by Lita Solis-Cohen

The upcoming shows in Philadelphia suggest that the antiques show is not yet a relic of the past, and those who are glued to their computer monitors would do well to get out and walk the aisles and take a look at the wide variety of things that can be touched and held before buying.

Close at hand on April 10-14 is the 38th annual Philadelphia Antiques Show at the 103rd Engineers Armory. Over the years the show has raised more than $7.5 million for the advancement of patient care at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. The loan exhibit this year features chairs, "Sassy Seating—Brewster to Stickley." There is a preview party on Friday, April 9, from 5:30 to 10 p.m. For information, call (215) 387-3500 or visit the show on the Web (www.PhilaAntiques.com).

Four of the 56 dealers are new to the show this year: two Philadelphia-area dealers, John Alexander, a dealer in English Arts and Crafts, and Marcy L. Burns American Indian Arts, a specialist in American Indian baskets, textiles, and pottery; and two from Connecticut, William Reese of New Haven, a well-respected antiquarian bookseller specializing in Americana, and Stephen and Carol Huber of Old Saybrook, dealers in 18th- and 19th-century needlework.

Missed will be silver dealer Malcolm "Sandy" Stearns of Hobart House, who died last summer. Rufus Foshee, Geoffrey Diner, and Will Channing are not returning.

Show hours are April 10, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; April 11, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; April 12, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; April 13, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and April 14, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. General admission is $12 at the door, $10 when ordered by advanced mail (must be received by April 2). For advance tickets, send checks payable to The Philadelphia Antiques Show/UPMC to the Philadelphia Antiques Show, 2 Steeplechase Lane, Malvern, PA 19355.

Reasonably priced valet parking is available on Saturday and Sunday. Daily shuttle bus service will run from 30th Street Station to the armory. Garage parking is available at several lots near the armory.

Other shows will make the April 9-11 weekend in Philadelphia a major buying opportunity on many levels, with more than 200 dealers exhibiting.

A group of 70 dealers will set up at the Springside School Antiques Show, Cherokee Street and Willow Grove Avenue in Chestnut Hill, about a 20-minute drive from Center City. Hours are April 10, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and April 11, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6. A preview dinner will be held on Friday, April 9 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the preview dinner are $55 per person ($125 and $200 for patrons). For information, call (215) 247-7200 ex. 7144.

On Sunday from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Beau Freeman, chairman of Freeman\Fine Arts of Philadelphia, Inc., will appraise items brought to the show for a donation of $5 per item to the Springside School.

Barry Cohen's Center City Antiques Show with more than 50 dealers has been moved from the Marketplace to the Class of 1923 Ice Skating Rink on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania at 3130 Walnut Street (pedestrian entrance).

Extended to three days, the Center City show will also be a venue for eHammer, the on-line Internet auction company. Well-known dealer Fred Giampietro, who closed his gallery in New York to devote time to the on-line auction of art and antiques, will be on hand to demonstrate how it works. He and his staff will conduct an on-line auction right there at the show. Giampietro will also offer free auction estimates to any visitor who wishes to bring along an antique. For a small fee, the item can be consigned on the spot on eHammer. Giampietro and his staff will have digital cameras handy to photograph it, and you can see it go on line for sale immediately.

Explaining his move to the rink, Cohen said, "The Marketplace rented most of our space to year-round tenants and didn't leave us enough room for a show. We were forced to seek a new venue. The skating rink, just three blocks from the Philadelphia Antiques Show, seems even more convenient, and there is room for one hundred fifty cars to park free of charge."

Cohen has 17 dealers new to his show. Among them are Colette Donovan of Massachusetts with fine early textiles and furniture; Pottles and Pannikins of Connecticut with early iron and lighting; Brad Reh of New York with estate jewelry; Sharon Koota, also of New York, with coverlets; and three dealers from Michigan, Greg Carraher, Mary E. Hudson, and Bud Weinert, who will share a big booth and bring their best folk art and furniture.

Cohen will open his show at 2 p.m. on April 9, so people will have time to shop Frank Gaglio's 23rd Street Armory show, which opens at 11 a.m., before coming to the skating rink. Then they can go on to the preview at the Philadelphia Antiques Show later in the afternoon (5:30). The $10 admission ticket is good for all three days at the Center City Antiques Show. Hours are April 9, 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.; April 10, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and April 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The café will be Culinary Concepts. For information, call (703) 914-1268.

Frank Gaglio's third annual 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show showcases 40 dealers on April 9-11 at the armory at #22 South 23rd Street, between Market and Chestnut streets.

This Barn Star Productions show has added a new group of dealers to take the place of those who dropped out. Folk art dealer Marna Anderson of New Paltz, New York, is returning to the show, and Michael Newsom and Betty Berdan of Maine and Pennsylvania will bring painted furniture and accessories. Joanne and Jack Boardman of DeKalb, Illinois, are specialists in pure country furniture, and Priscilla Boyd Angelos and Jonathan Boyd of Meetinghouse Antiques, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, will have country and formal furniture. Harold Cole Antiques, Autumn Pond Antiques, Woodbury, Connecticut, will display more formal furniture and delft, and Greg Laethem of New England South, Roswell, Georgia, prefers the formal to country. Michael Leslie of Port 'N Starboard, Falmouth, Maine, specializes in marine paintings. Joan Brownstein of Ithaca, New York, favors colonial portraiture with her formal furniture. Leah Gordon of New York City expands the scope of the show with art pottery and modernist silver jewelry, and Louis Keister of East Meets West, Los Angeles, California, will bring quilts and hooked rugs from California.

A loan exhibition, "Art of the Loom: American Jacquard Woven Coverlets," featuring the collection of Joseph and Janet Shein of Philadelpia, will be upstairs in the armory adjacent to the restaurant.

On April 10 at 3 p.m., there will be a lecture on coverlets by Clarita Anderson, who has developed the University of Maryland historic textile database, which lists 8000 coverlet weavers and their patterns. The lecture is free with the $10 admission to the show.

Admission on April 9 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. is $15. Admission on April 10 and 11 is $10. On April 10 the show hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and April 11, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. One admission ticket is good for the weekend. A portion of the admissions will be donated to the Cerebral Palsy Association of Delaware County. Parking is available at the Red Cross garage next door to the armory.

For those traveling a distance, Gaglio has arranged with Amtrak for a discount off the lowest available fare to Philadelphia from April 6 through April 14. To book space, call Amtrak at (800) 872-7245 or contact your local travel agent. Make sure to refer to fares order number X-88H-940. The offer is not valid on Auto Train, Club, or Custom Class but is valid on Metroliner Service during off-peak weekday travel and all departures on weekends. Barn Star has also arranged for some discount hotel accommodations. For more information, call Barn Star at (914) 876-0616.

Gaglio says his show offers another dimension and another price range and is a complement to the Philadelphia show in the same way his successful Mid-Week in Manchester Show and his Bedford Picker's Market have made Antiques Week in New Hampshire, August 7-14, an important date on the antiques calendar.