of 100 years old or more but to quality designer products from any time.

Gustavo Olivieri, Antiques of Watermill, N.Y., and Miami, Fla., was offering a coffee table made of brass, designed by a noted Italian furniture designer Gabrielli Crespi. While it did not sell during the show, Olivieri said there was great interest and he has an appointment for further review of this $28,000 piece. He sold several of the pieces offered at the show, including the large Twentieth Century painting of women on a beach in lounge chairs, priced at $8,500. A Danish desk chair was offered at $4,300 and was from the 1960s.

Another exhibitor new to shows was Larry Sirolli from New York City. For more than 20 years Larry was an auction specialist at Sotheby's with furniture as his area of expertise. Now as an exhibiting dealer he has altered his field to "pictures," offering about 80 percent of his collection in paintings and other fine art. He said the hardest part of the show was "now I have to carry everything myself in and out, but the show was a success for me."

He sold well enough in spite of the weather and he added, "I reconnected with some old customers and met some new ones. I was happy with my results."

Alexander Galleries of New York City was exhibiting a mix of fine art and early antiques. An Irish game table was of early Georgian style, carved in walnut and available at $22,000; it was shown with a set of Chinese chairs for $8,000. His best piece was the oil on canvas that was spoken for during the show at $275,000. Titled "The Sphinx" by William Sergeant Kendall, it was controversial when painted in 1914 because of the subject matter and unclothed lady. Dealer Alex Acevedo said due to the hubbub it created the artist added the sash over her legs.

An English haberdashery cupboard was offered by Sally Orent, a Sayville, N.Y., dealer. It featured 32 drawers, each labeled for gentlemen's clothing accessories as it would have been in a Bond Street menswear store in the Nineteenth Century. Also featured in her display was an Austrian kas, with early paint decoration and a collection of carved Black Forest bears. She said sales were primarily small accessory items that she collects on her trips to Europe.

Selling a good deal of everything was Margaret Doyle, Cumberland Foreside, Maine, and soon New York City. This dealer and her husband had been living in North Carolina for several years and are returning to the Northeast with their eclectic collection of antiques and decorator furnishings. She was so busy selling Friday she had to keep him in their booth to help. New Yorker Susan Parrish had an assortment of early American country antiques, including much of her collection of handmade quilts. The center of her weekend store was a faux grain painted hutch circa 1825 with a price tag of $14,000.

Bird in Hand was also showing a large collection of early painted furniture. Featured in the booth was an early child's highchair in paint decoration priced at $975. Dealer Ron Bassin attributed its manufacture to Pennsylvania, circa 1860-1875. The Florham Park, N.J., dealer said sales included several early prints and a large country dining table.

Folk art and outsider art was mixed in with the decorative and antique pieces. Michelle Fox, Upper Grandview N.Y., had her usual collection of early and vintage textiles but she also offered an advertising piece, a large sign touting "Mrs Dearmond's Café" for $3,200. Firehouse Antiques, Galena, Md., was offering early machine tools and the wooden forms that were used in casting them as wall hangings. The original host of Antiques Roadshow, Chris Jussel, was selling some early store signs and even a fake tombstone with an off-color joke on it. This Bedford, N.Y., dealer does very few shows but most of them are Stella's including some at Gramercy Park Armory in New York City.

Veranda, the bi-monthly Hearst publication on home furnishings, fashion, jewelry, antiques and more, was a sponsor for the show. Its participation activities included advance stories, special exhibits on wine tasting and Jaguar Motorcars, mailings to about 5,000 area readers and inclusion in its special show section. It also gave Georgia Fleming, the executive director of the publication, an opportunity to come to the party where she contributed to the fun.

That fun included a Lipstick Kiss Reader, Sasha Nanus. She had the visitors kiss a piece of paper for an imprint that she would read, like a palm reader. It provided a great many laughs during the free cocktail hour, especially when Fleming was helping apply the lipstick to a dealer.

The Stellas' next Hamptons show will be August 19-20 with a preview party and opening Friday, August 18. The dealer list will not be all the same, and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

For information, www.stellashows.com or 212-255-0020.