A New Owner and New Vision for an Old Favorite
March 8th, 2020
Fort Worth Show of Antiques, Art & Jewelry, Fort Worth, Texas
The Fort Worth Show of Antiques, Art & Jewelry has a long history in this Texas city often referred to as Cowtown. A visit to this year’s three-day show in March made it clear that this is no swap meet in a dusty cow pasture. Much has changed in the 57-year history of this show, particularly this year when a new owner with a different vision took over the reins. Not only does the show have a new look and fresh feel, it also changed its name from the Fort Worth Show of Antiques & Art to the Fort Worth Show of Antiques, Art & Jewelry. The show is now under the direction of Andrea Canady of Naples, Florida, who rebranded the show to align with the Miami and Palm Beach shows that are also under the umbrella of her Luxe Events business.
The new direction produced a dazzling display of sparkling jewelry, museum-quality antiques, and spectacular works of original art by renowned artists interspersed with show staples of mid-century modern furniture, artisanal rugs and textiles, vintage silver, cut glass, and whimsical collectibles.
“We had a very diverse group of exhibitors,” said Canady, who described the show as spanning “every genre, juxtaposing many periods and movements.”
But Canady’s inaugural Texas show was a victim of unfortunate timing. The March 6-8 show occurred just as fear of the COVID-19 outbreak was beginning to grip the country and shutdown orders were being put in place.
As a result, some exhibitors didn’t make it, and attendance was lower than anticipated, with a crowd of about 5000 over three days. The show featured 105 exhibitors.
“People who did come loved what they saw and the mix of dealers,” she said. “I’ve had a ninety percent renewal, so I believe it will be better next year.”
Inspired by a quotation from Albert Einstein, “Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better,” Green River Stone Company turns ancient fossil remains into stunning works of art. Geologists carefully sift through a company-owned quarry in an ancient lakebed in Wyoming to locate the most detailed fossils embedded 50 million years ago. The fossils and slabs of stone are taken to Green River’s laboratory in Logan, Utah, where artisans craft each piece into a work of art. This 36" long Baena arenosa (turtle) fossil is in a 44" x 28" frame and was priced at $75,000.
The antiques show is a longstanding tradition in Fort Worth. It began in 1963 when Dolly Johnson brought together dealers and established a prototype for future shows in other locations. This show has also been identified as the oldest antiques show in the American West.
The show remained under the ownership of the Johnson family until 2009, when a descendant of the founder sold it to Fort Worth native Jan Orr-Harter, an antiques dealer.
Throughout its history, the show has been held at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, home of the annual Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo and an important and popular hosting site for equestrian and livestock shows and competitions.
Over the years, the show evolved from a focus on American and farmhouse primitives to a broader range of antiques and collectibles from different eras. Orr-Harter added art to the mix of antiques, which grew to include English and Continental pieces as well as Americana.
With nearly 30 years of experience in antiques event management, Canady was eager to take over from Orr-Harter, who was ready to retire after ten years.
Canadian-born fine jewelry designer and dealer Rebecca Koven of New York City shows off a breathtaking Art Deco 1920s jeweled necklace. The piece features 60 carats of diamonds and 60 carats of Burmese rubies. The necklace can be worn as a necklace or separated into three pieces that can be worn separately as brooches. The asking price was $250,000 for the estate piece.
Canady’s introduction to antiques show management began when the owner of the Original Miami Beach Antique Show hired her away from a customer service job at a bank to assist him. Her career includes extensive show production experience with U.S. Antique Shows and serving as director of business development with the Palm Beach Show Group.
Canady acquired the Fort Worth show with a goal of elevating the quality of the show with more expensive merchandise and a more upscale image. She brought in carpet to cover the bare floors and required all exhibitors to cover their display tables and peg boards.
Another addition was an opening night preview party at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, featuring food and drinks as well as early access to the redesigned show.
Many of Canady’s regular exhibitors at her Florida shows and at shows she was involved 
with in the past in other parts of the country followed her to Fort Worth. The addition of jewelry for the first time was a popular choice among those who attended the show, and exhibitors were pleased to enjoy robust sales, which made the trip worthwhile for them, she said.
“Overall, it was very successful,” Canady said. “Many dealers did well even though attendance was not quite what we had expected. That was definitely because of the virus.”
For more information, see the Luxe Events website (www.luxeshowevents.com).
Tom Wester of The Wester Gallery, a third-generation art dealer in Atlanta, Georgia, specializes in top-quality Tiffany lamps and contemporary art. Among his collection was an 18" Oriental Poppy lamp that had been exhibited in multiple museums. The early 20th-century leaded- and stained-glass Tiffany lamp was priced at $170,000. A Tiffany Lemon Leaf floor lamp from the same period was priced at $100,000.
Shelter, a monument-sized work by Santa Fe, New Mexico, sculptor Gino Miles (b. 1952), greeted visitors to the show. Miles is a Colorado native who studied and taught in Italy. His work combines his love of nature and contemporary art forms. He creates large-scale and tabletop pieces, such as this 32" x 32" bronze priced at $30,000. Other works from the gallery where he exhibits his work included the 2004 Flower Girl by Glenna Goodacre (1939-2020), a nationally renowned sculptor of contemporary Western art. The 24" tall limited-edition antiqued bronze sculpture was priced at $9000. Another Goodacre limited-edition bronze, Waiting to Dance, 37" high, from 2005, was priced at $21,000. Miles assisted Goodacre with enlarging, molding, and casting numerous bronzes over the years.
