Jeff Bridgman Antiques, York County, Penn.

Called the social event of the year on the island of Nantucket, the August Antiques Show was once again a hotbed of activity as the show opened its doors with a gala preview party on Thursday, August 3. A huge crowd of locals as well as collectors and dealers from near and far were on hand for the lively event, a benefit for the Nantucket Historical Association.

While many previews are all eats and treats and the merchandise is often neglected, Nantucket excels in getting antiques-savvy people onto the floor; the result, sales recorded throughout the show – from the start of preview until the dealers finally packed-out three days later.

Show manager Diana Bittel boasted of a sold-out preview party with the final tally revealing 140 more in attendance than last year. “The place was packed,” she said of preview night.

“Nantucket is one of the nicest small shows in the country,” commented dealer Alan Granby, “and an amazing thing is the geographic draw that the show has. We sold to people from Hawaii, Texas and Florida, as well as local people.” Several large ticket items were reported moving early on during the show’s run, including a number of nautical items, Nantucket-themed paintings and a couple case pieces. At least one dealer reported his “best show ever.”

The show has had some logistical problems in the past with the floor plan, yet all was remedied with this year’s event. In previous years, to accommodate the addition of several new dealers, came the large multiple tent setup behind the building.

David Bernard of Taylor Williams Antiques, Chicago, with a rare Liverpool pitcher depicting the “Apotheosis of George Washington.”

Last year’s floor plan proved unpopular with dealers in the tented area as the “party” tent stood between the annexed dealers in a second and the main show. “A lot of people sort of made it into the main tent and just stayed there,” commented one dealer. “They never made it into the far tent where a bunch of dealers were set up.”

Bittel and Ralph DiSaia grabbed the bull by the horns this year and reversed the layout. Everyone heading for the bar, band and food area was forced to pass through the gauntlet of booths in the tent. The well thought-out layout proved popular for all and dealers in the tent saw a huge increase in traffic and sales.

The show takes place on three floors of Nantucket’s New School, with a balcony area for the top floor that is ringed with booths and overlooks the dealers exhibiting on the main floor. The lower level also houses a bunch of booths, as does a small tented area off of that room that has been the attractive home to Massachusetts dealer Victor Weinblatt and Pennsylvania dealer Jeff Bridgman. Several large classrooms also are utilized, some shared by two dealers, others are occupied singularly.

While moderately priced items can be found in a couple of the booths, Nantucket Island is home to some exclusive dealers and each of them seemingly likes to parade their premier merchandise when they set up at the show.

Warren Anderson of Adelson Galleries has a shop on the island, as well as a gallery in New York City. His fare at the show included a stellar sampling of artwork by the likes of Mary Cassatt, $1.2 million; Maurice Prendergast, $475,000; Milton Avery, $375,000; and John Singer Sargent, $650,000.

A whole cupboard filled with Nantucket baskets was offered by Wayne Pratt, Nantucket, Mass., and Woodbury, Conn.

Not exactly the fare of your typical summer show, yet a clear indication of the type of clientele that this show routinely attracts.

Another of the summertime locals is dealer Wayne Pratt and his assortment of wares had been tailored not only to his regular base of clients, but also to the local Nantucket-based crowd as the dealer offered a wonderful cabinet with two blind drawers in the base and a series of five shelves stepping in from the sides on top. The cupboard was filled with an extraordinary selection of Nantucket baskets, carriers and purses in a variety of styles and sizes. Among the furniture highlights from the booth was a Queen Anne cherry and walnut tray-top tea table, circa 1740-1760, thought to be of Boston origin that was listed as being in a “fine state of preservation.” Other furniture in the booth attracting looks for prospective buyers was a Chippendale block front chest of drawers in wonderful diminutive proportions that was also attributed to the Boston area.

In typical style, Pratt also offered an early Queen Anne dressing table in a pleasing finish that had been made on the North Shore, positioned along side an attractive Queen Anne flattop highboy in strong tiger maple. The fan-carved highboy “exhibited several design features consistent with the cabinetmaking traditions of Salem, Mass,” according to the dealer, “specifically the sharply creased, or arrised knees, scrolled knee brackets and the presence of one drawer divided to simulate three short drawers, the central one fan carved and the distinctly shaped front skirt centering scroll drops.”

