Early into the second morning of the Chatham Antiques Show & Sale, a showgoer was overheard describing the event as “a pretty show.” Indeed, this compact event offered just 20-some booths, but they were filled with a pleasing mix of fine art, antiques and the kind of rarities that get an antiquer’s blood pumping.
The 55th annual show, sponsored by the Chatham Chamber of Commerce, took place August 5‸ at Chatham Elementary School, and is said to be Cape Cod’s oldest antiques show. The show has indeed aged like a fine bottle of wine into an attractive and well-conceived presentation, focusing on Americana and fine antiques targeted to appeal to buyers on the Cape.
Befitting its venue, nautical themes were prevalent throughout the show on the walls and on tabletops.
A large and fine grouping of paintings of ships and beachgoers was offered at Gladwell & Company, London, which early into the show had already sold contemporary American artist David Schock’s “The Blue Striped Towel.” A vignette of works from Walter Dolphyn’s “Imagination” series was catching attention here as well.
An original 1930 watercolor by Rex Brasher (1869‱960) titled “Dinner,” featuring a flock of gulls feeding on fish at sea, was a standout at American Decorative Arts LLC, Canaan, N.H., which also offered a bushwhacker basket in a rare form, circa 1900, that measured 11½ inches high and 14 inches at its widest point.
A pair of Atlanta dealers continued the nautical theme. A colorful illustration of a docked tugboat was on display at McDonough Fine Art, and at Gold Leaf Antiques was Antonio Jacobsen’s oil on board portrait of A.G. Ropes , a square-rigged ship aft with a ship and schooner to the starboard and in the background, signed and dated 1919.
Gold Leaf also offered a fine Paul Storr masterpiece of silver in the form of a circular stand on scroll feet with the flared cylindrical cooler having a scroll border, trellis and quatrefoil piercing and a rococo scroll cover.
It was Americana, however, that dominated the show in the form of well-crafted American furniture, and antiques. Among those showing fine furniture was J&M Antiques, East Amherst, N.Y., which offered a New England Hepplewhite cherry table with satinwood inlay. William Nickerson Antiques, Orleans, Mass., featured a lovely farm table in maple and chestnut.
English wares were showcased at Dick Timme Antiques & Appraisals, Killingworth, Conn., which featured a fine 106-piece collection of English china, dating from 1857, each piece decorated with an orange-red leafy border, an English elm tip table and a Nineteenth Century Sheffield silver stand on copper.
Taking the first position at the entrance to the show in the hallway was Merry Walk Antiques, Annapolis, Md., with a sublime three-tier Quimper oyster serving tray, circa 1920, and a French Jacqoit toby jug in faience, circa 1870.
Holly Kahn Fine Antiques, North Chatham, Mass., featured several portrait miniatures, including two rare pairs of brother and sister portraits. Her next-door neighbor, BB Fine Arts of Rock Hill, S.C., offered larger paintings for the wall, including a fine and surrealistic contemporary painting by Israel Rubenstein of several figures in the sky, each wearing or holding up a mask in front of their faces.
Zane Moss Antiques, New York City, presented an attractive booth of leather library furniture and sporting art and accessories. Standouts included a large Nineteenth Century porcelain figure of a snowy owl and a fetching rural portrait of several figures with horses walking a path alongside a lake by Parisian artist Victor Marec (1862‱920), who was known for his portraits, urban scenes and decorative subjects.
Glenbrook Antiques, Walden, N.Y., featured a mahogany sofa with fine yellow upholstery, circa 1920, fine paintings and a dining suite, while Drake Field Antiques, Longmeadow, Mass., had a pair of well-carved Boston side chairs, circa 1840, and an English corner chair in oak, Eighteenth Century.
Attendance was good and several dealers reported good sales even before the weekend visitors descended. Custom House, Cromwell, Conn., was pleased to sell an 1840 day bed in maple with sweet turned legs, as well as several smalls, early in the show, while at Jesse Davis Antiques of London, the booth was filled with elegant majolica, mostly French and Portuguese Palissy, and the dealer was busy wrapping pieces for a customer Friday morning.
Rounding out the offerings were fine porcelain and glass at Armen Amerigian Antiques, West Bridgewater, Mass., including a rare complete bar set of Baccarat crystal, and Norman P. Louden’s “Summertime,” a lovely Pennsylvania Impressionist painting offered at David and Donna Kmetz, Douglas, Mass.
Highlights at Birchknoll Antiques, Mills, Mass., included a silver tea service and an attractive Chinese Export platter, while Derek and Tina Rayment Antiques, Cheshire, England, offered a fine grouping of barometers, including a Louis XVI giltwood French banjo example with a round painted dial, a Louis XVI giltwood French banjo example with a round painted dial and a Louis XVI French oval example with a black frame and blue painted dial.
For information on the show, http://www.chathamantiquesshow.com or call the Chatham Chamber of Commerce at 508-945-5199.
