Brookside Antiques.
The Stradlings offered an outstanding display of early American glass.
A “classic treasure of American glass,” this Sandwich glass princess feather medallion compote in canary yellow was offered by Art and Kathy Green.
By David S. Smith
GREENWICH, CONN. — The 27th annual Collectors Glass Show and Sale, promoted by the esteemed Westchester Glass Club, took place over the weekend of April 12. The show has earned a reputation over the years as one of the premier venues for all types of glass — Roman to contemporary — attracting buyers from throughout the region.
Torrential rains made for slow travel along the southwester corridor on Saturday morning, but that prevented few from making the trip. A crowd a few-hundred strong braved the rains awaiting the opening and the gate remained steady throughout the rest of the day and on Sunday.
The magnitude of this show was summed up with the keen observation that five people were present on the floor who had been awarded Corning Fellowships. Also underscoring the importance of the event was the fact that many important collectors, dealers and museum representatives were also seen shopping on the floor during the opening moments, including Gary Stradling, Kirk, Nelson and Stuart Feld of Hirschl & Adler Galleries in New York City.
Stellar rdf_Descriptions seen around the floor included an oval lacy glass sugar bowl with lid of Pittsburgh origin in the booth of Indianapolis, Ind., dealer Donna Almon. The rare bowl was reportedly one of four known examples with one in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A nice selection of cobalt glass was offered by Bridgeport, Conn., dealer Phil Cortina and Brookfield, Conn., dealer Jim Megura, who shared a booth. Included in the selection was a nice deep pillar mold decanter, a pair of covered compotes, a nicely shaped blown creamer and a very rare miniature Sandwich glass pitcher and bowl set.
Massachusetts dealers Art and Kathy Green offered a variety of glass with standouts in their booth including a rare Sandwich canary lacy compote in the princess feather medallion pattern, which the dealers termed “a Classic treasure of American glass.” The dealers also offered a matching suite of early cased glass, cobalt to clear with a geometric swirl cutback pattern, that consisted of two decanters a bowl and a large punch bowl.
Early American glass was displayed just across the aisle by the Stradlings with Gary and Diana offering a wonderful early lily pad bowl believed to have been made at Redford.
“It has that classic and wonderful blue color indicative of New York State glass,” commented Gary Stradling, who continued by explaining that the piece was the one depicted in McKearin’s book and had originally come from the Gaston and Peggy Guggenheim Logan collection. Other treasures at the booth included a Thomas Cains lamp with mercury ring decoration, a New England Glassworks clear whale oil lamp with an applied brilliant blue base, and a Keene G-II-7 three-mold bottle with sloping collar lip in a light olive amber.
Vincent Rocco offered a diverse selection of Twentieth Century glass with a strong selection of Tiffany and Stueben, but also a nice smattering of Nineteenth Century wares including two unusual pieces of Lityalin glass by Egerman. A nice green agate finished vase was offered along with an unusual red marbleized cologne.
Brookside Antiques reported doing quite a bit of business during the opening moments of the show. The dealers displayed their usual selection of quality glass, although one rdf_Description in the booth was attracting quite a bit of attention, a Mt Washington vase in the Royal Flemish pattern. Louis St Aubin commented that the vase, circa 1893-1894, was an extraordinarily rare piece decorated with a rare Egyptian decoration depicting a mounted camel with an attendant at its side. Another vase attracting attention in the booth had a similar motif yet was from Mt Washington’s Colonial ware line.
Knute Peterson offered his usual assortment of art glass, although for this year’s showing he offered a large collection of American cut glass ranging from a huge perfume to a Pairpoint vase with silver decoration that sold within moments of the show opening to the public. The dealer commented that the majority of the pieces offered had come from an old-time collection. Among the other offerings was a nice signed Hawkes brilliant period cut glass bowl and a large pitcher.
A. Beckwith Antiques, Pleasant Valley, N.Y., displayed a nice collection of whale oil lamps from the New England and Boston glass houses, including a selection of miniatures with blown fonts and pressed bases. The dealer also offered a nice engraved decanter that was attributed to the Amelung glass house.
Phillip Liverant has been a mainstay at the show for many years and although he loves to discuss his glasswares with customers, just ask him about those Lady Huskies and the discounts will surely increase. Phil sported a varied selection of glass wares ranging from a Thomas Webb inkwell to a sweet selection of small blown chestnut bottles, including a miniature that sold early in the show.
American pressed glass ranging from tumblers to pitchers were displayed by Betsey Hewlett, a impressively large Anderson punch bowl was featured at the Cutters Wheel, and a rare pair of Stueben Art Nouveau gold Aurene candlesticks with applied stylized leaf decoration were seen in the booth of the Attic Mouse.
The Westchester Glass Club generously donates a portion of the admission proceeds to The Bruce Museum, and once again this year they presented their annual award, a check for $1,500, to the Salem County Community College. Paul Stankard and two students from the school, which offers a unique associates degree program in glass art, were on hand to accept the award.
Stankard, a nationally recognized artist in glass, presented well-attended lectures on both days of the show. Using his exquisite paperweights as examples, Stankard spoke about “Native Flowers Interpreted in Glass.”
“Wherever education of glass is present, we have tried to help,” commented Doug Reed. Previous recipients of the award have included The Corning Museum of Glass, The Chrysler Museum and The Sandwich Museum. The annual donations by the Westchester Glass Club are made toward educational institu-tions where the education and support of glass enthusiasts and institutions is prevalent.
