Jennifer Krieger of Hawthorne Fine Art, New York City, specializes in fine art by Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century American women. This oil on canvas by Virginia Chandler Titcomb (1838-1912), “In the Catskills, Looking Towards Hunter Mountain” was a rare example by the Brooklyn-based artist who possibly enrolled in classes and traveled north into the Catskills on sketching trips as many of her contemporaries did.
Review by W.A. Demers, Photos Courtesy Show Dealers
ONLINE – Opening on December 4 at 10 am and running until Sunday, December 6, at midnight EST on www.rubylane.com, Luxe Event’s online holiday show featured a total of 76 dealers showcasing a generous lineup of fine art, antiques, silver, glass, textiles, sculpture, porcelain, furniture, bronzes, jewelry and watches and more.
Luxe Events, led by Andrea Canady, the firm’s president and chief executive officer who has produced successful art, antiques, jewelry and watch shows around the United States, organized the three-day event, banking on the idea that an early December online show was ideally suited to lure gift-givers of luxury goods and provided ample time for delivery. “I’ve had mixed reviews from dealers,” Canady told Antiques and The Arts Weekly. “Some did better than they expected and some had just good, average sales, but I think overall it was fairly good.”
Ruby Lane, established in 1998, is a vintage and antiques marketplace where buyers and sellers connect, posting more than 1.5 million visits a month. For this show, Ruby Lane’s marketing and business development coordinator Alex Gardner reported 21,000 page views. Canady said that about half the dealers participating also had “shops” on Ruby Lane.
Edwin C. Skinner, specializing in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century American and European antiques was offering this early Nineteenth Century American corner cupboard, 87 inches high. From the mid-Atlantic region, the two-piece cherry cupboard has a 12-pane single upper door and twin recessed panel doors below. It was, according to Skinner, “a classic design, well proportioned, white pine secondary wood, structurally sound, never any insect infestation.”
If page views directly translated to sales, that would be good indeed. Participation, however, does not guarantee success, as Mical Wilmoth Carton, owner of Chairperson-Antiques, related after the show had closed. “I appreciated the opportunity to take part in the show. Sadly, no sales and no questions about my items,” he said. “But this is following a trend in the antiques market these days. I have had some sales through Ruby Lane, enough to encourage me to continue with them, but sales have been slow. “
Carton specializes in an eclectic mix of antiques and collectibles from all over the world. One of the highlights he was offering – and is still available – was a Chinese export famille rose punch bowl, circa 1770, with elaborate floral and fruit decoration. Beautifully hand decorated, the bowl’s rim is topped with a thin stripe of gilt. Below this, on the exterior, is a red scrolled border above a gilt scroll border, which is outlined in red. Suspended from the gilt border, and evenly spaced around the bowl, are six pair of floral swags. Below two of the swags (front and back) are large flower and leaf designs, each featuring a large pink rose surrounded by green leaves and other pink, purple and red and yellow flowers. Between these, on either side, are smaller pink and purple flower and green leaf motifs.
Specializing in ceramics from the Art Deco era, Judith Lesser, Antiques From Home, had a Clarice Cliff Fruitburst fern pot up on her page for $350. Fruitburst was designed by Clarice Cliff in England and produced circa 1929-30. This fern pot measured 3¾ inches tall and was done in bright and cheerful colors. ” It would look fabulous used for its original purpose housing a potted plant,” said Lesser in the item’s description.
Jewelry is always a crowd favorite at online shows. Modernist jewelry, vintage clothing and Twentieth Century design specialist Auerbach and Maffia displayed a Los Castillo Modernist sterling necklace from Taxco, Mexico, 1940s. The geometric necklace had a striking machine age design and was 14 inches long by 1 inch wide. Weight was a solid 90.75 grams.
This Daum “Winter Scene” cameo glass vase, circa 1910, was being offered by Richard W. Bell, Orange, Calif. A popular scene as well as a popular shape, its fall colors with the first snow resonated with the season. “In my opinion, no one does cameo glass better than Daum,” said Bell.
“We are selling this as an object and have not tested it, but believe it will work fine,” said Nora and John Knight of Bizarre Bazaar in their description of an Art Deco Modernist microphone stickered at $4,500. Possibly the most beautiful microphone ever produced, it was made by Webster Rauland of Chicago from around 1940 to 1947. The microphone’s Bakelite and chromed metal housing make it a retro shoe-in, and it stands 7 inches high, mounted on a painted cast iron base so the total height is 15½ inches.
A fine art offering came from Jennifer Krieger of Hawthorne Fine Art, an American art gallery specializing in Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century women artists. An oil on canvas painting by Virginia Chandler Titcomb (American, 1838-1912), “In the Catskills, Looking Towards Hunter Mountain,” 14 by 19 inches (framed), was a beautiful Luminist 1860s Hudson River School depiction of the Catskills and a rare work by a female artist. It had been a gift from the artist, descending in the same family until 2016, and was signed on the stretcher, verso. Titcomb, originally from Otterville, Ill., was an active painter and writer in New York during the late Nineteenth Century. This painting is a rare example of Titcomb’s work. While she lived in Brooklyn and Long Island for much of her adult life, it is plausible that she enrolled in classes and traveled north on sketching trips as many of her contemporaries did.
Next up for Luxe Events is the Fort Worth show, currently being planned as a live event March 5-7, at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, featuring 150 exhibitors. For information, 239-732-6866 or www.luxeshowevents.com.
