Antiques & Art At The Armory: Upscale Start To Holiday Shows

New York City

:Rebranded under the new Westchester Enterprises banner, an upbeat and upscale Antiques and Art at the Armory show opened at the Park Avenue Armory on November 29 for a five-day run. The dates fell about a week earlier than last year's event. Show manager Meg Geslin said, "We have a new date, a little earlier than in the past, but I always wanted to get the armory a week after Thanksgiving, and now I'm not going to give it up."

With a gala benefit preview for the Boys' Club of New York on November 28, the show was as bright an addition to the New York Cityscape as the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree being lit that same evening.

In its third year, Antiques & Art assembled 65 international dealers offering a wide range of antiques, both classic and Modern, for the home, as well as a show-within-a-show cadre of high-quality art dealers. Geslin said she consciously dropped the word "fine" from the show's title this year because she believed it was too limiting for the range of art she wanted to present.

There was plenty of holiday sparkle on display at N&I Franklin's booth. The London-based dealer turned a spotlight on a pair of George III cast silver three-light candelabra by Richard Cooke, circa 1800. And London jewelry dealer Sue Brown, known for "quirky jewelry from the past," featured many such sparkling curiosities, including a rare one-off 1923 pin of an English automobile with wheels that turned.

Manhattan decorative arts dealer Eric Streiner always likes to have a wide range of merchandise at such shows, and he filled up his booth with wonderful examples of Tiffany, Galle and other porcelain, ceramic and glass examples. Dominating his space, however, was a unique American Bank Note Company presentation frame, circa 1890, that he had plucked from Sotheby's Nineteenth Century furniture, sculpture, ceramics and works of art sale in October. Priced at $165,000, the elaborate 69-by-39-inch collage featured a circular engraving of the Peruvian coat of arms in the center and a bust of George Washington centered on the bottom, surrounded by portrait medallions and many examples of bank notes.

Streiner sold the monumental piece for an undisclosed price to an existing customer who came to see it at the show, and the dealer said it will probably go on display in an executive office. "I had at least three other backup customers for it," he said. "This is truly a piece of art as well as a piece of history."

Among the glittering Steuben glass on display in the booth of Steuben specialist Jeffrey Purtell of Portsmouth, N.H., was a Manhattan cityscape consisting of five prisms created in 1976 that apparently augured well for the dealer. Although not quite as good as last year, it was still a very strong show, according to Purtell. At about 5 pm on Sunday, he made a large sale, "plus a few others — not much happens from 5 to 7 pm at most shows — and, on Monday, I did 50 percent of my total sales for the show!" recounted the exhibitor. Purtell said he sold mainly to repeat customers he has cultivated over the past ten years doing shows in New York City. "I always come home happy from New York City, and this is the only time of the year I exhibit there."

Fine art dealer Questroyal had another successful show again this year, according to director Chloe Richfield. "We had several sales, one of which was to a new client," she said. Spotted taking note of the artwork on display in the booth on Friday was actor Steve Martin. The wide range of works included Albert Bierstadt's (1830–1902) "Sea and Sky," oil on paper mounted on board, 14½ by 18¼ inches, $135,000; an Impressionist vignette, "Dressing," by Frederick Carl Frieske (1874–1939), oil on canvas, 20 by 24 inches, $275,000; and Alexander Calder's (1898–1976) "Pyramid and Red Sun," 1975, mixed media on paper, 43 by 29½ inches, $98,500. "Regretfully, our paintings were not selling as fast as the Central Park Boathouse's crab cakes on opening night," quipped Richfield.

Compared to other shows they have done, fine art dealers Joseph and Serina Manqueros of Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach, Calif., said they found the turnout to be light, "but with one very significant difference," according to Joseph Manqueros. "Absolutely every guest who walked the show was a qualified buyer — no exceptions. I can tell you from my 20-plus years of doing shows, I would rather have 2,000 qualified buyers than 40,000 regular guests any day of the week. Every person who walked in our booth was a potential buyer with incredible knowledge of fine art. It truly made for a very exciting and prosperous event."

All of the gallery's artists did well, but California landscape artist Karl Dempwolf stole the show, according to Manqueros. "We sold all but three paintings by this artist and everyone wanted to see more," he said.

Jackie Smelkinson and Marcia Moylan run The Spare Room, a Baltimore, Md.-based business focusing on English ceramics, Georgian and Victorian jewelry, turn-of-the-century American silver flatware, Baltimore silver and objets d'art. A couple of interesting items from among their display were a cheese dome, circa 1840, exhibiting the wonderfully abstract swirls and striations produced by the agateware clay, and a Swiss necklace in the Renaissance design, dating from circa 1860, of ormolu gilt bronze and paste glass.

Asian antiques were ably represented by Asiantiques, Winter Park, Fla. Dealers Susie and Francois Lorin began their collection in 1978 and for the show brought a showcase full of snuff bottles, jade, ceramics and scholar's objects. Visitors to the show could learn that snuff bottles, the Chinese version of European snuff boxes, were made throughout the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), but especially took off in popularity after Emperor Qianlong (1736–96) declared them fashionable. Shapes and materials of the bottles varied and evolved, depending on the gender of the person using them, even the time of season they were used — and a great panoply of these variations was on display behind glass at the dealer's booth.

