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Alexandria, Virginia

Tenth Annual Antiques in Alexandria Show

by Robert Kyle

"The weather killed the show." Not exactly, but it did have an impact on the Antiques in Alexandria show. The Maryland dealer's comment was a reaction to the weather conditions that prevailed the weekend of March 10-12. It wasn't snow, ice, or sleet as one might expect in late winter but balmy temperatures around 70º. The weather was too nice.

It was the Washington, D.C., area's first mild weekend in five months. Some of the antique-buying public responded by finding something else to do than attend an indoor show in a field house on the campus of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.

For many dealers, the show, which began with a gala $125-per-ticket preview party Thursday night, March 9, did not become profitable until late Sunday. Most dealers had a happy ending, but they had to sweat it out anxiously until the end to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

While a good crowd came through early Saturday, by late afternoon the cavernous field house resembled a ghost town. In one aisle of dealers, few could be seen in their booths. Instead, they were found huddled together around a nearby table, within sight of their goods, commiserating and sipping wine.

"Sunday pulled me out," said John Long of Mineral, Virginia. He said he went two days and barely wrote a ticket. His sales included a mahogany drop-leaf breakfast table, an 18th-century chair, a child's painted rocking horse, and a variety of smalls. Unlike the many formal furniture dealers at the show, Long's look is more country.

Hamilton Meserve of Running Battle Antiques, Millbrook, New York, observed "hesitancy" in potential buyers. "It seemed a lot of people just couldn't make a decision," he said. He and wife Helen managed by selling smalls, not the 18th-century English oak and maritime paintings for which they are known.

After the show ended, the Meserves packed their truck and headed down Interstate 95 to their next event, a smaller, 32-dealer affair in Charleston, South Carolina. What a difference. "There was a big gate and tremendous energy," he said. "A lot of people did very well." What hadn't sold at Alexandria-furniture, paintings, and pearlware-sold at this show.

There were 11 new dealers at the Alexandria show, including Annette and Victor Bashevsky of Euro Exports, formerly of Boston and now based near Richmond, Virginia, in Midlothian, who said that for three-and-a-half days they had sold only a lamp. Then late Sunday, someone gave them $20,000 for a Biedermeier center table.

One veteran dealer of the show observed, "The mood and feeling wasn't the same as last year." While some dealers attributed the decreased energy level to an early bout of spring fever, this dealer believed it was a result of the general "political malaise in Washington."

This show began as a modest event. Oscar Ryder Sr. got it started by recruiting 40 quality dealers. Two years later, dealers numbered 53. There were 61 in 2005 and 62 this year. One dealer commented that it has grown too large. But there's no place to put any more merchants unless the floor plan is tightened; this is not anticipated.

The show appears larger than it is. Taking it all in takes quite a bit of walking, despite its relatively modest number of dealers. The planners want it to fill the field house floor. The result is extra-wide aisles and a spacious reception/seating area in the center, complete with open bar. Wide aisles also are on each side of the show. Architecturally, it's an attractive layout with plenty of open space.

James Wilhoit of Alexandria, a dealer and also a member of the planning committee, confirmed that the attendance was a bit lower than last year. "The weather skewered things," he said. But attendance for the lectures and ancillary events was up, he said. These included a wine tasting, a lecture/luncheon, a book signing, and an appraisal clinic.

Wilhoit said that he sold a card table, a Federal sofa, a chest of drawers, and smalls. Sunday, he said, was when buyers followed up with firm intentions to make purchases.

Quimper specialist Joan Datesman of Merry Walk Antiques, Annapolis, Maryland, replaced Solomon Suchard Antiques & Fine Art as the French specialist. Selling to her loyal following and new faces, she "had a very good show."

Russ Gerard of Gurari Collections, Boston, has been exhibiting here almost since the show's inception. This was his best yet, he said. He sells works on paper from the 16th to 20th centuries of architecture, urban scenes, human figures, and maps. He made a $16,000 sale of an 18th-century map of Rome. Fortunately, the 6'6" high x 7' wide map had been constructed in 12 individual panels.

Gerard also sold European fortification plans to the Society of the Cincinnati and nine 17th-century fantasy fountain designs to two different collectors. They were priced at $395 each. "What I have is unique," he said. "It takes a certain kind of person to be attracted to them."

"The whole wall went down at the preview party," Aileen Minor of Centreville, Maryland, proclaimed. She wasn't referring to part of the field house but a garden wall she had erected in her booth with Chinese garden tiles, a fretwork window, and other items. She said a woman at the preview party couldn't take her eyes off of it and decided to buy the whole thing. Minor also sold a cast-iron garden bench, a pair of Pompeii-style stone lion table supports, a French cast-iron planter, garden frogs, and gargoyles.

Bev and Doug Norwood of Norwoods' Spirit of America, Timonium, Maryland, both educators in real life, specialize in Americana pre-1840. Their goods were a big hit at this show. Oil paintings, samplers, a theorem, silhouettes, a game board, and a paint-decorated box were a sampling of what left their booth. They also did post-show business. In 30 years of selling antiques, Bev Norwood said they are on course for this to be their best year yet.

Matt Gray was assisting Mo Wajselfish of Leatherwood Antiques, Sandwich, Massachusetts. Gray repeated an oft-heard remark, "It's been a good show, but the weather's been beautiful. It hurt the show a bit." Black Forest carvings are a specialty, and dogs and bears were bought. Vienna bronzes also sold.

After a decade, this show has firmly established itself as one of the Washington area's premier sources for quality antiques. Its diversity of dealers gives buyers choices from fine art and formal furniture to early Americana and international treasures.

A slick 128-page color catalog not only gives dealer information, it provides worthwhile educational content. Articles this year included an introduction to English cups and saucers with 36 color photos; a history of coffee and tea in America; the American dining room; presidential china; the first commercially successful American porcelain; entertaining in Washington in 1790-1830; Charles Burnett, silversmith to presidents; wines and travels of Thomas Jefferson; and the Green family of cabinetmakers.

Next year's show will be held March 9-11. For more information, go to (www.antiquesinalexandria.com) or call 703-548-SHOW (7469).