“It was hot, but we still had a nice crowd for the preview party on Friday, which got the show off to a good start,” said Frank Gaglio, manager of the Princeton Fall Antiques and Fine Arts Show. He noted that people seemed pleased with the show and a new caterer made the evening even more enjoyable. Saturday, September 25, brought more hot weather, and overcast skies on Sunday brought the temperature down to comfortable in the hangar and tent exhibition area at the Princeton Airport.
“I think the great weather we had on Saturday gave people too many other things to do, but the cooler Sunday more than made up for it. Dealers did good business and the gate was well over last year’s count,” Frank said.
Fifty-five dealers did the show this year, including 20 who were exhibiting for the first time, offering both American and English furniture and accessories, plus a number of gallery booths.
A Federal desk, in two parts, of crotch mahogany and inlays, vertical figural maple on the top section was of New England origin, circa 1800‱820, in the booth of Anna’s Antiques, Bluffton, S.C. Other furniture included a one-piece corner cupboard in walnut with green key carving in the cornice, two doors over two drawers over two doors, circa 1790 and of Pennsylvania origin. It rested on bracket feet and measured 79¾ inches tall.
Lambertville, N.J., dealer James Curran Antiques offered an English Victorian writing table with two drawers and a leather top inset. In walnut, the table dated circa 1870‱880 and rested on casters. A northern Welsh oak and pine open rack dresser, with three drawers and two doors in the lower section, retained the original painted surface and was well-displayed with rows of bright green apples on the shelves.
SAJE Americana of Short Hills, N.J., a regular at the show, had a nice Queen Anne wing chair in mahogany, cabriole legs terminating in pad feet, circa 1760, New York State or New Jersey. A Federal Pembroke table in mahogany, circa 1800, New York State, with oval flame birch panels, inlay on the legs, measured 31¼ by 16 inches closed, 38½ inches wide when open.
The fan was placed just right in the aisle to keep the flag in the hands of Uncle Sam waving briskly in the booth of Holden Antiques, Naples, Fla., and Sherman, Conn. The figure was 68¼ inches high, World War I era, with the original worn stenciled surface. From the Coxsackie, N.Y., area, the figure was made to hold a mailbox by the side of the road. Hanging on an end wall was a large hooked rug depicting a recumbent lion, surrounded by vegetation, 54 by 29 inches, late Nineteenth Century, and retaining vibrant colors. It came from a Beacon Hill home in Boston.
Roger D. Winter, Ltd, Solebury, Penn., offered a large dining table in mahogany that took up a major portion of the booth. It comfortably sat ten and was surrounded by ten side chairs and two arms. A worktable of good size had a scrubbed two-board top with breadboard ends, and a large picture of a standing horse hung on an end wall.
A large oil on canvas of a setting sun was shown by FraMonT, Greenwich, Conn., a 24-by-29-inch painting that came from a private collection in Paris. Titled “Coucher de soleil sur la Briere,” the work by Ferdinand du Puigaudeau (French, 1864‱930), was signed lower right and dated 1926. Wilson’s Main Line Antiques, Berwyn, Penn., offered a wide selection of furniture, including a pedestal table, satin birch, circa 1890, with a top measuring 32½ inches in diameter, and a large Irish highboy, circa 1790, that retained the original finish.
Jack Pap Antiques, West Simsbury, Conn., showed a collection of lamps by such makers as Handel, Bradley & Hubbard, Williamson and Tiffany. A pair of Louis XV beech wood and caned fauteuils a la reine (flat backed), was in the booth of Christine Magne Antiquaire, Philadelphia. Dating from the Eighteenth Century, the pair was originally painted and each was stamped [J] Gourdin.
A large booth was taken by The Country Squire, Inc, Milton, Mass., and every inch of it was taken by a variety of interesting furniture and objects. An English writing table in walnut, circa 1840‱860, had a molded top with a red leather inset, single drawer, measuring 54 by 28½ inches. A collection of paint decorated Indian clubs filled one shelf of a show case, while horse-related objects, including small boxes, jewelry and a grouping of seven Heyde fox hunters and horses, filled another.
Country pieces and folk art were alive and well in the offering of Kocian DePasqua Antiques of Woodbury, Conn. A carved folk art wall shelf, late Eighteenth to early Nineteenth Century, was in butternut and from upstate New York. It had two carved and incised hearts on the top over three open shelves, sawtooth edges, and measured 175/8 inches tall, 8½ inches wide and 4½ inches deep. A sheet iron weathervane in the shape of Robin Hood, probably English, late Nineteenth Century, was removed from a barn in Woodbury, Conn., and an American portrait of a child holding a rattle with his black and white dog dated circa 1840. This oil on canvas had a Peter Tillou provenance.
David Pollack Vintage Posters, Sherman, Conn., had a wide range of subjects, including Levi’s, America’s Finest Overalls, Holland American Line and L’Oiseau Blue Train, Pullman, as well as a selection of Harper’s magazine covers.
From Sudbury, Mass., Gary Bardsley Antiques showed furniture, including a circa 1840 Empire secretary with matching flame mahogany blind doors over drop front desk, retaining the original label, and a Nineteenth Century New York State blanket chest in pine. A Federal mirror, circa 1830, retained most of the original gilt and featured rope turnings below the crest.
An interesting folk art horse and carriage pedal toy, circa 1900‱920, 42 inches long and manufactured by Bauer & Krause, was in good condition and all ready to roll into someone’s collection from the booth of Noonmark Antiques, Moorestown, N.J. A star quilt by Susanna Johnson, dated March 27, 1846, 84 by 90 inches, from a home in southeastern Pennsylvania, hung against the back wall of the booth, and the left corner was filled by a Pennsylvania red-painted corner cupboard, circa 1850, with the original hardware and 11 of the 12 panes of glass in the door were original.
“This show is the major fundraiser of the Historical Society of Princeton and we were very pleased with it this year,” Barbara Webb, director of development, said. She added, “Our special events were popular this year, each was well attended, and the dealers were very generous taking time to give booth talks.”
On Saturday, booth talks included Regina and Nicholas Di Benedetto, Regina Antiques, on “Why Restore a Painting?”; John H. Rogers, Chinese Antiques Furniture Shop, “China’s Houses †Ruin and Rescue”; and Richard Rothstein, Richard Rothstein & Co., “The Art of The Deal.” Three more talks on Sunday included Ellen Ring with “A Guide to Buying Estate Jewelry”; Leon Weiss, Gemini Antiques, “From Childhood to Adulthood”; and Alice and Stephen Shapiro, SAJE Americana, “Antique Furniture †Know What You’re Buying.”
Suzanne Perrault of Rago’s was the special guest speaker, giving a presentation Saturday on the American art pottery collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to a standing-room audience. Experts from the Rago Arts and Auction center, Lambertville, N.J., conducted an appraisal clinic, and a special treasure hunt was run for children ages 7‱2 during the hours of the show.
“This is a popular event,” Barbara Webb said, “as it allows people to bring their children to the show, each child receives a prize if the hunt is completed, and the dealers enjoy talking to the young people.”
“The gate was up this year and Sunday, due in part to the weather, was very crowded and had lots of energy. In fact, people were still at the show, buying, past the closing hour of 4 pm, so we did not announce that the show was closed until close to 4:30,” Frank Gaglio said.
“Our show has come a long way under the management of Frank Gaglio; he has taught us a lot, and we are looking forward to another fine show in 2011,” Barbara said.
Please click below to see a slide show of expanded coverage of the show.
