Sam Herrup.
By Laura Beach
HARTFORD, CONN. - It wasn't too long ago, at the Cleveland
Antiques Show, that Janice and Ted Strauss met a lively Indiana
couple with an absorbing interest in fine antiques.
"If you are serious about collecting American furniture you
really ought to visit the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show,"
Janice told them. The South Salem, N.Y., dealer was more than a
little surprised when the couple walked through the Connecticut
State Armory's heavy oak doors on Saturday, March 24. Her
Midwestern acquaintances had flown to Hartford on the strength of
her recommendation, and they ended up making a substantial
purchase.
Stories like Janice's were told by a number of Hartford's 64
exhibitors, who said a notable increase in knowledgeable, serious
buyers helped make this year's Connecticut Spring Antiques Show
one of the best in recent memory. Concerns about the battered
stock market seemed nil as shoppers stocked up on furniture,
which sold particularly well. Competing shows didn't diminish
attendance. If anything, upcoming shows in Philadelphia
stimulated dealer-to-dealer sales. There was speculation - not
provable, of course - that the antiques trade is actually
benefiting from Wall Street's woes as the moneyed classes look
for investment alternatives to stocks.
"The gate was up both days, and the right people were here. We
saw people who made it to the show for the first time in several
years," noted Linda Turner. Exhibitors complimented the Portland,
Me., based manager on her skillful handling of this year's fair,
but Turner was as hard-pressed as anyone to identify the reasons
for its resurgence. "I did more local advertising than I have in
the past, more TV and radio," she said. A show section ran in
Antiques and The Arts Weekly, while the Hartford
Courant carried an advertising supplement with a color cover
and several pages of exhibitor advertising. Channel 3 broadcast
live from the floor of the show on Sunday, capturing an antique
bidet on film at Jacques Berten, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., dealer
in unusual maritime antiques. "Somebody saw it on television and
came immediately to his booth," Turner laughed. Berten also sold
a 1750s leather pirate's belt, always a convenient way to carry
one's cutlass.
George and Debbie Spiecker.
For the past three years, Turner has stuck to a 9 to 10:30 am
"show opening" on Saturday, a bargain at $15. General admission,
$8, is from 10:30 am to 5 pm. To the manager's satisfaction,
lines formed before each opening. "I give my dealers two 'show
opening' tickets each, and two 'general admission' tickets. A lot
of the tickers were collected at the door. Quite a few buyers
came from New York and New Jersey, as well as from Connecticut
and Massachusetts," she noted.
"I'd just come from the Alexandria show and I'm doing
Southport-Westport. I don't know where I am going to get more
material," exclaimed Janice Strauss. Her many sales included two
Chippendale chests, one of tiger maple, the other a narrow,
33-inch wide piece from Wethersfield, Conn.; a mirror; a
serpentine-top, taper-leg stand; a shaped-top candlestand; a
fireplace fender and fireplace accessories; and a big tiger maple
bowl. "I had a very good show, not only because I sold but
because I had good conversations with people who are likely to
follow up. I'm also selling well on my Web site and at my
gallery."
At least three highboys were rumored to have sold on the floor:
one at Peter Eaton's, one at Jeffrey Tillou's, and one in the
booth of Stephen Garner. "It was the best show I've had at
Hartford in ten years, and one of my three best shows at Hartford
in 26 years," said Eaton. The Newburyport, Mass., dealer sold a
pair of Rhode Island Queen Anne chairs; an ogee-footed
Chippendale chest; a desk in tiger maple; a Queen Anne drop leaf
table; a Daniel Balch tall clock, $17,500; a William and Mary
highboy, $45,000; two candlestands; and a number of small things.
"Two things went to dealers and the rest went to private
collectors," said Eaton. "They were all new customers, though I
had spoken to each before."
At Wilton the week before, Yarmouthport, Mass., dealers Charles
and Barbara Adams sold Bennington pottery, their specialty. This
time they couldn't keep furniture in stock. Some of their sales
were to two women from Texas, Hartford regulars who are often
among the show's biggest buyers. "Their shipper came on Sunday
and took a lot away," confided Barbara. "This year they seemed to
be looking for tiger and bird's-eye maple. We sold a bird's-eye
slant front desk and a bird's-eye stand. We also sold a drop leaf
table, a black painted washstand, a couple of Currier & Ives
prints, and three or other pieces of furniture. This Hartford was
the best it has been."
Dan and Karen Olson also moved furniture. "We sold five
cupboards, which is kind of unusual. This was our fifth or sixth
time at Hartford since we left the show in the mid-1980s. It was
the best show we've had since we've been back," said the
Newburgh, N.Y., dealers.
"I went in with fear and trepidation, and dealer business on the
floor on Friday was not very good. But when the show opened on
Saturday it was excellent," said Lewis Scranton, who, after 23
years, is one of Hartford's most seasoned veterans. "People were
very enthusiastic."
"I was thrilled," said Don Buckley, another old-timer. "Hartford
has always been our favorite show. It reflects the kind of stuff
we deal in." The Salisbury, Conn., dealer sold two Eighteenth
Century tables, two tole chandeliers, two Eighteenth Century
children's chairs, a lot of early glass and treen, and a
"carload" of smalls.