First-time exhibitor Dan O'Meilia had been dealing in antique English and Continental furniture and decorative arts for about 18 years in the French Quarter of New Orleans, La., until Hurricane Katrina came along in 2005 and rearranged the landscape. Now based in Tulsa, Okla., the exhibitor assembled a compelling combination of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture, fine art and decorative accessories at the show, each setting off the other.

An interesting piece of furniture that came from the Marriott oil drilling company family in the United Kingdom was Queen Elizabeth II's coronation chair of 1953, a fantastic icon of royal pomp and circumstance. Made specifically for this occasion, the chair, which was in mint condition, bore the impressed stamp "ER" with the crown and stamped by the maker underneath. For a listed price of $19,000, someone could have walked out with the chair and the accompanying original invitations, one printed and one handwritten, along with a copy of the coronation program.

On one wall of O'Meilia's display was a portrait of Marguerite Rogers of Philadelphia by James Carroll Beckwith (1852–1917) in its original frame, $375,000, and nearby was a massive English silver plated six-arm candelabra that converted to an epergne, priced at $29,000.

It was a slow start for Millwood Antiques' Peter Nee, but at closing time on Saturday "it broke loose," said the dealer, who had worked with three couples showing his star attraction — a Queen Anne period burl walnut English Dutch chest of drawers, circa 1710, that had come out of a Cincinnati, Ohio, museum and was priced at $85,000. "One couple came back just as I was putting my coat on and asked me if I was leaving, and I said, 'No, I'm just trying it on for size.' They ended buying the chest and a Hepplewhite table." The Millwood, Va., dealer also sold a small writing table and numerous smalls, making it a "really good show."

One of the value-added benefits of purchasing an antique decorative engraving or watercolor from Dinan & Chighine is the handmade frame the Kew Richmond, UK, firm designs for its merchandise. This was amply displayed with a set of 12 tropical fruit Chinese Export paintings on pith paper, circa 1850, on one of the booth's walls, priced at $28,000. Other highlights among the Seventeenth to Nineteenth Century offerings were copper plate floral engravings by Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer from the royal collection published in Paris, circa 1670, and a set of six mezzotint engravings of tulips by Johannes Weinmann, printed in color, finished by hand and published in Amsterdam in 1734.

At Galerie Jacques De Vos, a sycamore lady's desk by Raval and Bertrand, circa 1931, was a curvy example of the French high-end Art Deco furniture in which the Paris-based firm specializes. Also available were fantastic bronzes, including a couple of works by Jean Lambert-Rucki (Polish, 1888–1967), a polychrome bonze cast and a mask and sphere, 1942. A patinated cast iron jardinière, circa 1935, by Jean-Michel Frank and designed by Alberto and Diego Giacometti was also showcased.

It is not often that one comes across an antique slot machine that costs as much as an average house in Fairfield County, Conn., but then there are only four of the 1907 Caille Brothers Venus upright with music examples in existence, according to Jonathan Daniels, the Hallandale, Fla., dealer who stood proudly next to the rare device. The slot machine was invented in 1887 by Charles Fey in San Francisco. And for this particular variation on Fey's invention, the show was its first outing, having been off the market within the antique slot collectors' "secret society." The Caille Venus was a deluxe contraption, with an oak case, a musical roll that played "You're A Grand Old Flag" and the unique ability to change coin denominations on the fly.

Daniels said the firm did well at the show. "We did good business," he said, selling a 1936 Bally Reliance dice game and a Caille Ben Hur quarter slot from 1906.

In addition to rare coin-operated machines, Daniels Antiques also showed a good selection of Black Forest carvings that the firm carries in its inventory, Jonathan Daniels' father, Michael, having co-authored the industry reference book Swiss Carvings 1820–1940.

At Europa, Santa Barbara, Calif., a Spanish matador's "Suit of Lights," circa 1950, commanded a corner of the booth, its silk, gold and silver threads on silk embroidery further enhanced by glass beads and mirrors. The exhibitor also brought a pair of lounge chairs by Terence Robsjohn-Gibbings, circa 1945, and artwork included a couple of Robert Mapplethorpe "Orchid" dye transfer prints, 1986, priced at $22,000 each. The hands-down "booth magnet," however, was an Eighteenth Century secretary, a rare Anglo Indian domed Queen Anne period example, exuberantly redecorated with Nineteenth Century Mughal motifs.

With the calendar's turn to December, it seemed like a perfect time for James Gallagher and Ruth Zager to bring their large inventory of fireplace andirons, fenders and other hearth-related antiques to the show. Zager, however, was more excited about a recent find displayed in the North Norwich, N.Y., dealers' booth that had nothing to do with fireplaces — a hard-to-find set of four mirrored crystal on brass curtain tiebacks, ornately embellished and from the turn of the Twentieth Century.

Next on Westchester Enterprises' show calendar is the inaugural Pavillon of Arts and Design NY on February 8–11 at the Park Avenue Armory. The show, conducted in conjunction with the Société d'Organisation Culturelle from Paris, focuses on style and design from 1860 to today. The spring 2008 International Art & Antiques Show is set for April 24–29, also at the Park Avenue Armory. For information, www.pavillonofartsanddesignny.com , www.springinternationalshow.com or 914-437-5983.