The Greenwich Winter Antiques Show

December 6th, 2013

This silver-gilt royal presentation racing trophy was offered by Robert Lloyd, New York City, for $85,000. It is the Brighton Gold Cup from 1833 with a maker’s mark of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. On the wall behind the cup are some of the original oils painted for Guinness advertisements in the 1930’s, ’40’s, and ’50’s. Lloyd bought the archives and has sold 250 of the 350 he purchased. The set of 12, painted in 1947 by John Gilroy (1898-1985), a portraitist who painted the Queen Mother, Winston Churchill, and others, was $250,000. With the set, Lloyd was offering the original letter from the head of the advertising agency written to Gilroy giving him the commission. Individually the paintings were priced at $22,500 to $25,000.

These diamond and ruby pierced earrings by Ruser were available at Glen Leroux Antiques. The Westport, Connecticut, dealer asked $16,000 for them.

Eve Stone has done the Greenwich Winter Antiques Show for 25 years. She has quite a fan base for her mostly English copper molds and cookware. “Everything we sell you can cook in,” explained Stone, the owner of Eve Stone Antiques, Ltd., Woodbridge, Connecticut. Pictured is an assortment of her wares, including chocolate, aspic, and savory molds, and a unique mold of a young Victoria before she became queen. They were priced from $95 to $6000.

Bridges Over Time, Newburgh, New York, showed this Renzo Rutili lacquered and gold-leaf mahogany cabinet, finished on both sides. It was made in the 1950’s for Johnson Furniture and measures 8' long x 19" deep. On top are a pair of James Mont lamps from the ’50’s and a Chinese oxblood vase from the 19th century. The chest was $5600, the lamps were $950 for the pair, and the vase was $1500.

Greenwich, Connecticut

The first weekend in December 2013 turned out to be a busy one for Greenwich, Connecticut, residents. The Holiday Stroll, with stores offering food, drinks, and special deals, took place on Greenwich Avenue, the town’s main shopping street, while Christmas trees and wreaths were selling at neighborhood churches and being lifted onto car roofs to haul home.

Headlining the preparations for the holiday was the Greenwich Historical Society’s major annual fundraiser, Antiquarius 2013, produced by Frank Gaglio. The festivities included the popular Holiday Boutique and Holiday House Tour and the Greenwich Winter Antiques Show, held at the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center from December 6 through December 8.

Forty-two dealers from primarily up and down the East Coast displayed 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century American, European, and Asian decorative furnishings, fine and folk art, porcelains, garden furniture, sterling silver, estate jewelry, and designer handbags.

Fine arts dealers did well. “Art sells in Greenwich,” declared one dealer, who sold an oil painting depicting the pilot boat New Jersey by Antonio Gasparo Jacobsen in 1903.

Other art dealers tallied up sales as well. Jeff Cooley of the Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, sold an oil painting by Leonard Ochtman, who lived and painted in the nearby community of Cos Cob from 1890 to 1930. He also sold a Childe Hassam etching of a pub on Greenwich Avenue from the early 1900’s. Both works were bought by a local resident.

Fletcher/Copenhaver Fine Art, Fredericksburg, Virginia, sold several items by artists such as Moses Soyer, Simka Simkhovitch, and Avel de Knight. Its booth, located up front near the show’s entrance, was consistently busy.

However, many dealers were not as successful. Dealers who were located in corners were hidden from the flow of traffic. The Eastern Greenwich Civic Center is a low-ceilinged building that the town bought from the Electrolux vacuum company in 1966. It could use updating. Some booths were chilly, while others were uncomfortably warm. Dealers were spread out in various wings of the one-story building, and it was easy to miss some of the booths.

Dealers do shows not only to sell merchandise but to make new contacts and solidify old ones. Oftentimes, sales are made in the weeks and months after a show ends. Some dealers were pleased with the show’s outcome, while others questioned why there wasn’t a better turnout.

Opening night at the show, with a “Meet Me at the Beverly Hills Hotel” theme, saw committee members and their friends and families enjoying the event. Live entertainment was set up in a separate café area, allowing guests to sing along with the band. Hors d’oeuvres were passed, champagne flowed, and a buffet supper was set up for the well-heeled crowd.

“We had a very good show,” said Mark Jacoby, director at Philip Colleck, Ltd. of New York City. The antique English furniture and art dealer sold its prize offering—a large Regency period sideboard. “We met a couple of new clients and saw old friends,” Jacoby said.

Jewelry booths, such as DK Farnum, Lakeville, Connecticut, and New York City; Hollis Reh & Shariff, Southampton, New York; and Lawrence Jeffrey of Litchfield, Connecticut, were crowd pleasers on opening night. Many customers returned during the course of the weekend to take second looks at items. Christmas was only a couple of weeks away at that point.

“We had a good show,” reported Dana Kraus of DK Farnum. “We have a steady following in Greenwich,” she said, adding that she continued to sell to showgoers days after the event was over. Kraus had a finely edited selection of jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Seaman Schepps, Belperron, Verdura, Line Vautrin, and others.

Spencer Marks, fine antique silver dealers from Southampton, Massachusetts, sold a large Tiffany woven basket. Michele Fox of Weston, Connecticut, sold an “expensive” French blue resist quilt from the 1840’s. Jeff Bridgman of Jeff R. Bridgman American Antiques, York County, Pennsylvania, sold a 34-star Civil War period flag.

The Greenwich Historical Society, founded in 1931, collects information on the history of the about 50-square-mile town. It purchased the Bush-Holley House located in the Cos Cob section in 1957. The 1730 structure had become a boardinghouse and gathering place for many American artists and writers at the beginning of the 20th century. The historical society has an extensive library and offers lectures, exhibitions, and after-school and summer programs.

Further information can be obtained at (www.greenwichhistory.org). Frank Gaglio can be reached at (www.barnstar.com).

This large Regency period mahogany wine/sideboard with a two-tier brass splash rail was featured and sold at Philip Colleck, Ltd., New York City. Displayed on top of the circa 1815 Irish sideboard was a pair of late 19th-century hexagonal jardinières, 9¼" high x 9¾" wide x 11¼" deep, for $8800. Also, a fine Sheffield champagne cooler, English, circa 1830, was $5750. On the wall is a pastel on paper by Paul Lucien Maze (1887-1979), signed lower left, 28" x 36" framed. It had a price of $32,000.

Robert Poirier of Montreal-based Poirier-Schweitzer displayed 20th-century fashion and home accessories, including jewelry, handbags, eyewear, belts, scarves, and ties. He does shows in Miami, Sarasota, and West Palm Beach, Florida, as well as Concord, New Hampshire. This was his first time at the Greenwich show.

These indigo shawls from French West Africa and vegetable-dyed linen sheets from France were available at Michele Fox Antiques, Weston, Connecticut. Fox said the textiles ranged in price from $350 to $3500.

Scottish snuff holders, or mulls, ranged from $1000 to $2500 at Rick Scott’s booth. The San Francisco-based dealer of fine and rare antique boxes and objects of interest explained that the mulls were from the mid- to late 18th and early 19th century and were made of rock crystal, citrine, moss agate, and silver.

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