A new Flamingo Promotions show during Brimfield week showed good promise for both customers and dealers. The Sturbridge Book and Ephemera Show, September 8–9, was held for about 30 dealers of this highly specialized category of antiques and collectables at the Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center.
Kuenzig Books was offering a collection of advertising signs and posters from the first half of the Twentieth Century. In good condition these were fetching some serious prices. A Jack and the Beanstalk poster from produce supplier Green Giant was $225 and a Borden’s Milk broadside was $45.
What was most startling about the show was the quiet atmosphere that pervaded. Visitors were busy studying the thousands of objects there to read: books that had been best sellers ten or 50 or 100 years ago. First editions of classics published even longer ago were there as well.
The exhibits also included original art and prints. Peter Luke is from Baltimore with a reputation for offering fine original early prints of many styles. One item he was showing was an early Twentieth Century lithograph of a Cunard steamship in an original frame, which was probably used as an advertising piece. Condition was fair for this 1870 vintage piece. In his trays, he offered a color master painting of a bookplate engraving.
Book and paper dealers invariably have access to early paintings in their travels collecting for their inventory. Bruce Gventer, Egremont, Mass., was offering a Fifteenth Century oil on board painting he described as a Renaissance panel painting done in Swabia (southwest Germany). “The artistry is close to a master painter,” Gventer said, noting the figures are Saint Andrew and Saint John the Baptist. As the boards are curved they were likely part of a decoration of a church column, he said. Unsigned, the price was $10,000.
The material offered at the show was a very broad collection of the show’s descriptive title, paper goods of many kinds, books and art. It was a delightful place to spend some time and money, selecting something to put on the favorite chair, to read and study on the next rainy day, or to find an interesting piece for that empty spot on the wall.
The next opportunity will be on Friday, May 11, during Brimfield week. For information on this or other Flamingo paper shows, www.flamingoshows.com or 631-261-4590.
