Litchfield County Antiques Show: Good Crowd & Good Sales

Litchfield, Conn.

:The Litchfield County Antiques Show, a swank event with a good cross section of antiques, opened for preview to a large and lively crowd on Friday evening, June 20. The two-day show featuring 40 dealers — one additional exhibitor than in previous years — was presented by the Antiques Council for the benefit of the popular local organization Greenwoods Counseling Referrals.

Actress Lynn Redgrave served as honorary chair for the show and council managers were Kaye Gregg and Marty Shapiro, Finnegan Gallery. A quality presentation and well-laid out floor plan made for a delightful appearance as the confines of Kent School's hockey rink was successfully transformed into an engaging and intimate boutiquelike venue. Several "thru-booths" with access to either sides of the aisle gave the show an open and accommodating feeling, despite the large crowds that were shopping.

This show has become extremely popular with locals and those who own summer homes in Litchfield County, mainly due to the charming atmosphere of the Kent School and the broad range of merchandise that covers everything from classic Chippendale furniture to Twentieth Century design.

Several first-time dealers also added to the mix this year with their diversified range of merchandise, both from the aspect of period and, equally important, in the way of pricing. Stylish Twentieth Century ebonized case pieces with Deco- and Modern-style chairs, lamps and accessories were on view at the stand of New York City dealer Greg Nanamura. The first-time dealer seemed pleased with the attention his booth was attracting during preview.

Other new dealers included Asiantiques from Winter Park, Fla., with a grand selection of Orientalia, a cozy looking booth filled with trellises and greenery surrounding stylish wicker seating from Antique American Wicker, Nashua, N.H., and a nice selection of art presented by Fletcher/Copenhaver Fine Art of Fredericksburg, Va.

"It was a beautiful show, as always," commented York County, Penn., dealer Jeff Bridgman. His colorful booth was filled with flags, including a rare mourning flag commemorating the death of President Abraham Lincoln and a silk flag celebrating the Centennial National Exhibition with woven lettering in the stripes, both of which the dealer reported as early sellers. Other pieces with flag motifs included a rare kite and an unusually large circular-shaped folding fan boldly decked out in the "stars and stripes."

One sale that the dealer was especially pleased with came as the result of a call-back after the show had closed, which culminated in a deal for a rare full-sized silk "tobacco band" quilt. "They are quite rare in that size and they look fantastic when they are framed," commented Bridgman of the colorful quilt.

Early American furniture saw a resurgence in popularity with Arthur Liverant, Nathan Liverant and Son, Colchester, Conn., writing up sales slips for several major case pieces. "We were very pleased with the show," commented Liverant, "and we were certainly pleased with all of the interest that customers expressed in regard to items in our booth. There were people in the booth right from the start of the show until closing on Sunday, and they were genuinely interested," he said.

A Chippendale graduated four-drawer chest in the original vermillion finish was an early seller from Liverant's booth, with a local couple snapping up the attractive piece during preview. A Chippendale secretary desk with compass inlaid lid and fitted interior, either eastern Connecticut or Rhode Island, according to the dealer, was another case piece to find a new home. "Both stayed in Litchfield County," commented Liverant after the show. A painting, mirror and numerous small rounded out sales for the dealer.

One item in Liverant's booth that was attracting a good deal of attention was a rare Litchfield Chippendale cherry chest of drawers with cross-brace construction on the underside, a typical construction method unique to the region. Liverant placed a mirror under the chest for easy viewing of the cross-brace construction, and had placed a recent issue of Antiques and The Arts Weekly across the top of the rare chest — open to a feature article for an exhibition of Litchfield County furniture currently on view at the Litchfield Historical Society. The dealer was quick to point out a photograph in the article of the cross-braced base on similar chest from the exhibition that had virtually identical construction

Litchfield dealer Jeffrey Tillou offered an eclectic mix of merchandise from his booth situated at the entrance to the show. Styles and periods converged with a stately Queen Anne highboy with lower fan carved drawer and elegant cabriole legs standing behind a country tap table in old red paint with a wonderful scrubbed top. A pair of Windsor bow back armchairs flanked the table that had a horse and sulky weathervane featured on its top.

Two carved American eagles on the rear wall of the booth were attracting attention, one a folky example with tall spread wings, the other a Bellamy-style eagle with a shield and banner. A nice yellow painted open cupboard with two lower drawers was filled to the brim with quality smalls that ranged from rare Nantucket baskets to an early Acoma pot that had been skillfully decorated.

The booth of Sagamore, Mass., dealer Brian Cullity featured a few select examples of Cape Cod carver Elmer Crowell's work, along with a pleasing selection of redware, slipware plates and painted accessories. A handsome Chippendale cabriole leg table terminating in ball and claw feet was among the offerings, as was a country kitchen cupboard with plate-rack shelves in the nicely cutout open top.

A good selection of paintings was displayed by the Cooley Gallery, with gallery representative Joseph Newman pointing out a handsome work by Allen Tucker titled "In The Catskills." The 30-by-36-inch oil on canvas was attracting quite a bit of attention, as was "Sunny Day," an oil on canvas depicting a homestead by Joseph Enneking.

Another item from Cooley's booth that was getting looks from the large preview crowd was a small and stylish bronze by Harriet Frismuth titled "The Vine." The piece, depicting a young girl, was signed and dated on the base along with the Gorham Company foundry mark.

Gilman Parsons made his way to the show from Sonoma, Calif., with a selection of rare books and manuscripts. The dealer showed what he termed "a remarkable copy of one of the most celebrated of illustrated books," Fugaku Hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji) by Katsushika Hokusai. The dealer commented that the rare book, priced at $85,000, was a first edition, first issue example from what is referred to as the "plume de faucon" edition and that it was preserved in the cloth folding box.

Also on view at Parsons Books was a three-volume set of 75 original colored woodblock plates from Keika Hyakugiku (One Hundred Chrysanthemums) by Hasegawa Keika.

Woodbridge, Conn., dealer Eve Stone featured a rare American jeweler's scale from the Federal period that was signed and had been made in New York. Complete with all of the original hardware and weights, the silver plate scale was mounted to an inlaid and banded satinwood one-drawer base.

Cunha-St John Antiques, Essex Mass., offered a wonderful assortment of material that ranged from a Regency period mahogany breakfast table, $35,000, to a pair of crossbanded knife boxes with serpentine fronts and urn inlaid lids, $16,500, to an exquisite pair of carved marble urns that measured 24 inches in height, $5,900.

A large case filled with mechanical and still banks in original paint was being subjected to a great deal of interest at the booth of Susan and Otto Hart, Arlington, Vt. Susan was busy demonstrating many of the mechanical banks to a crowd of onlookers during preview, while Otto was busy attending to collectors expressing interest in the cast iron and carved stone folk art figures featured in the rest of the booth. Of the hitching post forms offered, a seated spaniel was featured, as was an eagle and a stylish horse head with a flowing mane. Many of the examples were illustrated in a recently published catalog that accompanied the exhibition "Horsing Around: Nineteenth Century Cast Iron Hitching Posts from the Collection of Phil and Bunny Savino" that took place at the Albany Institute of Art and History.

The Litchfield County Antiques Show is a pleasing event, well attended, well executed and well worth the wait for the 2009 dates. For information, 860-567 0613 or www.antiquescouncil.com .