Ed and Margaret Weissman were on the road after the show, heading
back to their winter retreat in Florida when we reached them on
their cell phone. The dealers, who return to Portsmouth, N.H., on
June 1 to reopen their shop, sold three pieces of furniture,
brass, and two paintings. "I was pleased with sales, and I think
many other exhibitors were, too. I was anticipating gloom and
doom. Instead, we had a big line-up of early buyers."
Ray and Jack Van Gelder.
"We sold quite a few paintings: miniatures, watercolors, and
paintings on ivory," said Ray Van Gelder. The Conway, Mass.,
dealer theorized, "People are always interested in antiques and
they will continue to buy. The only trouble is finding
merchandise."
Show highlights included a Chippendale mahogany drop leaf table
with shapely ball-and-claw feet and a C.L. Prickett & Sons
label attached to its underside at Chesterfield Antiques,
Chesterfield, Mass.
Hilary and Paulette Nolan of Falmouth, Mass., offered a New
Hampshire tester bed with reeded posts, circa 1810-20; a dramatic
Federal doorway in apple green paint; a Philadelphia side chair
attributed to Savery; and a circa 1730 joint table from coastal
Massachusetts, in untouched condition, $32,000.
Litchfield, Conn., dealer Jeffrey Tillou included a highboy,
$24,000, from the Woodbury/Newtown area of Connecticut. A New
London County octagonal candlestand, circa 1760, was $6,500.
Nathan Liverant & Son featured a beautiful Federal mahogany
and flame-birch inlaid serpentine-front card table. Dating to
1790-1810, the North Shore, Mass., piece was $27,500. A Queen
Anne maple highboy with lobster-tail pendants typical of
Stonington, Conn., was $65,000.
Prominent in Joan Brownstein's choice array was a rare,
12-paneled New Hampshire flame birch and mahogany cross-banded
chest of drawers, $29,000. A New Hampshire bowfront chest with
ball and claw feet was $17,500. Accents included a collection of
14 graduated, free-blown chestnut bottles, $6,900.
Two attractive candlestands kept the company of an Eighteenth
Century banister-back side chair, $5,200, with nicely carved
crest and turnings at Brian Cullity, Sagamore, Mass. The dealer
also featured a Hepplewhite chest of drawers with bird's-eye
maple fronts and a wonderful baroque continental mirror with
eglomise panel, all original except for its beveled glass. "It
dates to about 1740 and is one of the biggest I've seen," said
Cullity.
Harold Cole of Woodbury, Conn., was on hand with a walnut Queen
Anne lowboy, $32,000, from Massachusetts, circa 1750.
It would have been hard to squeeze more casepiece furniture into
Morgan MacWhinnie's booth. The Southampton, N.Y, dealer arrayed
two flat-top highboys, two reverse serpentine chests of drawers,
and a cherry, ogee-foot bonnet-top secretary bookcase, $32,000.
Derik Pulito's piece de resistance was a Federal tray-top cherry
candlestand with pinwheel and band inlays. The Connecticut River
Valley piece, $16,000, is signed by its maker, Obadiah Ingraham.
"If anyone has information on this craftsman, let me know," said
the Kensington, Conn., dealer.
A Rhode Island brace-back Windsor side chair was an irresistible
item at John Keith Russell. The South Salem, N.Y., also had one
of the show's most remarkable finds, a pole light with its
original paint, still housed in its pine shipping box.
Sam Herrup's stand was handsomely appointed with a double-scroll
easy chair; a Rhode Island or Massachusetts corner chair,
$55,000; a Boston slant-front desk, $55,000; a Federal
Massachusetts bow front chest, $18,000; and an English Queen Anne
mirror with veneered and gilt detail, $3,500.
An extremely rare New England fan-crested side chair of circa
1770 was $3,900 at Hollis Brodrick, Portsmouth, N.H.
A good show for early textiles, Hartford this year boasted a New
Haven, Conn., sampler worked at Mrs Mansfield's School, $36,000,
at Stephen and Carol Huber, Old Saybrook, Conn.
Framed and hung on the wall, a fragment of a Seventeenth Century
Jacobean-work bed hanging was a vivid addition to Colette
Donovan's display. The Merrimacport, Mass., dealer also
incorporated two blanket chests, one an early Eighteenth Century
example with untouched surface, and a mid-Eighteenth Century
candlestand of maple with traces of old black paint and a
beautifully turned shaft, $6,700.
Jim and Alison Dickerson.
Though not primarily a show for folk art, Hartford was outfitted
with a sheet metal Angel Gabriel, $2,600 at Jackie Radwin, San
Antonio, Tex. A heart hooked rug dating to the late Nineteenth
Century was $4,500 in the same stand.
The Barometer Shop of Cushing, Me., featured European and
American instruments, including marked pieces by New York makers.
The 28th Connecticut Spring Antiques show honored two of its
best-known and most beloved exhibitors, the late Zeke Liverant of
Colchester, Conn., and the late Paul Weld of Middletown, Conn.
Both were profoundly missed, yet still very much present in
spirit.
Exhibitors complimented the Haddam Historical Society, sponsors
of the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show, and the Federated Garden
Club of Connecticut, on their thoughtful efforts to make both
exhibitors and customers comfortable, and to make the show
beautiful.
Forbes & Turner's next engagement is the Dorset Antiques Show
on July 14, followed by the Riverside, Bath and Hildene shows.
The Fall Hartford Antiques Show, also managed by Linda Turner,
returns to the Connecticut State Armory on September 29 and 30.