Local Nantucket dealer Nina Hellman’s presentation was appreciated by the crowds. At the forefront to her booth was an elegant bust style ship’s figurehead of an attractive young woman that dated to 1830. Having been found in the attic of a home in Brighton, England, the figurehead had been carved from a single piece of pine. The wooden lady was decked out in a stylish dress of the period and had carved curls and combs on each side of her head. The piece was stickered at $48,000. Marine art from the booth included several prime examples; however, it was the Lemuel D. Eldred 1887 oil on board that depicting shipping in New Bedford harbor that was attracting the most attention.

Hellman also offered a nice full-bodied gilded copper weathervane in the form of a sloop with sheet metal sails and pennants, and a nice ship model of the brig Imogene of West Barnegat, N.J.

Georgian Manor is always a popular booth at the show and the dealer is aptly awarded the front booth that faces the entrance. An attractive Irish Nineteenth Century mahogany sofa table with rosewood accents and two drawers was attracting a lot of attention from shoppers. Along side it was an English Regency beech armchair that had been ebonized and decorated with paint. The classic circa 1810 chair, priced at $9,000, was a “characteristic example emphasizing the graceful elegance of the period,” according to dealer Ricky Goytizolo. Accessories in the booth included an unusual silver filigree standing box decorated with floral patterns and applied flowers with silver beads. An unusual feature of the box, priced at $12,500, was the curved bird-shaped legs.

Hyland Granby, Hyannis Port, Mass.

The booth of Taylor Williams Antiques, Chicago, was manned by David Bernard and the dealer was quick to point to numerous highlights from the booth. Aside from the stellar selection of canary soft paste in a myriad of forms and decorations, Bernard mentioned an extremely rare and desirable Liverpool pitcher decorated with “The Apotheosis of George Washington” on one side and an American ship on the reverse. Priced at $7,500, the circa 1800 pitcher measured a mere 10 inches in height. The pitcher was displayed on a Massachusetts Federal inlaid card table in mahogany of pleasing proportions.

Other porcelains in the booth that were attracting attention included a rare Wedgwood moonlight-lustre nautilus shell compote, ex collection Robert Butz. Art work included “Six Views of the Luxemburg gardens, Paris,” a series of small oil on canvas pictures by James Allen St John that were collectively priced at $25,000.

The usual stellar assortment of Canton was seen in the booth of Mellin’s Antiques, Redding, Conn. with an exquisite pair of Canton urns with full landscape decoration below the unusual treatment of acanthus leaves extending upward toward the rim. A large assortment of other Canton forms was also offered, as well as a very large Fitzhugh platter in blue and white decoration. A selection of John Gould hand colored prints, circa 1854, included two toucan prints. “Gould was the Audubon of England,” stated the dealer, “and the toucans are the most highly sought after out of all his work. They are very lively and colorful.”

Aside from the usual selection of decoys that he has become so well known for, Stephen O’Brien, Jr, Boston, offered a collection of five “fresh to the market” Aiden Lassell Ripley watercolors as the cornerstone of the sporting art featured in the booth. “We just picked the collection up in Pennsylvania,” commented O’Brien, who pointed to one watercolor, “Point of Dawn,” that had been illustrated in A. Lassell Ripley Watercolors by Edward Weeks. The rare watercolor depicting an upland hunting scene had a provenance of the Guild of Boston Artists, where the collector had originally purchased it in 1972. Other Ripley’s in the coveted collection included “Pine Cover,” “Start of Rainey Day Shooting” and “Duck Hunting.”

A Besse Potter Vonnoh bronze was among the highlights in the booth of Jeff Cooley, Old Lyme, Conn.

Decoys in the booth included a large and early curlew shorebird believed to have been made at Cobb’s Island, Va., circa 1880, a plumply carved plover by Obediah Verity of Seaford, L.I., and a lesser yellowlegs from New Jersey. “The yellowlegs is unusual as it is in the running position and has the ‘minnow in the throat’ lump,” stated the dealer. Also offered was a set of unusual extended wing decoys in a flying position that would have been used as stick-ups. Each of the decoys had a line attached to it, which the hunter would tug on when ducks approached, simulating the movement of live ducks within his spread. “This sort of predates the motion decoys that people are hunting with now,” stated O’Brien.

