Must-Sees during Americana Week

by Lita Solis-Cohen

For 55 years, the Winter Antiques Show has been the magnet that brings people to New York City for Americana Week in January. Other shows and special events have grown up around it; they are all listed below. The auction previews, gallery shows, and museum exhibitions during the third week in January give collectors and students of American decorative and fine art a chance to look at art and antiques carefully, and to sharpen their connoisseurship by adding to their experiences. Going from one preview to the next exhibition has become a ritual during this annual January Americana conclave.

• This year there are three museum exhibitions that should not be missed and others that will be hard to ignore. Even though the auction offerings are thinner this year, there are some American treasures well worth seeing at Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonhams.

  While the American Wing paintings galleries are closed for renovation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art offers American Stories, which brings together 103 paintings by 52 artists working from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Twenty-five of the works are from the Met's own collection, and the remainder were borrowed from public and private lenders. On view through January 24, the exhibition offers an overview of the development of American narrative paintings from 1765 to 1915. Well-written wall labels and a recorded tour provide a memorable American art history lesson. To flesh it out with American sculpture and decorative arts, visit the newly reopened Engelhard Court and American period rooms at the Met (see M.A.D., August 2009, p. 24-B).

• After looking at the sculpture at the Met, find sculpture for sale at Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 21 East 70th Street. Modeling Grace: Two Centuries of American Sculpture, a selling exhibition, opened in November 2009 and has been extended until February 6. Nearly 50 works survey American sculpture from Houdon to Manship, ranging in price from $16,000 for a bronze figure by Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872-1955) on up to $1 million. A marble bust of a pensive Ariadne by Chauncey Bradley Ives (1810-1894), 31" high, is $145,000. Just four blocks north at Conner o Rosenkranz, 19 East 74th Street, there is more sculpture for sale exhibited in a domestic setting. The gallery is open by appointment.

• The bold, expressive landscapes and marine paintings of Thomas Chambers are on view at the American Folk Art Museum at 45 West 53rd Street in the exhibition Thomas Chambers (1808-1869): American Marine and Landscape Painter. This is the first time Chambers has been given a show in New York City since 1942 when Albert Duveen and Norman Hirschl realized that Chambers's work would appeal to the avant-garde and mounted a show at the Macbeth Gallery. There are landscapes by other artists including Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, and William Matthew Prior as well as fancy chests and tables from the museum's collection. The exhibition opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in September 2008. The catalog documenting Chambers's career is a well-written narrative by Kathleen A. Foster, curator of American art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (See a review in M.A.D., November 2008, p. 6-D.)

• While you are on 53rd Street, go next door to the Museum of Modern Art to see Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity before it closes on January 25. This is MoMA's first exhibition since 1938 to focus on the influential school of avant-garde art that brought together artists, architects, and designers to rethink the form of modern life in the age of technology. There are over 400 works—furniture, graphics, architecture, photography, textiles, ceramics, theater design, painting, and sculptures—by the faculty and their best students, including Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Walter Gropius, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lázló Moholy-Nagy, Lucia Moholy, Lilly Reich, Oskar Schlemmer, Gunta Stölzl, and others. Many of their designs are still produced today and continue to be influential.

• It is a short walk from 53rd to Christie's at Rockefeller Center, where a double portrait by Ammi Phillips of a brother and his big sister and their shaggy dog will stop you in your tracks. The portrait of Theron Simpson Ludington (1850-1922) in a red dress and his older sister Virginia Ludington dressed in blue, both wearing starched white pantaloons, is estimated at $300,000/500,000 and will be offered on Friday, January 22. While at Christie's, don't miss the scrimshaw whale's tooth that has every image on it collectors want, a ship, a whale, and an American eagle. The estimate is $30,000/50,000. Also take a look at the classic Philadelphia piecrust tilt-top tea table with a suppressed ball and fluted tapered shaft, with carving on its knees attributed to Richard Butts, circa 1775. It carries a recession-adjusted $100,000/300,000 estimate. A Paul Revere urn-shaped silver ewer, 15½" high, may bring more; its estimate is $200,000/ 300,000. A rare miniature silver caudle cup by John Hull and Robert Sanderson, Boston, circa 1660, only 4" in diameter, estimated at $150,000/250,000, is the earliest piece of Americana on offer and the smallest.

• There is a lot of Chinese export porcelain on offer this January; Christie's has a large monteith, more than 20" wide, estimated at $40,000/ 60,000, from the collection of Benjamin Edwards III that in addition to export porcelain includes furniture, silver, a broad selection of delft, and carpets. It will be offered on Tuesday, January 26.

• Christie's will have on view the one-owner sale from the collection of Litchfield, Connecticut, dealer Peter Tillou, who said he simply ran out of room. He collected shells and minerals, cameo glass, tribal arts, furniture, and old master paintings. The Tillou sale is on Thursday, January 28 at 10 a.m.

