The Morristown Armory underwent its semiannual transformation into a dazzling showcase for antiques and art under the watchful eye of Allison Kohler and JMK Shows for the Morristown Armory Antiques Show, conducted November 6‷
The show was well thought-out, with plenty to choose from, but not an overabundance in any one category. Buyers found fine examples of paintings, furniture and decorative accessories, as well as jewelry, lighting and vintage fashion and textiles.
Big-box stores may have their greeters, but Poverty Hollow Enterprises, Wilton, Conn., one-upped them all with “Buttercup,” a Twentieth Century, English cast stone dog that welcomed visitors to the booth, alert with a hint of wag in its tail.
Circa 20th Century, Somerset, N.J., specializes in fine art, glass and furniture. At the show, Bill Lynch filled his walls with fine paintings by listed artists. Standouts were works by Franz Grosz and circa 1950s‶0s paintings by Don Bloom, who is now 78 and still painting.
Francis J. Purcell, Philadelphia, put together a booth that was dramatic in its simplicity, choosing to highlight but a few stellar pieces. Eye candy here was a sublimely carved Lancaster County mantel, circa 1810‱820; an elliptical lead transom window, circa 1790‱810; and a pair of American cast iron garden urns with griffin handles, circa 1880‱900, 5 feet tall, retaining an old painted patina surface in a reddish umber color.
David Pownall Willis, Plainfield, N.J., always has a tasteful and interesting selection of porcelain and china pieces. A standout in his booth was a lovely Eighteenth Century Ludwigsburg porcelain coffee pot, circa 1765, Germany.
English furniture was plentiful and choice at Wilson’s Main Line Antiques, Berwyn, Penn., including an inlaid pedestal table with drawer, circa 1890, and a two-piece Georgian linen cupboard, circa 1800. Other highlights here were a Nineteenth Century English hand painted tole tray, floral decoration on a green ground, on a custom stand, and a fine pastel hunt scene by Mark Fisher, Boston.
Fine examples of American furniture could be found in several booths, including Lovrinic Antiques, Lambertville, N.J., which showed a set of four mahogany ribbon back chairs; Charles Breuel Antiques, Glenmont, N.Y., offering an Empire Revival library carved mahogany table, late Nineteenth Century; and SAJE Americana, Short Hills, N.J., which had a Boston mahogany recamier with carved lozenges on the front rail front and center in its booth.
Breuel also rounded out its booth with fine examples of clocks, led by a Silas Hoadley tall case clock, Plymouth, Conn., with a fine and straightforward red washed case over pine, 1820″5; and a French “Japy Freres” crystal regulator, circa 1885‹0, signed Bigelow & Kennard & Co., Boston.
Gem de la Gem, Bogota, N.J., is known for fine estate jewelry, and the dealer’s booth here did not disappoint. A highlight was a 1940s, French Tiffany Schlumberger pin set with sapphires, diamonds and chalcedony.
A glowing row of leaded table lamps lit up the booth of Jack Pap Antiques, West Simsbury, Conn., where highlights included a rare Peters & Reed jardinière pedestal, a Whaley (attrib) lamp, circa 1910, in a rare design, and a Handel lamp in the Pine Needle pattern.
Barometer Fair, Sarasota, Fla., featured a wonderful satinwood wheel, or banjo, barometer with crossbanding and a swan neck pediment, circa 1830, London; a nautical barometer by Scottish maker Duncan McGregor, circa 1860; and a mahogany veneered large dial clock barometer with crossbanded edges, circa 1830.
Rounding out the show offerings were Gary Bardsley Antiques, Sudbury, Mass., with an English mahogany sideboard with exotic banded inlay and original brass rail, circa 1800; and James William Lowery, Baldwinsville, N.Y., with a “Tree of Life” hooked rug, New England, circa 1910″0.
For information, 973-927-2794 or www.jmkshows.com .