Elle Shushan, Philadelphia, offered a wonderful selection of miniature portraits and family watercolors. Among the offering was one lot of local interest, a portrait on ivory of Charles Frederick Coffin of the well-known and documented Coffin family of Nantucket. The portrait, executed in 1836 when the child was 1 year old, was painted on ivory. Interestingly, Coffin would be listed in the Nantucket census in 1900 as a merchant, yet he is most well known as a carver of decoys and birds. His diaries, according to the dealer, are in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Hyannis Port, Mass., nautical dealer Hyland Granby reported a “very good show.” “I was quite pleased,” stated the dealer, “and I sensed that the show overall was pretty successful.” A major painting was sold from the booth on Thursday evening during preview as a collector snapped up a rare John Ward marine painting. The painting was described as a major work, titled “Harbor at Hull,” a port in England where Ward worked as a whaler prior to becoming a painter. “Ward paintings are extremely rare and don’t show up on the market very often,” stated Granby after the show. “Those of us that are familiar with Ward recognize him as a master painter of the level of Robert Salmon.”

Another sale recorded by the dealer was “what is arguably the finest sailor’s valentine to have ever come onto the market, and beyond that we sold a little bit of this and a little bit of that.” Other standout items in his booth included a prisoner-of-war model of the ship Royal George that was made entirely of bone. The elaborate piece was complete with an articulated American Indian figurehead, cannons, planked decking and the rare inclusion of five sailors in caps on the deck. The piece also had two sailors perched atop each of the three masts. The dealer made mention of the fact that the rare piece retained the original base, designed in the form of launching tracks that would have been used in port. Priced at $145,000, the rare piece listed a provenance of the J.D Crimmons collection and the collection of J. Insley Blair.

Diana Bittel, Bryn Mawr, Penn.

Ship’s portraits are a mainstay of a Hyland Granby presentation and the offerings in Nantucket were stellar. A portrait of the Hudson River steamboat Daniel S. Miller, oil on canvas by Antonio Jacobsen, depicts the vessel under power with an American merchant flag and an American banner flying from the foremast.

While the main theme of the Hyland Granby booth was nautical, a few pieces of folk art were slipped in here and there, highlighted by an unusually small pair of cast iron reclining whippets, measuring only 26 inches in length. Also offered was a Bellamy eagle in original untouched condition. While most of the Bellamy eagles have banners that proclaim “Don’t Give Up The Ship,” this example had “Merry Christmas” boldly painted across it, the only known example that the dealer is aware of.

Diana Bittel had a good selection of sailor-made stock on hand with numerous sailor’s valentines adorning the walls of the booth. The small amount of wall space left was filled with ship’s portraits in oil, watercolor and in the form of woolies. High on the back wall was an exceptional carved and gilded wooden eagle, and below it an English apothecary chest that the dealer had placed a red “sold” tag on shortly after the preview party began. The dealer was at the front entrance to the tent and was on hand to greet patrons throughout the weekend. “My show was strong,” commented Bittel. “I sold a little bit of everything: a couple sailor’s valentines, a couple woolies, a bone ship model, a set of chairs, and a couple watercolors. So it was good,” she said.

The presentation was second to none in the booth of Old Lyme, Conn., dealer Jeff Cooley. The dealer offered a stunning Besse Potter Vonnoh bronze statue on base of a young girl holding a flower. Titled “Water Lilies,” the bronze was signed and dated and priced at $85,000. The bronze was displayed along side an intriguing oil on canvas titled “Meadows and Trees” by Abbott Handerson Thayer. Cooley made sure to point out his Nantucket corner with several paintings of local themes featured. Included was a depiction of the “Jethro Coffin House, Nantucket (the Oldest House)” by Charles Gordon Harris and an oil on canvas titled “Early Arrivals, Nantucket” by Volney Allan Richards.

Nantucket earned the reputation as a destination show many years ago, it remains as such. The show will be presented next year August 3-5. For information, 508-228-1894.