• Nothing else being offered compares in size or artistry to the silver punch bowl by Cornelius Kierstede at Sotheby's. Made in New York 1700-10, it has paneled sides chased with leafy floral sprays and cast scroll handles in the form of open-mouthed monsters, and it stands on molded feet. It is big (12¼" in diameter) and heavy empty, weighing 66 oz. 8 dwt., and heftier when full. Made for the family of Commodore Joshua Loring, it is estimated at $400,000/800,000 and will be offered on Friday, January 22 at 2 p.m.

  Sotheby's will also offer an 1829 vase commissioned by "the Merchants of the City of New York" for Hugh Maxwell on his retirement as district attorney. It was ordered from Baldwin Gardiner, who had it made by his brother, Sidney, and his partner, Thomas Fletcher, in Philadelphia. Shown in the recent exhibition Silversmiths to the Nation: Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner and in Art in the Empire City, it is estimated at $250,000/350,000. A Gorham silver terrapin soup tureen and cover with matching tray, ladle, and silver-plated warming stand with four seahorse supports joined by waves and shells shows that American silversmiths made creative designs in the late 19th century. It is estimated at $70,000/ 100,000.

  The Ranlett-Rust family bombé slant-front desk, made in Marblehead, Massachusetts, circa 1770, to be offered at Sotheby's on Saturday morning, January 23, carries a broad estimate: $400,000/$1 million. A marble-top tea pier table copied from a "Pire-Table" in Thomas Sheraton's 1803 The Cabinet Dictionary, attributed to John and Thomas Seymour of Boston, with carving attributed to Thomas Wightman, has a $100,000/ 200,000 estimate. Sotheby's also is offering a pair of Morris family balloon-seat side chairs from a long set made in Philadelphia, circa 1750, for Captain Samuel Morris. The chairs have shells on the knees flanked by volutes, rounded stiles, and S-volutes flanking the shell on the crest rail. The last one from the set sold at Freeman's in 1999 for $331,000, and another sold at Christie's in June 1992 for $104,500.

  As for folk art at Sotheby's, a carved portrait of Daniel Webster from a ship's stern board from Stonington, Connecticut, estimated at $50,000/100,000, will be offered on Saturday morning. The China trade paintings included in the sale of the Elinor Gordon collection of Chinese export porcelain on Saturday afternoon are worth a second look. Collectors say that among the porcelain are patterns they had not seen on the market in years.

• On your way between Sotheby's and Christie's, stop at Bonhams at 580 Madison Avenue and take a look at its first-ever marine sale in New York City and its second Americana sale in New York City. The marine paintings, scrimshaw, chronometers, sailors' valentines, prisoner-of-war ship models, ships' figureheads, and campaign furniture will be sold on Tuesday, January 26 at 1 p.m. A long Herter Brothers inlaid and carved rosewood bookcase made in New York circa 1880 with the name Dayton on the back, found in a Long Island mansion, will be offered in the Americana sale on Wednesday, January 27 at 1 p.m. It is estimated at $30,000/50,000.

• On Saturday, January 23, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., a preview of 100 objects to be sold at Leigh Keno's first auction on May 1 and 2 in Stamford, Connecticut, will be on view at the Regency Hotel at 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street. "I will show a selection of items from two single-owner consignments along with other consignments from various owners on Saturday all day and into the evening," said Keno. "The catalog will be on line and in print by April."

  Be sure to leave time to attend the New York Ceramics Fair, The American Antiques Show (TAAS), the Winter Antiques Show, Antiques at the Armory, and Americana and Antiques at the Pier. All the times, locations, and special events are listed below.

  Exhibitions

  American Folk Art Museum, 45 West 53rd Street, Thomas Chambers (1808-1869): American Marine and Landscape Painter, through March 7. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Adults $9, students and seniors $7, children under 12 and members free.

  Sidney Gecker, 226 West 21st Street, exhibition of art by Henry Walton, January 20-28, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

  Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 21 East 70th Street, Modeling Grace: Two Centuries of American Sculpture, through February 6. Tuesday through Friday 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m., and Monday by appointment.

  Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915, through January 24. Tuesday through Thursday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Adults $20, seniors $15, students $10, children under 12 and members free.

  Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity, through January 25. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Friday 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Adults $20, seniors $16, students $12, children 16 and under and members free.

  Shows, Auctions, Lectures, and Special Events

  Tuesday, January 19

  5-9 p.m., preview, New York Ceramics Fair, National Academy Museum, 1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street. Tickets required: $90, (310) 455-2886.

  Wednesday, January 20

  11 a.m.-7 p.m., New York Ceramics Fair, National Academy Museum, 1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, $20.

