JMK Fills Morristown Armory With Strong Antiques, Americana

Morristown, N.J.

:A light snow the night before opening did not deter buyers from forming a line outside the Morristown Armory Antiques Show Saturday, March 1, when JMK Shows presented its twice-a-year antiques show here. By 10 am, buyers were itching to get on the show floor and speedily made their way down the aisles to their booths of choice.

There was plenty here to look at, as the weekendlong event is known for its diversity. Buyers can find antiques, art and decorative accessories from the three figures to the five figures with a wide breadth of merchandise in-between.

Leonard Davenport of Davenport & Fleming Gallery, Bridgehampton, N.Y., showed WPA painter Don Freeman's work titled "Sing Out, Baby June (Havoc)" that depicted Gypsy Rose Lee's equally famous sister as a young girl. Freeman went on to have an illustrious career as an author/illustrator and is best known for his Corduroy books for children. The ever-popular Johann Berthelsen was represented with a painting of Fifth Avenue in the snow that sold.

First-time exhibitor George's Art and Antiques, Wading River, N.Y., had a booth filled with a fine grouping of paintings and several folk art examples. Standouts included a carved wood carnival figure of a man servant in black face, circa 1920s; a C.W. Parker carousel horse, "Baby Parker," early Twentieth Century; and a bronze bust of Dr Martin Luther King Jr by American sculptor Robert Berks. A fine Twentieth Century copy of a carousel cat by an unknown carver sold early in the show.

Also new to this show, Charles Breuel Antiques, Glenmont, N.Y., showed a "Japy Freres" architectural mantel clock, France, circa 1880–90, in a bronze case with gilt finish and fine details; a late English tall case clock, Eighteenth Century, possibly made by "Gillows" of Lancashire, England, well crafted and with superb proportions; and a folky inlaid tilt top stand, American, late Nineteenth Century, boasting a checkerboard top made of various woods and a pedestal ending in a fancy tripod iron base. The dealer wrote up a New England card table from the 1820s and an embroidered still life, circa 1870s.

Catching attention in the stand of Coleman and May, Annandale, Va., was a fine marquetry inlaid lady's desk of rosewood with half-pedestals and a center drawer. The Edwardian piece was circa 1910. Also presented was a rare reverse glass silhouette of a family group at the table in a period maple frame, circa 1840, and a fine American eagle weathervane complete with arrow and directionals, early 1900s, all original.

American furniture in a pleasing variety of forms was on view at William Nickerson Antiques, Orleans, Mass., including a Federal one-drawer stand in cherry with string inlay, circa 1810; a bachelor's chest in walnut and camphorwood, probably made on Cape Cod, circa 1850; and a jelly cupboard with two drawers and two doors below in maple, New England, circa 1840.

Glenbrook Antiques, Walden, N.Y., exhibited a double pedestal dining table, Beacon Hill, circa 1950, and an early Nineteenth Century Federal dresser in tiger maple.

Marilyn Saland Antiques, Scarsdale, N.Y., brought an early Nineteenth Century American oil color portrait of a fine gentleman in its original frame and stretcher.

Jaffe & Thurston, Wawarsing, N.Y., featured an oil on canvas painting by Edmund Darch Lewis, "Indian Rock, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island," and C.B. Russ's "Old Mill, Mystic River, Medford," among a choice selection of paintings.

Appleton Manor Gallery, New Ipswich, N.H., brought a stellar floor lamp, signed and numbered by "Haro," vintage 1920s, with cut glass and white metal and marble, along with an attractive Nineteenth Century English gate leg bird's-eye maple table.

Ammerman House, Somerset, N.J., displayed a discerning collection of paintings, as well as an African carved bird statue, wings spread, with curved beak on a round pedestal; and a Victorian hot water cradle by Doulton pottery, first cataloged in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

Cottage Treasures, architectural salvage specialists, presented a great pair of early chairs covered with a vibrant green fauna pattern, and a set of three elephant vases by a New Jersey artist, as well as a 28-drawer cabinet from Albany, N.Y., circa 1860s.

Other standouts were in the booth of Michael Sams Antiques & Interiors, Louisville, Ky., an Eighteenth Century Sheraton writing desk; an oil by California painter Elizabeth Strong at John B. Watson, Lancaster, Penn.; and an Empire period jelly cabinet in cherry at Flo 'N Time Antiques, Mays Landing, N.J.

The show will be back at the Morristown Armory October 25–26. For information, www.jmkshows.com or 973-927-2794.