Pier Show Inspires New Yorkers To ‘Go Green’ With Antiques

New York City

:As Stella Show Mgmt Co. opened its spring edition of the Pier Antiques Show on March 15, showgoers packing into Pier 94 were getting the message to "go green" — not because both St Patrick's Day and the official arrival of spring were imminent. No, the exhortation to "go green" was made manifest in the booths of some 500 dealers, all offering what show promoter Irene Stella refers to as "luxury recycling."

Everything from repurposed industrial items and painted furniture to gently used vintage fashions and midcentury furniture and decorative accessories were on display and for sale within the cavernous passenger-ship-pier-cum-exhibition hall next to the Hudson River on Manhattan's West Side.

Stella's eagerly anticipated event, which is conducted in both a spring and fall edition, retains its eclectic mix of Americana, classical and formal furniture, Twentieth Century design furniture and accessories, vintage fashions, paintings, prints, art objects, quilts and textiles, jewelry, ceramics and more.

There is truly something for everyone at this megamarket show, and Stella provides a helpful floor plan that aids shoppers to find what they are seeking. Merchandise is loosely grouped by category. Americana and decorative arts command most of the central aisles in the 2000s, and Fashion Alley is straight back to the rear. On the left, in the 3000s, classical and formal holds sway, and Twentieth Century Modern rules to the right, mostly in the 1000s, but spilling over next to Americana in the 2100s.

The enthusiastic crowd that pushed into the show's aisles on Saturday certainly was a welcome sight for assembled dealers. "I thought there was an extremely large gate," said Bruce Emond of the Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass., whose booth in the Americana section featured a great teal painted wooden workbench, early brass lanterns and other accessories. "Large furniture was not moving, but other types of merchandise were faring a lot better for most exhibitors," he said.

Mary and Josh Steenburgh, Americana dealers from Pike, N.H., came to the pier with a selection of moderately priced industrial/decorator furniture and funky decorative objects and did well. Among their sales were a coffee table they had made out of a iron dolly cart, a set of iron drawers from a hardware store and a 7-foot mahogany framed mirror. Decorative items also flew out of the booth, including signs, a mid-Twentieth Century outsider art painting of a city scene, a set of three miniature scale model skeletons, a 7-foot British poster of a man in top hat and — one of their most graphically arresting items — a 7-foot wooden multispike planting marker. "We sold most of our items to new customers, which is a hopeful sign," said Josh Steenburgh.

Among the dealers offering Art Deco, Moderne and Twentieth Century furnishings, lighting and such, Joan and Harvey Wenz of East Hampton, N.Y., experienced strong sales of their subway destination signs, three of which were sold quickly on Saturday. Also shown were a pair of Thayer Coggin chairs designed by Milo Baughman in pristine original 1970s fabric and a Sapporetti Italian Formica wall unit from the 1980s.

Sales written up by the Wenzes included a piece of furniture, a set of lamps and three additional subway signs. "The subway signs have quite an appeal to those looking at graphic art that combines a sleek modern look with something that has age," said Joan Wenz. "It goes beyond the New York rider, as we have sold to people from England, Norway and many different states outside of New York. My problem is finding a supply of the subway roll signs. They are getting scarce!"

Also set up in the show's Modern section was Tutto dal Mondo, whose owner, Sheila Parish, had logged one of her best shows ever just a couple of weeks before at Stella's Modern show at the Gramercy Park Armory. Bakelite bracelets and jewelry, including celluloid "sparkler" bangles, are a staple item for the Penn Valley, Penn., dealer, but she carries a variety of items. For example, Parrish sold a Victorian silver plated biscuit box in the shape of a pocketbook on Sunday afternoon. "Shortly after that, I sold a very expensive Bakelite red acorn bracelet," she said, adding, "I sold a great deal between 4 and 5 pm on Sunday."

"I don't think that we've ever had a bad Stella show, and this one wasn't an exception," said Richard Kurtzman, who, with wife Susan, operates Slope Antiques in Scotch Plains, N.J. "Saturday was the stronger of the two days, which is usually the case for us, and overall the show exceeded our expectations."

The Kurtzmans, specializing in silver, were located in the show's classic and formal section. Early in the show they sold a large and heavy coin silver rococo revival pitcher by William Adams of New York City. "He's the fellow who made the silver mace for the US House Of Representatives," said Richard Kurtzman. The pitcher's spout was decorated with a North Wind face and it had an inscription, "A Token Of My Affection," and was dated 1853.

Another marquee item in their booth was a large silver vase presented to William S. Porter, director of The Great Train Robbery in the 1960s, engraved with signatures of many Hollywood actors.

"We sold a highly unusual set of 12 Japanese Meiji period silver knife rests bearing French import marks," said the dealer. "The rests featured a central bamboo bar and affixed to each end was a matching pair of different Japanese male figures: Samurai, Farmer, Priest, etc."

Among visitors to the Kurtzmans' booth late Sunday was Martha Stewart, "but, alas, she was only 'window shopping,'" said Richard Kurtzman.

The domestic arts diva also paid a visit to admire the more than 80 pieces of beautiful creamware on display at Geoffrey Jackson's booth. The Doylestown, Penn., dealer brought his selection of ironstone, transfer ware and a range of English pottery and porcelain. Notable was a Flight Barr & Barr Imari decorated set of oval dishes from Worcester, England. "Our decent sales were mainly in creamware," the dealer said.

Fashion Alley proved that vintage fashion is always in style — fur coats, party dresses, jewels, handbags and more were on offer. One booth was solely devoted to cufflinks. Michael Rodriguez of the Missing Link, New York City, was offering both vintage and new cufflinks, everything from the serious Art Deco enameled variety to whimsical novelty themes. "My sales were strong and many of my loyal customers came as usual," Rodriguez reported. "I sold a lot more tie bars than I normally do, as well as more whimsical and novelty cufflinks, such as rolling dice and roulette wheels, Mickey Mouse cufflinks, as well as several 1960s graphic enamel cufflinks and, of course, the usually classic 1920s and 1930s Art Deco enamel cufflinks."

Stella plans an even bigger show in November. The promoter will use both Piers 92 and 94 on November 15 and 16, with 500 dealers on Pier 94 and a combination of Fashion Alley and vintage collectibles on Pier 92. For information, 973-808-5015 or www.stellashows.com.