After 38 years at the National Guard Armory with as many as four shows conducted there in past years, Wendy Management scaled back its schedule for the 2007 season with just a single Morristown Show taking place. Placing an emphasis on quality and appearance, the show, November 9‱1, opened to an appreciative crowd that was quick to take notice of the changes. A swank and stylish-looking fair, business was done among the 42 exhibitors who traveled from as far as Oklahoma to participate.
“We are trying to give the show a new life,” stated Meg Wendy, who had redesigned the exhibition hall with a spacious and appealing presentation floor plan that allowed for areas in which patrons could sit and relax, and possibly ponder purchases, while they continued to shop the show. Utilizing her flair for design, Wendy incorporated elegant pedestals into the presentation. Topped with urns that overflowed with colorful floral arrangements, the stylish setting added an air of elegance to the event. Spacious aisles and a new dealer list proved to be popular among the crowds as well.
“Morristown is a strong area, people love their antiques here,” said Wendy.
Commenting on the reduction of shows at the venue, Wendy stated, “We saturated the market with four shows here; the economy has changed and people’s tastes have changed. After six years of a difficult period for the business, we are looking for a fresh start with one high-quality show. And people are already reacting, asking †’Where have you been?’ †telling us they missed us and telling us they are happy that we are back,” she said. “This show has legs,” said the promoter. “We want one very good show, one that people look forward to, that they wait for and anticipate.”
Her recipe had already begun to show signs of success as the show opened to the public on Friday morning. Buying started taking place as soon as the doors opened and it continued throughout the day as the showgoers steadily arrived in wave after wave. “We get a lot of people coming back to this show, either later tonight when their husbands come home from work or over the weekend,” stated Wendy. Management bends over backward in attempts to bring potential customers back to the show and announced to all that they were welcome to return at any point over the course of the show †readmission free.
An attractive show, the fruits of Wendy’s labors paid off with a diversified selection of materials ranging from classic Americana to Oriental furnishings. Also combined were numerous different periods with midcentury furnishings and accessories intermingled among the traditional fare.
Wendy touted quality as a focus for Morristown and it was evident at every turn. A mahogany campaign dining room table, circa 1820, was among the featured furnishings at Dan O’Meilia Antiques, Tulsa, Okla. With reeded legs and three original leaves, the table extended to more than 8 feet long, $37,000. Another choice morsel from O’Meilia’s booth was a William and Mary oyster chest, circa 1695. The dealer declared the olivewood chest bun-foot with oyster veneers “the finest example I have ever seen,” $58,000.
Accessories in the booth included a pair of Minton majolica game tureens, with ducks and rabbits part of the colorful motif, and a massive English silver plate six-arm candelabra that converts into an epergne. Termed a “work of art,” the candelabra was marked at $29,000.
A William IV mahogany breakfront bookcase, circa 1840, with the original wash back was marked at $12,500 at The Country Squire, Milton, Mass. A Victorian walnut library table with a gilt decorated tooled leather top was attracting attention at $4,500, as was a pair of walnut Gainsborough chairs handsomely upholstered in red leather, $5,750.
A selection of smaller furniture came in the way of a miniature mahogany cabinet/bookcase, 27 inches tall, circa 1860, with two arched glazed doors over paneled cupboard doors, $2,750, and a large Victorian papier mache wall clock with floral polychrome decoration and mother-of-pearl inlay was $2,500.
A good selection of art was offered at the show, with several watercolors depicting coral by R. Lafitte attracting interest. The set of corals, offered by Framont, Greenwich, Conn., were executed on canvas laid on paper and were attractively mounted in a parchment frame, $4,500.
Tom Wesselmann’s “Study for a Sunset Nude,” an ink and colored pencil drawing from 2003, was offered by Manhattan dealer Proarte. The intriguing artwork was marked $35,000. A Henri Matisse lithograph on China paper, “Nu Assis Dans un Fauteuil au Décor Flori,” from 1924 was offered at $85,000, and a circa 1950 Matisse litho titled “Vierge a l’Enfant Debout” was marked $28,000.
Diane and Cal Wendy were on hand for the show, although they were not there to assist with managerial duties. The couple had taken a booth and were presenting a good selection of antiques. Having relocated in Florida, Diane was looking to find new caretakers for some of the excess materials that were left over after the move. The assortment of furniture ranged from an attractive armoire to an early ball and claw foot slant front desk that appeared to have Massachusetts origins.
A selection of posters was also offered from the booth, although they were not in the vein of the typical travel or advertising posters that are the rage today. These early posters were from vintage Eastern States Antiques Shows conducted under the management of Nuttall-Bostwick-Wendy management from the late 1960s; one even reflected the period that the show took place with some psychedelic style print. True collector items, agreed Diane Wendy, and reasonably priced at $100.
An eclectic assortment of furniture that ranged from midcentury to late Nineteenth Century Continental was featured by Lerebours Antiques, New York City. A nice pair of Oriental armchairs in a vibrant red lacquer finish were juxtaposed against a pair of English end tables in an ebonized finish and behind them, a pair of white French chairs and cabinets. Although emanating from different ends of the collecting and decorating spectrum, the look was curiously appealing.
Cosulich Interiors and Antiques, New York City, was another dealer to mix a wide variety of materials, beginning with a Louis XV ormolu mounted bureau that was topped with Art Deco alabaster lamps with cream-colored cylindrical columns and inverted rose-colored conical shades. A selection of 1960s Italian glass vases and sconces, majolica, sculpture and a Sheraton extension table rounded out the eclectic display.
The last of the antiques shows to be run under the Wendy Management banner, Morristown is well on its way to rekindling the glory days at the armory. For information, www.wendyshows.com or 914-437-5983.
