Mahjongg Antiques, Springfield, Va.

Review by W.A. Demers; Photos Courtesy of Debbie Turi

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — The debut of the Art & Antiques Show at the Ridgewood Woman’s Club, managed by dealer/promoter Debbie Turi, was conducted on June 6–7. Approximately 25 dealers from the tri-state area and from Rhode Island, New England, the D.C. area and Virginia were set up inside the clubhouse of the Woman’s Club of Ridgewood, which was established in 1909 to promote civic and social causes. The clubhouse was built in 1928 and features many architectural details that helped set off the items displayed by a select group of the assembled art and antiques dealers.

“It’s a charming space,” said Turi, “surrounded by an equally charming neighborhood of Victorian homes. When I was out putting up signs for the show, I discovered that there’s even an underground tunnel leading to one of the houses.”

Turi had been looking for an opportunity to present an antiques show in prosperous Bergen County, and while there had been some events here some 15 or 20 years ago, the area was pretty much fallow, outside of a couple outdoor shows.

Participating  exhibitors were set up in three areas in the clubhouse — a main room with walled booths featured 13 dealers, a side room and hallway setup showcased the displays of six dealers, and there were six dealers upstairs.

Donna Kmetz, Douglas, Mass., displayed art of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Her specialty is New England landscape paintings from that period, with a penchant for works that were painted en plein air.

Don Ourecky, owner of Mahjongg Antiques, made the trip up from Springfield, Va., with his impressive inventory of Asian antiques. “For a small show, it had a nice selection on antiques on offer, and Debbie worked very hard for her dealers,” he said. D.C.-area silver specialist Paul Severino echoed those comments. “Debbie’s management was brilliant. It was a beautiful show in a nice facility, with everything running smoothly from pack-in to pack-out,” said the owner of Silver & Such, whose inventory includes 95 percent of the better categories of Sheffield plate and the like. Set up on the second floor, Severino said he sold a pair of Sampson tea caddies, a Victorian wall pocket and some sterling flatware, among other things.

Ingeborg Gallery, Northfield, Mass., established in 1972, specializes in American prints 1860–1960, including etchings, lithographs, block prints and screen prints. In addition, the gallery is the exclusive representative for the estates of noted Vermont lithographer Ella Fillmore Lillie, Esther Pressoir, a contributing artist to The New Yorker magazine, the abstract realist painter Paul Hollister and the prints, drawings and watercolors of New York artist Mortimer Borne.

Showcasing and selling antique porcelain and crystal, Gardner Burke Antiques is the business of Cam Burke, whose inventory includes high-end American Belleek and Limoges and antique crystal.

Turi said that while she received many compliments about the great-looking show, she is considering altering the dates next year to counter the fact that there is just too much else going on in early June. Her next project is to help rebrand and find dealers for the Sheffield Antiques Show in Sheffield, Mass., August 7–9. And on November 7–8, she returns to Bedford, N.Y., with the Bedford Antiques Show. For information, www.dturiantiqueshows.com or 973-464-9793.

Read article and see more images inside July 3, 2015 E-edition