  12 noon, Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "Sources for Services" by Angela Howard. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  2 p.m., Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "Success to America: English Creamware for the Patriotic American Market" by Patricia Halfpenny. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  4 p.m., Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "'Small cups with one handle fitt for coffee or chocolate': Chinese Export Porcelain Coffee Wares" by Ronald W. Fuchs II. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  6-9 p.m., benefit preview, The American Antiques Show, Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street. Tickets required: $1000 (6-9 p.m.) or $375 (7-9 p.m.), (212) 977-7170, ext. 319.

  Thursday, January 21

  9:30-10:45 a.m., panel discussion, The American Antiques Show, "Buy…or Sell?" with Wendy Moonan, Bill Stahl, Tim Hill, Amy Finkel, Joan Johnson, and John Wilkerson. $75, reservations suggested.

  10 a.m., Christie's, auction of American decorative arts, silver, and Chinese export porcelain, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  11 a.m.-7 p.m., New York Ceramics Fair, National Academy Museum, 1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, $20.

  11 a.m.-8 p.m., The American Antiques Show, Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, $18.

  12 noon, Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "Dutch Jugs and Flint Wares: Salt-glazed Stoneware in Early America" by Janine E. Skerry. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  2 p.m., Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "Teapots, Coffeepots, and Cream Jugs, Oh My: Surprises in American Stoneware" by Suzanne Findlen Hood. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  2 p.m., Christie's, auction of American decorative arts, silver, and Chinese export porcelain, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  5-9 p.m., opening night party, Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue. Tickets required: $2500 and $1000 (5-9 p.m.), $500 (6-9 p.m.), or $300 (7-9 p.m.), (718) 292-7392.

  Friday, January 22

  9:30 a.m., members-only daylong excursion, The American Antiques Show, "Folk Art Explorers: Insider's Day of Art and Antiques." American Folk Art Museum members only, $135, reservations suggested, (212) 977-7170, ext. 346.

  9:30-11 a.m., tour, The American Antiques Show, "Curator's Choice: A Tour of TAAS with Stacy C. Hollander." $55, reservations suggested.

  10 a.m.-7 p.m., Antiques at the Armory, Lexington Avenue at 26th Street, $15.

  10 a.m., Christie's, auction of American decorative arts, silver, and Chinese export porcelain, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  11 a.m.-7 p.m., New York Ceramics Fair, National Academy Museum, 1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, $20.

  11 a.m.-8 p.m., The American Antiques Show, Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, $18.

  12 noon-8 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  2 p.m., Christie's, auction of American decorative arts, silver, and Chinese export porcelain, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  2 p.m., Sotheby's, auction of Americana (silver and prints), 1334 York Avenue at 72nd Street.

  2:30 p.m., Expert Eye lecture and book signing, Winter Antiques Show, "The Hongs of Canton: Cauldron of the China Trade," Patrick Conner of Martyn Gregory.

  4 p.m., Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "Wedgwood: 250 Years of Innovation and Derivation" by Dr. Jeffrey Tulman. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  Saturday, January 23

  9 a.m.- 9 p.m., Keno Auctions, preview of May 1 and 2 inaugural sale, Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street.

  9 a.m.-5 p.m., Americana & Antiques at the Pier, Pier 92, $15.

  9:30-11 a.m., appraisal event, The American Antiques Show, "What Is It? What Is It Worth?" with Helaine Fendelman, David Gallager, and Jane Willis. $45, reservations suggested.

  10 a.m.-7 p.m., Antiques at the Armory, Lexington Avenue at 26th Street, $15.

  10 a.m., Sotheby's, auction of Americana (furniture, folk art, and carpets), 1334 York Avenue at 72nd Street.

  11 a.m.-7 p.m., New York Ceramics Fair, National Academy Museum, 1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, $20.

  11 a.m.-7 p.m., The American Antiques Show, Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, $18.

  12 noon, Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "Making a Moravian Squirrel Bottle," lecture and live demonstration by Michelle Erickson. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  12 noon-8 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  2 p.m., Chipstone lecture series, New York Ceramics Fair, "Pottery 'For Which the People Were Eager': The North Carolina Earthenware Tradition" by Johanna M. Brown. Reservations required: $10, or $25 for three lectures, plus show admission, (310) 455-2886.

  2 p.m., Christie's, auction of Chinese export porcelain, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  2 p.m., Sotheby's, auction of Chinese export porcelain from the collection of Elinor Gordon, 1334 York Avenue at 72nd Street.

  2:30 p.m., Expert Eye lecture and book signing, Winter Antiques Show, "The Concepts and Practical Issues in Forming an Important Collection: How the Museum of World War II Was Created," Kenneth W. Rendell.

