A Wet and Wild Time At ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show

DEERFIELD, MASS.

: "May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow," begins a well-known Irish blessing. While organizers of the ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show probably wished they were less abundantly blessed, the October 8-9 showcase for members of the Antiques Dealers Association of America was a big success, flooded fields and all.

The ADA continues to perfect the show, which is steadily becoming a destination for collectors from around the country. There was a steady hum on the floor and a thicket of shoppers on opening day. Though sparser, Sunday's attendance was better than a year ago, an increase organizers are crediting to enhanced publicity and tickets give-away.

Around midday on Saturday, show chairman Karen DiSaia and her husband, Ralph, sold their prize carpet, a 9-by-13-foot Serapi of about 1880, to first-time customers from Texas. Other exhibitors also reported selling to collectors from far afield.

"We mailed free tickets and asked those who received them to bring two friends," said George Spiecker, who spearheaded the get-out-the-gate campaign. The Hampton, N.H., dealer sold a tiger maple table to a customer who had been looking for just such a piece for four years, as well as a desk, a weathervane and a chest of drawers. By show's end, Spiecker had a reserve on a cherry corner cupboard and regrets from New York customers who stayed home because of the weather but were still looking for a highboy or a tall chest for Christmas.

"We brought in people who we never see at shows, regional collectors who tend to buy at shops. Quite a number of these people came and bought," said Newbury, Mass., dealer Joan Brownstein. Her sales included an Asahel Powers portrait, a couple of miniatures, a pair of side chairs, a Maine decorated box, an early broadside of a miniaturist and a couple of coverlets. In the 30-foot stand that Brownstein shared with Peter Eaton she showed a brilliant, unusual Thomas Chambers view of the Hudson River from both banks and an exquisite pastel portrait by Frederick Kemmelmeyer of a young woman in her beribboned and bejeweled finest.

A specialist in early New England furniture, Eaton sold a Queen Anne high chest of drawers to eastern Connecticut collectors and a William and Mary dressing table to western Connecticut collectors. It was the first time that he had displayed either piece. Eaton made a follow-up sale of a Queen Anne mirror with its original, etched glass and old paint.

The ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show is one of the prettiest fairs around. With only 51 exhibitors, it is small enough for leisurely browsing. The quality of its merchandise - mostly New England country antiques and folk art with a smattering of Pennsylvania and Southern material, plus a bit of formal Federal and Classical furniture - is high.

The show's appealing floor plan, which features wide aisles, cut-through booths and accordion-pleated corner stands for exhibitors benefiting from extra wall space, was modified only slightly this year. Only two new dealers were added to the mix: Barbara Ardizone of Salisbury, Conn., and Bird in Hand of Florham Park, N.J., who stepped in for New Hampshire dealer Hollis Brodrick.

"The weather played havoc but we enjoyed the show immensely. We sold a lot of folk art, a Windsor chair and some decoys," said Bird in Hand's Ron Bassin. A collegial spirit contributed to an informal birthday tribute to Steve Powers, the Brooklyn, N.Y., specialist in burl treen who presented a well-documented Dakota maple bowl, $14,000, of circa 1800-20.

Shoppers appreciate the Deerfield setting, which is two hours or less from most points in New England. The continued participation of Historic Deerfield and Deerfield Academy, neighbors in the bucolic village, is a plus. Historic Deerfield provided activities that tended to keep collectors on campus all weekend. A Saturday afternoon workshop on painted furniture led by curator Joshua Lane and Winterthur conservator Michael Podmaniczky, and the Saturday evening Tavern Night dinner were both sold out. The ADA is only beginning to gauge Deerfield Academy's potential as a source of new customers, a potential suggested by dealers' anecdotal accounts of selling to visiting parents.

"For early material, this is a great show in an idyllic setting," said South Egremont, Mass., dealer Elliott Snyder, who made 15 sales, including two oval-top tea tables, a one-drawer splayed leg stand, a rare tricorn hat and a mirror. Snyder and others said that trading among dealers was brisk.

"This show gets a small but very appreciative audience," said Cape Cod dealer Robert Wilkins. Courcier & Wilkins' best piece, a Connecticut River Valley cherry stand with tiger-maple inlays and a scalloped skirt, $36,000, was under serious consideration. A related chest-on-frame is in Historic Deerfield's collection.

"It's fun. It's provincial and from the area," silver dealer Paige Trace said of a covered sugar bowl, $8,500, from nearby Northampton, Mass. The show's other metalware experts, Connecticut dealers Wayne and Phyllis Hilt, featured a classic New York City mug attributed to William Kirby, 1760, $7,500.

Autumn was in the air at David Good and Sam Forsythe, where a golden hued New Hampshire painted tall chest of drawers was $17,500. A rare spade foot Philadelphia Windsor armchair in old black over white paint was $40,000.

