Marion Antiques Show: Pleasing Seaside Presentation

Marion, Mass.

:If it takes an entire village to raise a child, it takes nearly as many hands to raise an antiques show.

The Marion Antiques Show and Sale, a benefit for the Sippican Historical Society, offered its usual elegant and showy presentation during its August 14–16 run at Tabor Academy's Fish Athletic Center. From the stone urns filled with pale lilac-toned flowers at the center's entrance, courtesy of Eden Landscapes, to the quality presentation of the show and merchandise from show manager Trisha McElroy, the show bespoke quality at every turn and down every aisle.

The show is a popular one and eagerly anticipated by the dealers and buyers who attend. About 60 local volunteers served on the show committee, working tirelessly to put on a good event, their efforts culminating in and celebrated at the show's traditional preview party on August 14.

While savory eats were on tap Friday evening, it was the select offering of antiques that was the main draw. Heavy on Americana, as is expected for a New England show, the offerings here, however, ran the gamut from Chinese furniture to French quimper and more.

Near the show entrance, the booth of Leonards New England, Seekonk, Mass., featured a cannonball bed in maple, circa 1830, with a rollback repeating end headboard. With the dealer having gained a bit of fame for having sold the Obamas a bed for their new home, seeing an antique bed here was not a big surprise. The dealer also had an English Hepplewhite desk in satinwood and mahogany with a lovely olive tooled leather top, early Nineteenth Century; a Swedish globe on stand, circa 1860; and a fine Dutch marquetry bureau bookcase, late Nineteenth Century.

Roger King Fine Art, Newport, R.I, covered his booth walls with a fine assortment of paintings, mostly of sailing ships, but it was a fine and large Impressionist landscape by Georges Dominique Zezzos hung on the center back wall that held pride of place. Zezzos' works are rarely seen in America, as the French painter (1883–1959) is better known in Europe.

Robert Burrows, Chapel Hill, N.C., showed several choice paintings, including a fine seascape by Anton Otto Fischer (American, 1882–1962), an oil on copper of a church and graveyard by Charles Towne, an early Nineteenth Century oil on board of a Seventeenth Century Dutch interior and a still life by Frank Benzenger.

A sublime double hemisphere copperplate engraved map of the world, "Mappe, Monde Carte universelle de la Terre Dressee sur les Relations les plus nouvelles…," was a standout at The Scrapbook, Essex, Mass. The map was issued in 1783, in Jean Baptiste Nolin II's Atlas General and is unusual as it shows a nonexistent hole in North America. At the time it was drawn, explorers believed there was a sea channel running the length of the United States to make crossing the country from east to west faster for shipping.

Stephen and Beverly Doyle, Providence, R.I., offered an Italian Nineteenth Century alabaster sculpture of a girl holding an urn with a putto and an interesting custom shell demilune table made in Florida and dated 1931.

Folk art and maritime specialists Hilary and Paulette Nolan, Falmouth, Mass., did not disappoint with a well laid-out booth, showing several ship models and a wonderful blanket box with great paint decoration.

John H. Rogers, New London, N.H., filled his booth with choice Asian furniture and antiques, with the standout being a double-sided screen that depicted on the verso the gods Shou (god of longevity) being attended to by children, Fu (god of good fortune) and Lu (god of wealth that comes from position). On the back was a Chinese poem, dated 1732, that Rogers had translated and is about speaking up for the things in the world that cannot speak for themselves.

Henry T. Callan, East Sandwich, Mass., offered a pleasing mix of samplers, silhouette portrait miniatures and china. Samplers included one merely embroidered "Brandywine March 1798," with a grapevine border and a pot of large flowers in the center along with an alphabet sampler wrought by Hannah Shed, age 9, in 1833.

American Decorative Arts, Canaan, N.H., lent a patriotic touch to its booth with an oversize textile showing flags of many countries — all having only the colors red, white, blue or black — including the United States, England, Japan, Costa Rica, Australia and Cuba.

Examples of good design were on view at Nancy Steinbock Posters, Chestnut Hill, Mass., not in the form of furniture but graphically striking posters, including "United / War Work Drive / Foch Victory Medal" for an 18-hole golf competition presented by John D. Rockefeller the Elder in 1918.

The Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass., offered antiques for the home and garden, with a choice selection of brown furniture and decorative accessories for inside. Outdoor living was amply covered with a fresh offering of two fern chairs with a matching fern bench, as well as decorative urns and statues, including an eye-catching sculpture of an oversized length of chain in wood with distressed grey paint, mounted on a stand for the show.

Highlights at Glenbrook Antiques, Walden, N.Y., included a carpenter's tool box, an Eighteenth Century tavern table, a Nineteenth Century Scottish wardrobe and Michael Fratrich's painting "The Way to the Village."

Heller-Washam, Portland, Maine, showed a friendship sloop weathervane by Cushing or Cushing & White, circa 1875–1900, with old, possibly original surface; a fetching Queen Anne walnut easy chair in walnut, Boston, circa 1755–65, with outswept arms with barrel-shaped cones over cabriole legs with outswept feet.