  5 p.m., Expert Eye lecture and book signing, Winter Antiques Show, "Wallpaper in Vogue: Wallpaper, a History of Style and Trends," Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz.

  Sunday, January 24

  10 a.m.-5 p.m., Americana & Antiques at the Pier, Pier 92, $15.

  11 a.m.-5 p.m., Antiques at the Armory, Lexington Avenue at 26th Street, $15.

  12 noon-5 p.m., The American Antiques Show, Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, $18.

  12 noon-5 p.m., New York Ceramics Fair, National Academy Museum, 1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, $20.

  12 noon-6 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  2:30 p.m., Historic New England lecture, Winter Antiques Show, "The Meaning of Things: Historic New England's Collections," Nancy Carlisle.

  Monday, January 25

  12 noon-8 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  2:30 p.m., Historic New England lecture, Winter Antiques Show, "Heritage from the Homes: Do House Museums Still Matter?" Carl R. Nold.

  Tuesday, January 26

  10 a.m., Christie's, auction of the collection of Benjamin F. Edwards III, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  12 noon-8 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  1 p.m., Bonhams, auction of maritime paintings and decorative arts, 580 Madison Avenue.

  2 p.m., Christie's, auction of the collection of Benjamin F. Edwards III, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  2:30 p.m., Historic New England lecture, Winter Antiques Show, "Drawing Toward Home: Designs for Domestic Architecture from Historic New England," Lorna Condon.

  Wednesday, January 27

  10 a.m., Doyle New York, auction of English and Continental furniture and decorations, 175 East 87th Street.

  12 noon-8 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  1 p.m., Bonhams, auction of American furniture and decorative arts, 580 Madison Avenue.

  2:30 p.m., Expert Eye lecture and book signing, Winter Antiques Show, "Flying the Colors: Unseen Treasures of Nineteenth Century American Marine Art," Alan Granby and Janice Hyland.

  5 p.m., Expert Eye lecture, Winter Antiques Show, book signing and champagne reception to follow in Elle Shushan's booth, "American Portrait Miniatures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art," Carrie Rebora Barratt and Lori Zabar.

  Thursday, January 28

  10 a.m., Christie's, auction of the collection of Peter Tillou, 20 Rockefeller Plaza.

  12 noon-6 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  2:30 p.m., Historic New England lecture, Winter Antiques Show, "Glittering Narratives: Jewelry at Historic New England," Sarah Sherman.

  7-9 p.m., Young Collectors Night, Winter Antiques Show, tickets $175.

  Friday, January 29

  12 noon-8 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  2:30 p.m., Historic New England lecture, Winter Antiques Show, "Furniture Forensics," John Childs.

  Saturday, January 30

  12 noon-8 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  2:30 p.m., Historic New England lecture, Winter Antiques Show, "America's Kitchens," Nancy Carlisle.

  Sunday, January 31

  12 noon-6 p.m., Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue, $20.

  Daily Admission Charges

  The American Antiques Show, $18 (includes catalog and two-for-one admission to the American Folk Art Museum)

  Americana & Antiques at the Pier, $15 (or $20 combination ticket with Antiques at the Armory)

  Antiques at the Armory, $15 (or $20 combination ticket with Americana & Antiques at the Pier)

  New York Ceramics Fair, $20 (includes catalog)

  The Winter Antiques Show, $20 (includes catalog)

  Phone Numbers and Web Sites

  The American Antiques Show (TAAS), (www.theamericanantiquesshow.org)

  American Folk Art Museum, (212) 265-1040, (www.folkartmuseum.org)

  Americana & Antiques at the Pier, (973) 808-5015, (www.stellashows.com)

  Antiques at the Armory, (973) 808-5015, (www.stellashows.com)

  Bonhams, (212) 644-9001, (www.bonhams.com/newyork)

  Christie's, (212) 636-2000, (www.christies.com)

  Conner o Rosenkranz, (212) 517-3710, (www.crsculpture.com)

  Doyle New York, (212) 427-2730, (www.doylenewyork.com)

  Sidney Gecker, (212) 929-8769, (www.sidneygecker.com)

  Hirschl & Adler Galleries, (212) 535-8810, (www.hirschlandadler.com)

  Keno Auctions, (212) 734-2381, (www.kenoauctions.com)

  Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 535-7710, (www.metmuseum.org)

  Museum of Modern Art, (212) 708-9400, (www.moma.org)

  New York Ceramics Fair, (310) 455-2886, (www.newyorkceramicsfair.com) or (www.caskeylees.com)

  Sotheby's, (212) 606-7000, (www.sothebys.com)

  Winter Antiques Show, (718) 292-7392, (www.winterantiquesshow.com)

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  Originally published in the January 2010 issue of Maine Antique Digest. (c) 2009 Maine Antique Digest
  

  
  
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