Taylor Williams was ready for Thanksgiving with a three-board, 9-foot-long harvest table, $18,000. Having sold two large Liverpool pitchers for the American market, four more remained in the Chicago dealer's booth.

A paint decorated invalid's wheelchair made from a converted Salem rocker, Ammi Phillips's portrait of Olivia Kimball Adams, and a slip decorated Burslem, Staffordshire plate of 1726 were among Sam Herrup's eye-catching offerings.

Peter Sawyer and Scott Bassett were keeping time with a rare Oliver Bracket of Vasselboro, Maine, grandmother's clock, $85,000, and a Timothy Chandler of Concord, N.H., tall case clock, $38,000.

At Bartley Antiques, a Boston Queen Anne mahogany drop leaf table was $95,000 and a Connecticut cherry tray-top tea table was $45,000.

A paint decorated Baltimore fire bucket joined an eagle-inlaid Salem Hepplewhite secretary bookcase, possibly by William Appleton or Jacob Sanderson, $95,000, at Sumpter Priddy Antiques, Alexandria, Va.

Having sold a country desk and bookcase in Manchester in August, John Keith Russell of South Salem, N.Y., was on hand with another. The imaginatively conceived cabinet was signed and dated: "Oct 25, 1870 - Philip N. Hotaling, Charleston Montgomery N.Y."

"It's one of the strongest Lancaster County schranks to turn up," Pennsylvania dealer Christopher Rebollo said of the circa 1775 case piece, $85,000, featuring elaborate base and cornice moldings and secret drawers, on his back wall.

"I have eight chests of every size," said North Salem, N.Y., dealer Jesse Goldberg, who cornered the market on Federal miniatures. His rarest one was a diminutive four-drawer chest from Pennsylvania.

West Chester, Penn., dealer Skip Chalfant offered an intriguing Sheraton mahogany etagere with, for lack of a better term, a scalloped front. The $22,000 piece was attributed to Connelly & Haynes, circa 1815.

"We sold a major Boston Adam and Eve sampler that we'd had in our possession only a few hours," Carol Huber said of a colorful 1744 embroidery, ex-collection of Colonel Edgar and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. The Old Saybrook, Conn., needlework dealers displayed the treasure with three other rare Boston samplers made between 1736 and 1742.

One of the few known needlework family portraits, a painted silk embroidery priced $25,000, was a highlight of Chadds Ford, Penn., dealer Jan Whitlock's display.

"I bought and sold well," said Philadelphia dealer Amy Finkel, who covered one wall with embroidered family records, priced from around $5,500 to $11,000.

"I've seen one or two of these in my career," Jeff Bridgman said of his rarest piece, a circa 1864 pro-Union printed flag, $17,500, whose 36 stars spelled the word "FREE."

"It's an uplifting experience and also titillating," quipped Historic Deerfield's textiles curator Edward Maeder, holding up a pre-Victoria's Secret horsehair filled bodice of about 1830. "I'll give you a profit on it," textiles dealer Amy Finkel told its owner, Arthur Liverant, who was not parting with the gag item at any price.

An Eliphalet Chapin ball and claw foot tea table, $27,500, and an early and rare inn sign, $42,500, decorated for A. Lewis, Bristol, Conn., were stand outs at Nathan Liverant and Son, Colchester, Conn. Under its Masonic decoration and the date 1812 were traces of an earlier painting of an eagle with an olive branch and the date 1800.

"Living with soulful things is what I'm about," explained Colette Donovan. The Merrimacport, Mass., dealer suspended a stunningly well-preserved glazed, indigo-dyed calamanco quilt, $9,500, on her back wall.

A boldly colorful Susquehanna stuffwork quilt, circa 1848, was $38,000 at Olde Hope Antiques, who also presented a delicate Indian cigar store princess attributed to the Samuel Robb shop, $95,000, and William Matthew Prior's signed and dated triple portrait of the Sweetser children, $285,000.

Later and more idiosyncratic was Allen Katz's folk art stumpwork picture, "The Old Homestead," of circa 1870, exuberantly embroidered with gold, silver and bronze beads on a silk background.

Brian Cullity added early Nineteenth Century lighting in tin and glass to his display of redware, maps and painted furniture. Compelling in their simplicity, circa 1790-1810 petticoat-base tin candlestands joined glass whale oil lamps, including some Sandwich examples, in the Cape Cod dealer's display.

A set of ten circa 1820 chestnut bottles, $7,500, in graduated sizes enhanced Pam and Martha Boynton's arrangement of painted furniture and a captivating hooked rug, stretched and hung on the wall.

"All things that are new take time to evolve and find their place. We're getting there now," said Karen DiSaia. Minus downpours, the ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show can look forward to even better results next year. One minor suggestion, prompted by this year's inclement weather, is that ADA/Historic Deerfield add a coat check. Chairman DiSaia has already put it on her list for next year, along with an on-floor shipper to assist buyers. Given the show's late-morning start, some customers would also like to see expanded eating facilities in or near the show.