Artwork here included Gilbert Stuart's portrait of his uncle, Captain Joseph Anthony, a Philadelphia merchant. A more than life-size statue of a sailor waving his cap bid welcome into Heller's booth, Don Heller said this item was part of the Stanley Paul Sax collection sold at Sotheby's a decade earlier.

Any gentlemen buyers or those who were looking to decorate a home library or den had only to step into the booth of Zane Moss, New York City, and they would instantly feel relaxed and indulged in elegant comfort.

Standouts included a handsome pair of English leather club chairs with rolled arms and back, an unusual English half partners' desk in mahogany with false drawers on one side and inset with tooled leather, circa 1860; and an attractive Nineteenth Century leather gun case on a mahogany stand. Hanging on the walls was a choice Nineteenth Century framed oil painting showing various game animals, circa 1810.

Lewis Scranton, Killingworth, Conn., and Charles and Barbara Adams, South Yarmouth, Mass., shared a booth. Scranton's eye candy was a T.W. Holman folkish portrait of a man, probably a minister, judging by the New Testament book he holds as his pointing finger draws attention to the title, while the Adamses' selection of Bennington pottery and paintings was plentiful.

Great paintings were abundant at Front Street Fine Art, Marion, Mass., featuring several works by maritime painter Charles Henry Gifford, including his large "Grand Wanan," measuring 26 by 42 inches, "Surf Pounding on Rocky Shore" and his watercolor, "Off Fairhaven, Mass" that shows Dumpling Rock in the distance. Works by Robert Swain Gifford and Marie-Edouard Adam complemented the offerings.

Langenbach's Fine Art and Antiques, Kingston, Mass., offered a period "8" fitted sinumbra lamp, circa 1830, Frank Chester Perry's painting, "Sandy Neck Beach and Marshes, West Barnstable" and a lovely collection of baskets ranging in size from 7¼ by 6 inches to 13 by 93/8 inches. A New Bedford-made tall chest by Charles or Cornelius Allen, circa 1810, was a furniture highlight. The piece was in maple with and an old red finish and original brasses.

The maritime paintings that dotted the walls of Louis J. Dianni's booth were perfectly at home in the show's seaside location. The Fishkill, N.Y., dealer offered an oil portrait of the schooner Horatio by William Pierce Stubbs, circa 1885; an oil portrait of the barque John Ehls by William G. Yorke, dated 1870; and an oil of the Ward Line steamship Matanzas by Antonio Jacobsen; and John Hughes' view of the Juniata outside Liverpool, which was built in Rockport, Maine, in 1865.

Merrywalk Antiques, Annapolis, Md., offered a fresh-picked booth of fine and colorful French Quimper, as well as pillows made from Nineteenth Century Aubusson tapestry fragments and an interesting assortment of paintings from Rajasthan region of India, some done up on British tax bills, others on old Persian book papers. Dealer Joan Datesman has not done a summer antiques show for years, but just came back from a successful buying trip in France and was impressed with the show's reputation and the caliber of dealers who are regulars here.

Placed front and just to the left of center at Pottles and Pannikins, Windsor, Conn., was an attractive seaman's chest with base and lid molding, corner dovetails and the original hinges. The chest that was found in Massachusetts dates to 1840. On the front panel, painted on a green ground is an eagle perched atop a spread American flag flanked by two gold stars, while the inner top panel shows a painted scene of a ship with full sails at sea and in the corners are a mermaid, an anchor, another flag symbol and a pair of whales.

The dealers are well known for their cooking and fireplace tools. Their collection here included an Eighteenth–Nineteenth Century two-tine fork with a twisted circular finial; an Eighteenth Century American fish broiler/poacher with individually pierced drip holes and fish tail ends; and a Nineteenth Century tasting spoon of New England origin with a rat tail return on the shaft and slash mark decoration.

Marion Antiques Shop, Marion, Mass., offered a circa 1820 New York Federal drop leaf table in the manner of Duncan Phyfe and a Twentieth Century oil on Masonite by well-known Cape Cod artist Ralph Cahoon, titled "Cranberry Harvest." A grouping of silver trophies included an important Pairpoint silver plated trophy dated 1908 from the Apponagansett Boat Club, a Beverly Yacht Club clock won by the Codman family's boat, Surprise , and a sterling silver yacht racing trophy won by Seabury , Stanton, circa 1909.

Patricia Barger, Fairfield, Conn., had her traditional offering of fine case clocks, furniture and paintings, but it was a Vienna bronze of a peacock that was a standout.

Ingeborg Gallery, Northfield, Mass., specializes in American prints, circa 1860–1960, and filled its booth walls with works by Gordon Hope Grant, Roger Wilson Dennis, Joseph Webster Golinkin, Marion Ladd Symmes and Paul Hollister. A choice offering was a Thomas Hart Benton lithograph dated January 1940 titled "Instruction," which showed an older African American man teaching a young boy (probably father and son).

For more information and next year's show dates, call 603-778-8842 or visit www.marionantiquesshow.com .