Morristown Antiques Show Lights Up A Snowy Weekend

Morristown, N.J.

:"We're open, the parking lot is cleared, the dealers are here and are all set up, the roads are clear!" Allison Kohler of JMK Shows, organizer and manager of the Morristown Antiques Shows, said she should have a recording on her phone to that effect. It was ringing continuously on Saturday morning, prior to the 10 am opening of the two-day Morristown Antiques Show, February 27 and 28. Why all the calls? Morristown and in fact most of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England were slammed with another record-setting snowstorm just one day earlier. But Kohler knew about the approaching storm so she opened the Morristown Armory, site of the show, three days early for dealers to come in and set up.

"We were so happy to be here early," Janice Bonk said, "We were all in and set up before the snow even began." According to Kohler, only four of the some 100 dealers cancelled, and she had wait-listed dealers who were willing and able to step into their spaces. So the armory was filled at 10 am with antiques, fine art, decorative accessories and warm sunlight filtering through the skylights and windows. While the line of attendees was not as long as in years past, as Kohler kept answering her phone, the word spread that they were open. The final attendance was not down significantly from last year's more than 3,200 visitors, according to the show manager.

Among the dealers on hand as people entered was A Bird in Hand, specialists in early American painted furniture and Grenfell mats. Owner Ron Bassin was showing rare New Jersey stoneware, including pieces produced by Revolutionary War Captain James Morgan, who began potting in 1740; and Bassin's unique Grenfell Mission mats.

Center stage on a wall of hand-hooked silk stocking mats made by Newfoundland women in the 1930s was a nursery mat with Eskimos in folky clothing, a dog and cat, fishing pieces and a compass rose in the upper left corner complete with a Grenfell Labrador Industries label attached. A red sold dot appeared shortly after opening on a polychrome folk art whirligig and weathervane of a man and a horse-drawn plow, circa 1890–1910, which the Florham Park, N.J., dealer found in Pennsylvania. He also reported a follow-up sale of a weathervane, which the buyers saw at the show.

The finest in bling: signed pieces by the major jewelry houses — Cartier, Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels — could be found at Brad Reh's. One highlight the Southampton, N.Y., dealer brought out was a vintage French tassel brooch, circa 1935, in the form of a knot made of 18K gold and platinum with a diamond encrusted band encircling it.

Taking a step into nature, Terra Mare Antiques of Sharon, Conn., was showing ceramics and decorative pieces with a nature theme. This was dealer Lisa Gaffney's first time in Morristown and she said, "I was totally unsure of what to expect." Gaffney specializes in European, American and Asian pottery and brought a special collection of Amphora to the show. A highlight of her presentation was an Ernst Wahliss Art Nouveau vase with leaves and vines and cobalt under painting with iridescence. She was pleased with her sales especially "because of adding a couple of collectors who bought multiple pieces and will continue to buy from me."

Biuk Fardin of Fardin's Antique Rugs also has a following of collectors who look her up at Morristown. With a booth filled with fine antique and decorative rugs, the Fairfield, Conn., dealer said, "the show went well for me, I have my own customers and have had good followups."

SAJE Americana's booth was sumptuously filled with Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century Federal period furnishings, such as a Sheraton four-drawer chest with original brasses and a fine inlaid card table from Salem, Mass., 1810.

Catering to tastes from across the pond, The Country Squire of Milton, Mass., featured a collection of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture and period accessories, including a massive circa 1845 English Chesterfield upholstered sofa that measured 104 inches wide.

Roger D. Winter Ltd also showed English Eighteenth and early Nineteenth antiques, but the Solebury, Penn., dealer centered his booth with a rare Welsh oak table measuring 7 feet 9 inches by 32 inches wide. The two-board top had breadboard ends and a central H-stretcher; he dated it circa 1690–1710. With the table were a set of eight ash and oak side chairs with spindle backs and wonderful "ears" on the top corners.

Another fine piece in Winter's booth, filled with Staffordshire and other porcelain and art, was an Irish serving table, quite rare, in mahogany with a single-board top and gallery above three crossbanded and line inlaid drawers. Dated circa 1790–1800, the Hepplewhite-style piece had lovely tapered legs with paterae at the top and corners.

Many dealers brought paintings and other fine art, and many reported sales in the category. Bernice Conn started off the show on the right foot when the Kirkwood Voorhees, N.J., dealer sold a painting Saturday morning: a lovely watercolor on paper by Carl Philip Weber (German American, 1850–1921) of sheep grazing under an apple tree in spring.

An oil on canvas by the Dutch painter David Adolf Constant Artz showed a family of four enjoying the seashore. Painted circa 1860–70, the slice of life painting was marked at $2,650. Conn's booth was filled with antique canes and samplers from early American to English.

Textile art was evident across the show floor. The outside wall of Jim and Victoria Emele's Antiques, Dublin, Penn., was centered by a large, folky hooked rug with two large black cats sitting amid a background of reds. In a corner cupboard, Jim was showing off (behind a locked 12-pane windowed door) some early and pristine pieces of Flow Blue in the cashmere pattern, circa 1830–40. He had tea, coffee, open vegetable, waste bowls, pitchers and platters, all with the characteristic slightly smeared deep blue on white.

One of five panels of a 13-star bunting, circa 1915, by Liberty Flag Co., hung in David Thompson Antiques & Art's booth. Close by, the Middlebury, Vt., dealer hung an 1839 reverse painted mirror with an unusual schooner motif, and the front of the booth sported an American mahogany library or game table with a 1934 library globe.

Showgoers Len Davis, Stamford, Conn., and Tanya Yacoub, White Plains, N.Y., shared a booth and business called Antiques and Interiors, and their space was an inviting living room filled with decorative accessories and delightful antiques.

Perry-Joyce Fine Arts was undaunted by the snows; coming from Sawyer, Mich., they brought British and European paintings, early needlework and period furniture. Showing furnishings that could have graced an English Country house, circa late Eighteenth Century, they reported having a good show overall.

Morristown spans the collecting realm: there were French school posters from the 1960s at Yasha Graphics; a fine copy of the Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott case, 1856, was at Nicholas D. Riccio Rare Books & Prints; the Florham Park, N.J., dealer said, "Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century maps got a lot of attention, but the few maps I sold were Nineteenth Century American maps."

John Tyler had his eclectic collection of antiquarian science books, early brass instruments and a "Gizmeaux Extraodinaire" (a lethal-looking curling iron that might double as a weapon). The Layton, N.J., Colophon Books also offered Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, serialized in 1859 in Harper's Weekly , three parts, 45 chapters, 30 issues, $300.

Across the wide aisle, Jerry and Janice Bonk from Hellertown, Penn., brought two of their signature early workbenches. One from the early 1900s sold first thing, "which made our day," Janice said. Another workbench from the late 1800s was 96 inches long with a 4-inch-thick solid single-board top. Resting on it was an antique wooden horse that was the last sale of the show for Bonkey's Treasures and Wonderful Finds.

Allison Kohler's JMK Shows will return to Morristown next year, February 26 and 27. Meanwhile, she will be opening the new Atlantic City Antiques Show March 27 and 28. For information, 973-927-2794 or www.jmkshows.com .