Bedford Spring Antiques Show Celebrates 20th Anniversary

BEDFORD, N.Y.

: For the 20th year, St Matthews Church extended its renowned hospitality to antiques dealers and hunters alike at its annual Bedford Spring Antiques Show conducted at the Rippowam Cisqua High School. The show, which took place April 2-3, featured 35 top-drawer exhibitors and a variety of vintage treasures - from fine art, silver, American and Continental furniture, porcelain and decorative arts.

New this year were five exhibitors, new booth designs and an improved entrance and traffic flow plan that knitted together the two large gyms that comprise the show's display areas. New dealers for this year's show included Dorchester House, Joan Bogart, George Subkoff, Autumn Pond and Hope Davis.

A gala preview party (which has the reputation as "one of the best" on the benefit show circuit) kicked things off on April 1, with a large, enthusiastic crowd cruising the booths while enjoying hors d'ouevres, champagne and wine. Show chair Cindy Swank and co-managers Janet Robinson and Michael Jackson headed up an energetic committee of parish volunteers who put on an elegant affair that was very well attended.

Saturday, however, brought heavy rain, and that seemed to dampen attendance considerably, but several of the dealers reported that Sunday's improved weather brought the crowds back. "We made quite a few sales and had a good show," said Judy Watson of King-Thomasson Antiques, Asheville, N.C., who displayed their English country furniture, folk art and samplers on the show's lower level. "We sold an early Eighteenth Century English oak molded front chest of drawers, a Seventeenth Century oak Bible box, a child's chair, several botanical engravings, a painted hanging cupboard and also had many requests to send photos of other pieces."

"Friday night was one grand old party with new, young patrons," said Isabelle Seggerman of Bonsal-Douglas Antiques, Essex, Conn. "There did not appear to be much selling during this preview. Saturday, torrents of water pouring from the sky washed out many of the dealers' potential business. Many people appeared to have chosen to keep off the slippery, flooded, winding roads and stayed home."

Ms Seggerman had better luck on Sunday when she made a pleasing sale of a painting she called "Calf Combo" by Aaron Drapaer Shattuck. "The calf depicted was one of the artist's favored cows," said Ms Seggerman. "This work will be included in the forthcoming catalog raisonne by historian David Kimball. The painting has found a new barn with a couple who will cherish it."

Fine art was well represented at the show. David Brooker of David Brooker Fine Art, Woodbury, Conn., said the show was a "wonderful success for us. We saw many old customers and met many new. The sales were steady and we sold across all price brackets, with the most important sale being that of a Samuel Walters marine scene. As always, Janet Robinson and the committee made a great effort and this made the show fun and a success."

Joel Fletcher and John Copenhaver of Fletcher Copenhaver Fine Art, Fredericksburg, Va., also reported having a good show in Bedford. "We liked our new booth, and the revised floor plan worked very well," said Mr Fletcher. "The opening night preview was probably the best ever in terms of attendance, and we sold a Nineteenth Century painting by Lemaitre that evening. Saturday was slow, probably because of the terrible weather, but we did very well on Sunday, selling works by Moses Soyer, Chas Laborde and others."

In addition, Palmer LeRoy Fine Art, Nantucket and Dover, Mass., featured a trove of marine art in a booth on the show's upper level, including an oil on canvas by Walter Farndon (1816-1964) titled "Low Tide at Little Neck Bay," 25 by 26 inches and priced at $20,000.

A show-stopper at the booth of Cecelia Williams, New Market, Md., was a great Nineteenth Century American iron watering trough that the dealer had transformed into a stunning container for plants. The piece displayed the foundry mark of J.L. Mott, New York City. Ms Williams also brought a pair of Nineteenth Century English footmen, one in burnished iron and one with its patina intact and with great feet.

Jane McClafferty Antiques, New Canaan, Conn., was back with her inventory of American furniture and English accessories. Four Baltimore Sheraton fancy chairs, circa 1820, were painted white, a sign, according to Ms McClafferty, that they probably had been wedding gifts. Also showcased in her booth was a Boston tilt top table, circa 1780, in mahogany with graceful legs and a New England cherry serpentine front chest, circa 1790, in old dry finish with period old brasses.

Peter Curran, Wilton, Conn., endured some good-natured ribbing from some of the other dealers about an extremely weathered pair of American Eighteenth Century barn doors that he had on display among his period American furniture. He may have had the last laugh, however, as he sold one of them, as well as a linen press in original red paint and assorted smalls. Also on view in his booth was a collapsible iron bed, late Nineteenth Century and a cherry corner cupboard, early Nineteenth Century, with some of its old glass.

C.M. Leonard, New York City, specializes in English formal furniture and accessories, and his display this year benefited from the new layout that allowed him to showcase his pieces in an open, inviting corner booth. Some of the items he brought were an English late regency center table, circa 1830, a Louis XVI tric-trac table, late Eighteenth Century, and an English George III sewing table.

Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century formal furniture could be found at Joseph M. Hayes Antiques, Bexley, Ohio. Mr Hayes said, "We would like to tell you that the Bedford show was a great success for us. We were very pleased with the kind response we were given from the people of Bedford. The show was our third year and we look forward to returning next year."