Buyers Flock To Stella's Bridgehampton Show

BRIDGEHAMPTON, N.Y.

:Stella Show Management produced a new show, Antiques and Design in the Hamptons, as a benefit for the Bridgehampton Historical Society at its Corwith House, June 25-26. Hailed a success by both participating dealers and the society, it was greeted by surprisingly big crowds who seemed to have enjoyed the experience and did a good deal of buying over the two days of the show, starting with its Friday evening preview. Leanne Stella, president of the company, said she was "really pleased with the crowds and the positive feedback we got from the public and dealers. We are repeating the show in July, and it is sold out with a very long waiting list for dealer spaces."

The show's 50 dealers offered diverse collections of antiques as well as Twentieth Century home furnishings and furniture. Periods of the design styles came from early Georgian, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Moderne, with the show having a very untraditional look. Colors of the offerings were in high contrast to one another and there were wide ranging mixtures of styles in most dealers' room settings.

Dauphin-Descours Gallery had two pairs of chairs - one Art Nouveau and one Moderne - in front of an Eighteenth Century paint decorated chest of drawers. Prime Gallery from Southold, N.Y., offered designer furniture from Italy, which, while not very old - mostly mid Twentieth Century - was very stylish, and by Sunday showed several sold signs. For example, there was an Italian velour couch in its original fabric for $1,600, a black lacquered Art Deco bar for $1,950 and a chrome and glass table for $3,000.

Lunatiques, from White Plains, N.Y., has a buyer/partner in Scandinavia who supplies them with some of their inventory. For this show, they offered a pair of chairs attributed to Alvar Alto for $1,650 along with a vast collection of small decorating accessories, most of which were found in Europe. Amagansett, N.Y. dealer Wayne Schwartz was offering a Soleil a Pointes parabolic mirror in a star form made from a resin called Talosel and designed by Line Vautrin in about 1959 for $40,000. The Podmores, Karin and Bill, from Centerport, N.Y., had a good show, with sales that included a tennis scene wall sculpture in iron for $1,800 and a pair of Palladian windows about 8 feet tall for $1,250 each.

Among the many sales reported by New York City-based Skyscraper were a pair of 1950s turquoise chairs at $2,800, a screen, a vitrine, garden table, a pair of mirrors and a large collection of jewelry.

There were many exhibits of traditional antiques at the show as well. Laura Fisher has been collecting and trading in early American quilts and coverlets for years, and her collection has many unusual pieces. One offered at this show was made by Judy Miller in New Jersey in the 1950s with signatures of many famous people of the time, including president Dwight D. and Mrs Mamie Eisenhower, Ed Sullivan, Groucho Marks and Eddie Cantor; it was priced at $6,500 with a long provenance included. Country & Cabin Antiques brought a collection of early iron doorstops from their Stonington, Conn., shop.

Bradford House Antiques, Litchfield, Conn., was offering a complete assembled set of French faience dishes for $12,000. One dealer not often seen in the north, Kenny Ball from Charlottesville, Va., was there with a booth filled with traditional antiques and some later accessories. His sales total was satisfying to him and included a pair of early mirrors, a demilune table, some lighting and numerous small accessories.

A New York Hepplewhite chest of drawers, circa 1800, in mahogany veneer was the centerpiece for Westfield, N.J., shopkeeper Linda Elmore. Her sales included art, mirrors, lighting and some accessories - enough, she reported, to bring her back for the next one, because this one was "fabulous." Another New Jersey exhibitor was Bird In Hand, the business name for Ron Bassin of Florham Park. With a booth filled with early American home furnishings and folk art, he sold a $10,000 decoy, an eagle weathervane, some stoneware and a painted bench, along with many small items.

Fine art was there with several of the exhibiting dealers. Giovanelli, New York City , had an oil on canvas painting, which was described as Neapolitan school, dated 1865, titled "A View of Sorrento" priced at $25,000. Proarte Gallery from Miami, Fla., displayed a large collection of numbered prints and lithos of well-known artists, some signed.

The show had something for just about everyone - in spite of the fact that Stella was limited to three tents holding about 50 dealers. Management was very selective in accepting dealers who could fit in this Hamptons' market.

Plans are being worked out for the two shows again in 2006, and the dates will be announced later this summer.

For information, 212-255-0020 or www.stellashows.com.