: - The Washington Connecticut Antiques Show got off to a wonderful
start 17 years ago and for a long time had a faithful following
and a roster of dealers that repeated itself fall after fall.
Several years ago it seemed the luster had worn off the show and
its future looked dim. Determined not to see this benefit for the
town's Gunn Memorial Library fail, the committee put the show
into the hands of Lou Marotta last year and the show took an
about face. Only a couple of the dealers from last few years were
asked back and the booths were filled with new faces and a
completely different look. And it worked.
"Again this year I brought in some different exhibitors to give
the show a different look, and it is working," Lou Marotta said
as the show was about to preview on Friday evening, October 3.
The preview was advertised to be from 6:30 to 9, but people were
milling about the show shortly after 6. "We learned that one of
the articles about the show gave the wrong hours, 6 instead of
6:30, so we decided to open a bit early," Lou said. As it turned
out, it was a good idea as the evening was a "sold out" event and
the two floors of the town hall became very crowded in short
order.
With the success of the Washington Show now behind him, Lou
Marotta has turned the duties of management over to Sandra
Canning, a lady very familiar with the antiques business and a
resident of Washington. He said, "I like seeing the dealers do
well and the excitement of running a show, and I am planning to
do more of the same in the future." He is talking about managing
a series of new shows, including a spring event in Washington, as
well as locations in the Hamptons, Nantucket and Palm Beach. He
is even talking about New York City, adding, "It is difficult in
the city to find just the right location. I would want to be on
the Upper East Side."
Again the show was an interesting mix, with objects suited for
the garden and every room in the house. Joan Evans of
Lambertville, N.J., filled the front booth with a collection that
included a set of six side chairs in the style of Louis XVI,
French, circa 1880, in white upholstery, and a pair of leather
club chairs, French, with leather trimmed cushions. A Nineteenth
Century marionette, hand carved with glass eyes, was seated in
one of the club chairs.
John and Nanci Wilson traveled from West Palm Beach, Fla., to
take part in the show, offering a selection of garden items
including a pair of tall hitching posts with horse heads on the
tops, several planted, a pair of green painted cast-iron urns,
and a large head of a bull cast in iron.
A ship weathervane in the form of a galley, at full sail and
complete with directionals, was in the center of the booth of
Vincent Mulford of Hudson, N.Y. A zinc sign, red letters on green
background with a good surface, advertised The Athletic Bar, and
furniture included a diminutive chest-on-chest.
Vince Mulford, Hudson, N.Y.
Cunha/St John of Essex, Mass., had an interesting booth
filled with decorative objects both large and small. An oval rattan
covered basket with the original aniline dyed decoration was at the
front of the booth, while a folding set of library stairs, pine,
circa 1870 with hand wrought hardware, was of English origin. Of
interest was a half-length ship figurehead, circa 1850, American,
that came out of the Lewis Collection, Nantucket.
The only dealer at the show with a booth filled with early
American furniture and accessories was Mary Sam of Ballyhack
Antiques, West Cornwall, Conn. Furniture included an early
Twentieth Century corner cupboard with folky carving and good
surface, and a five-drawer chest in old red paint. A ship's
figurehead from Maine dated from the late Nineteenth Century, and
the two outside walls of the booth were hung with a collection of
weathervanes, mostly of the sheet metal variety. Designs included
a deer, sea captain, horse and rider, witch on a broom, bucking
horse, pilgrim/farmer, and of wood, a weathered rooster and a
painted chicken.
An attention getter in the booth of Charlotte's Crossing, New
Preston, Conn., was a French folk art birdcage, about seven feet
tall and four feet wide, in the form of a house complete with
windows and peaked roofs. A Nineteenth Century aviary included
about a dozen birds of vivid colors, and a pair of French obelisk
planters, topped by the figure of a rooster in a ball, seven feet
tall, with a nice green surface.
A mail box, faux bois in the form of a house on a tree stump, was
not one that would be placed at the side of the road but in a
much safer spot, say in the garden. This piece, American, circa
1930, attracted lots of comments and interest in the booth of
Brennan & Mouilleseaux of Pittsford, N.Y. They also showed a
very early, circa 1732, English wall-hung sundial in marble,
bronze and lead with figures in relief. A nice set of courtyard
gates, circa 1900, was of wrought iron, American, from an estate
in Rochester, N.Y.
Thomas Schwenke of Woodbury, Conn., offered a collection of
American furniture including a Chippendale secretary-desk in two
parts, scrolled pediment, old color and finish, circa 1780-1800,
of Connecticut River Valley origin. A Sheraton mirror, four feet
tall, carved and gilded, circa 1810, had a Boston provenance,
while a Federal carved mahogany fire screen with acorn finials
and the original needlework dated circa 1780-1800 and was from
Massachusetts.
Selling at the preview was brisk in the booth of Jeffery Beal
Henkel, Pennington, N.J., with red tags on the pair of marble
benches at the front of the booth, and more on the four bronze
sconces that hung on the back wall of the booth. An early buyer
also went home with a selection of mined rocks that came from
Maine.
A major oil on canvas by Priscilla Warren Roberts (1916-2001),
signed lower left, 36 by 30 inches, titled "The Unmade Bed," hung
on the back wall in the gallery display of The Cooley Gallery,
Old Lyme, Conn. "There is so much you can read into this
painting," Jeff Cooley said, indicating that many people have
different ideas about it especially in regards to the
significance of the face painted on the wall. A view of a
Litchfield Meadows was painted by William Hamilton Gibson
(1850-1896), signed and dated '86 lower right, a watercolor
measuring 93/16 by 111/2 inches. It had a red sold dot shortly
after the opening of the preview. Other works of art included an
oil on board, "Ocean Dawn," Ralf Feyl, signed lower left, three
by six inches sight, also sold, and "Summer Clouds" by William
Jurian Kaula (1871-1953), an oil on canvas signed lower right,
461/2 by 351/2 inches.
Brennan & Mouilleseaux, Rochester, N.Y.
Another Woodbury dealer in the show was Eleish van Breems
Antiques with an interesting selection of objects with a Swedish
provenance. A painted pine secretary, brown and red, was dated 1846
in the center door, and a rococo painted armoire, 79 inches high,
45 inches wide and 19 inches deep, dated from the Eighteenth
Century. A very rare Gustavian column clock measured 83 inches tall
and retained the original surface and works.
During the first hour of the show about eight sold signs cropped
up in the booth of Sinotique, one of the exhibitors from New York
City. A large North Chinese altar table dating from the
Nineteenth Century, original surface, was among the tagged items,
was a mounted stainless steel conveyor belt, circa 1940-50. An
interesting object was a chestnut well-head from China,
Eighteenth to Nineteenth Century.
In addition to the show, a number of special events were
scheduled starting off with a walk through of the show with
well-known interior designed Albert Hadley on Saturday morning.
It was followed by four lectures that day, and three more on
Sunday. All events were well-attended and benefited the Gunn
Memorial Library and Museum.
With new management it will be interesting to see what changes
might come about next year. And it might be going out on a limb
to even mention it, but we might even see Lou Marotta taking a
booth in the show he put back on the map.
