The October 29″0 weekend was a bad choice for an antiques show if it happened to be within the reach of the snowstorm that hit much of the East Coast. Unfortunately, Morristown was in the thick of it, and while the Morristown Armory Antiques Show did get off to a good start on Saturday morning at 10, it lasted just about two hours before the power failed, leaving the armory without lights and heat.
“We had a nice crowd at the opening,” Allison Kohler, president of JMK Shows & Events, said, “but we were in the dark for the rest of the day.” She mentioned that about 20 trees came down on Western Avenue, making it impossible for people to get to the show once the full force of the storm hit.
On Sunday morning, Allison stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts, not just for coffee but mainly to charge her cellphone, and while there, “I received about 30 phone calls from people asking if we were going to be open that day,” she said. The decision was made to be open from 11 am, the regular time, but closing at 2 pm, not the scheduled 5 pm. “I was at the door all day, greeting the people who came out, and they came to buy, as a good number of the dealers reported some nice sales on Sunday,” she said. And despite the overall negative effect the storm had on the show, “many of the exhibitors have already signed up for next year’s October show,” Allison said.
The show was a real mix of collecting, with tables chockfull of smalls and countless pieces of china and glass, ranging from cut and pressed glass pitchers to fancy majolica, and from Hummels to rare Chinese art. Furniture stayed, for the most part, in the “brown” category, with little paint and scrubbed surfaces. But again, the range was wide, from small cabinets and hanging shelves to extended dining tables and large case pieces.
Brad Reh filled several cases with fine jewelry, made some sales, and one of his star lots was a heavy bracelet in gold with lots of sparkle that once belonged to singer Connie Francis.
Roger Winter of Solebury, Penn., had an extra large booth filled with furniture, including an American Hepplewhite two-part dining table, circa 1790, Maine origin, with square tapering legs and banded cuffs. “Considering the weather, our show was not all that bad and we got packed out in fairly good time on Sunday. Luckily, we lost power at home for only a couple of hours,” Roger said. His sales included an Adams mirror, circa 1790; a George II flip top chest of small size in walnut; a Chippendale corner chair; a small bowfront server in mahogany with line inlay and an English watercolor of a landscape.
Fionda Art and Antiques, New Ipswich, N.H., offered a large diorama of a sailing ship at full mast, with two other boats in the background, while in the booth of Poverty Hollow Enterprises, Stamford, Conn., a white porcelain cat rested peacefully on a French sofa, circa 1930. Several cast garden figures were scattered about the booth, and a nice and weighty sundial was edging out into the aisle.
Jaffe & Thurston, Wawarsing, N.Y., showed a New England Sheraton drop leaf table in mahogany with reeded legs, the top of which was used to display a selection of bowls, vases and candlesticks. For the cut glass collectors, seven pieces of various shapes and sizes were neatly grouped together.
William Nickerson Antiques of Orleans, Mass., offered a large dining table at the front of his booth, surrounded by a set of six chairs, including one armchair, and a secretary was against the back wall. Four ship paintings decorated a large portion of the booth.
Pond boats, large and small, ship’s wheel, barometers and a pair of large copper lamps, English, circa 1925, all added up to a nautical look in the booth of Susan Barr Antiques, Trumbull, Conn. Lots of furniture, including four chests of drawers, filled the booth of J&M Antiques, East Amherst, N.Y., along with a selection of brightly polished student lamps.
A pair of comfortable leather chairs, one of which was perfect for New York City dealer Zane Moss to settle down in during the show for a quick rest, was in his large booth, along with all kinds of furniture, including an English partners’ writing table in mahogany, Nineteenth Century, with tooled leather top and brass casters.
A small Welch cupboard, filled with pieces of porcelain, was in the display of Nicoll Fine Art & Antiques, Damariscotta, Maine, as was a Georgian writing or dressing table in crossbanded mahogany, circa 1860.
From the armory in Morristown, Allison Kohler headed south to Alexandria, Va., where she began setting up the next show which opened Friday, November 11, and closed on Sunday, with 31 dealers taking part. “I have a good wait-list for this show and next year we will have a benefit preview,” she said. Closing out the show calendar for her will be the Antiques & Fine Art Show at the Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City, on December 9‱1, with 70 dealers. For more information, 973-927-2794 or www.jmkshows.com .