Colorful Murano millefiori glass vases were offered by Jeff Myers Antiques, Chickaloon, Alaska. These vases were created in Italy in the early 1920s. The large colorful pieces were priced at $450.
New York City collector and dealer Nicholas Harris’s collection of antique cameos included a brooch or pendant featuring a carving of Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, in an enamel setting crafted in Europe, circa 1865. It was priced at $12,750. A French cameo carving of Napoleon as emperor embedded in a gold and jeweled setting, circa 1805, was priced at $4250.
An 1880s sterling silver repoussé pitcher manufactured by S. Kirk & Son, Baltimore, Maryland, was among the items for sale by dealer Kathy Tobler of Granbury, Texas. It was priced at $3500.
Avantiques Fine Arts & Antiques, Dallas, Texas, featured a collection of Asian art, bronze pieces, paintings, furniture, and an original 1896 poster by Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860-1939) for French actress Sarah Bernhardt in the play La Dame aux Camélias.The poster, which measures 81" x 32" (framed), was priced at $35,000.
Owner Mohamad Gavahi of Atlanta Fine Rugs & Antiques, Atlanta, Georgia, stands in front of a 10' x 13' Persian rug, crafted with top-quality fine silk with 1200 knots per square inch. Produced in 2012, the rug was priced at $95,000. An ornate polished bronze clock by famed French clockmaker Balthazar Martinot (1636-1714) was priced at $32,000.
An oil on board portrait of a woman reading by Hungarian-born French painter François Gall (1912-1987) was offered for $7900 by Robert E. Alker Art Deco & Fine Art, Houston, Texas. Gall was inspired by Impressionist masters, particularly Edgar Degas, and frequently painted women engaging in activities such as sewing, reading, and arranging their hair. Also for sale was a decorative carved wooden horse (1850s-70s) from Mexico. The piece bears its original patina and was crafted by an artisan identified as Macona. The asking price for the 53" x 49" work was $4500.
This monumental 30" tall crystal cut glass vase was among the breathtaking collection of American cut glass pieces offered by dealer Franz J. Hellwig of Gretna, Louisiana. The early 20th-century vase was priced at $16,500. A Gorham sterling silver and heavy cut glass punch bowl was priced at $9500.
Vintage pocket watches were among the timepieces, music boxes, and jewelry that were for sale by Timekeepers, experts in estate jewelry and repair and restoration of antique and collectible pieces. Items offered by the Clayton, Missouri, dealer included a small gold woman’s pocket watch (left), produced in England, circa 1915, priced at $1000; a 1905 Waltham gold pocket watch (center) with a gold chain, $2000; and an Elgin American-made tricolor woman’s pocket watch (right) from 1905, $2000.
LR Antiques, Houston, Texas, offered a 19th-century Louis XV-style painted commode table featuring a Venetian scene; it was priced at $5950. A 1920s Art Deco bronze sculpture by French-Italian sculptor Affortunato Gory (1895-1925) of a woman walking two dogs was $7250.
A Baltimore Rose covered casserole dish by Schofield was offered by sterling silver and jewelry dealer Antique Cupboard, Big Bend, Wisconsin. The museum-quality piece includes an original ironstone liner and an applied three-dimensional lion knob on the cover. It was priced at $9950.
A painting by renowned British maritime painter Montague Dawson (1890-1973) was offered for sale by Alan Barnes Fine Art, Dallas, Texas, which specializes in 19th- and 20th-century paintings. The Pirates’ Cove, Moonlight Treasure was one of only a few works Dawson painted in the Caribbean Islands. The piece was priced at $295,000.
Emerging Fort Worth, Texas, painter Uno began his artistic career as a graffiti artist. His contemporary style combines bold colors and abstract expressions of traditional subjects such as portrait painting. His acrylic painting on board of a man’s head was priced at $2500.
A 1958 painting by acclaimed Russian landscape painter Nikolai Timkov (1912-1993) was among the fine art pieces offered by Dmitriy V. Proshkin (b. 1973), a Russian-born landscape painter and Chattanooga, Tennessee, gallery owner who is influenced by French Impressionist masters. Timkov’s Sunset in Winter, oil on canvas, 9½" by 18", was $20,000.
French and Continental antiques dealer Olivier Fleury, Inc., Winter Park, Florida, featured a selection of high-quality furniture and decorative items, including an early 19th-century walnut Provençal wall curio priced at $3000.
Among the antiques presented by US Estate Buyer, LLC, Palm Beach, Florida, was a circa 1890 French black-lacquered credenza adorned with Sèvres plaques of enamel and bronze, with an asking price of $4750. On top of the credenza are a 1900-20 French bronze sculpture of a boy with a ball, and a pair of early 20th-century French bronze ram’s-head covered urns with an asking price of $2475.
Originally published in the June 2020 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2020 Maine Antique Digest
