NEW YORK CERAMICS FAIR 2008/with cuts

Loyal Following Turns Out for Ceramics Fair

Kick Off To Americana Week

By Laura Beach

NEW YORK CITY — Hours before the New York Ceramics Fair opened on Tuesday, January 15, Jonathan Rickard and Don Carpentier, two of the most passionate of the contemporary crop of English slipware scholars and collectors, were putting the final touches on the fair’s 2008 loan show.

“Delicious Dipped Ware: Chocolate, Cinnamon, Caramel, Butterscotch, Blueberry, Peach and Toffee — The Colors of Pleasure” offered evidence of the visceral appeal of the Ceramics Fair, a serendipitous, somewhat random array of objects both sculptural and painterly, steeped in millennia old traditions or assertively cutting-edge.

After nine appearances in New York, the Ceramics Fair has developed a loyal, sociable following. The opening night rush, signifying the start of “Americana Week,” attracts the best sort: collectors and dealers in town for the flurry of shows, sales, lectures and parties, as well as curators from more than two dozen museums around the country. The confluence makes the floor hum. 

It is hard to see any silver lining in the real estate and financial markets’ recent battering. The global stock market’s dramatic drop the week of January 14 probably caused antiques buyers to hesitate and it may have dampened show attendance, which increased opening night but tapered off during the week.

“We’re not sure if the drop was attributable to the weekend weather report or Sunday afternoon football,” said show manager Bill Caskey of the Topanga, Calif., partnership Caskey-Lees.

The slightly quixotic but highly appropriate venue for this jewel box of a fair is the small but grand National Academy Museum at 89th Street and Fifth Avenue, near the Guggenheim Museum. The Beaux-Arts mansion accommodated 32 booths, several shared, on two split-level floors of the narrow structure, whose wings attach to an elegant, marble-clad central staircase.

The New York Ceramics Fair was founded by a core group of London dealers and their American counterparts, many of them specialists in English pottery. Most of these original exhibitors remain.

“We concentrated on Eighteenth Century material this year,” said Alan Kaplan of Leo Kaplan, Ltd, whose firm is also known for paperweights and contemporary glass. An outstanding selection of Toby jugs started at $1,000 and climbed to $30,000. “Tobies are much more popular now than they were, particularly the earlier examples,” he said.

One of Kaplan’s best Tobies, a circa 1780 Ralph Wood “Roman Nose,” was acquired by the Wright’s Ferry Mansion, the Susquehanna River house museum administered by the Van Hess Foundation.

Many opening night buyers made a beeline for Sampson & Horne, where they were treated to early English pottery, especially delft. Early sales at Sampson & Horne included a circa 1790 Wedgwood black basalt portrait bust of the celebrity actor David Garrick.

English pottery for the American market is one of the show’s most vigorous categories. Known for Staffordshire figures, Long Island dealer Elinor Penna always brings the most patriotic examples she can find. This year, she had matching 14-inch figures of Wellington and Lincoln, always desirable, as well as a trio of founding fathers: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Nearby Penna, William and Teresa Kurau offered quantities of English china decorated with American themes, including an 1835 Clews platter with a view of New York Bay from Governor’s Island and an Enoch Wood plate with the steamboat Chief Justice Marshall plying the Hudson River. The Lampeter, Penn., dealers sold a rare footed compote bearing the Arms of Virginia and a platter with a view of Sandusky, Ohio.

Connoisseurs flock to Gary and Diana Stradling, well-known dealers in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century American porcelain, pottery and glass. The Stradling’s  sold one of the pieces, a “Washington & Lafayette” slip-decorated redware platter from Norwalk, Conn., as well as an experimental pottery mug signed by George E. Ohr.

Sharing a booth with the Stradlings for a second year was New York dealer Ian Simmonds, a specialist in early American glass.

New dealers Gardner & Barr, specialists in Venetian glass, sold their catalog piece, the circa 1875 Guggenheim cup, for a price in the six figures.

Paul Vandekar, Marcia Feinstein and James Labaugh combined English and Chinese ceramics, just as many collectors do in their homes. Vandekar’s opening night sales included a large Leeds pottery horse.

“When you see something like these, you have to own them, even if just for a while. Then you have the pleasure of selling them to someone who feels as you do,” dyed-in-the-wool collector Marcia Feinstein of Vintage Interiors II said of a pair of circa 1815 Coalport Imari palette ice pails, covers and liners she was offering for $20,000.

Two of the best Chinese Export porcelain dealers in the world, Cohen & Cohen and Santos, both of London, returned to the New York Ceramics Fair. The Cohens are out with a new catalog, Ladies First, which gathers a group of Qianlong porcelain figures of maidens. Santos announced the publication of volume two of its huge study of Portugal and the China Trade.

Fredericksburg, Va., dealer John and Barbara Suval showcased choice famille verte, including a circa 1710 shaped tray, based on a European form, with twisted handles. It was $18,500.

Chinese porcelain made for domestic consumption was in stock at Vallin Galleries of Wilton, Conn., and Ita J. Howe of Bethlehem, Penn. Vallin’s Peter Rosenberg sold a Seventeenth Century blanc de chine figure of a Buddha.

The New York Ceramics Fair annually includes the work of Michelle Erickson, one of the country’s most gifted artists working in clay. Erickson, who creations are for sale at Period Designs in Yorktown, Va., as well as at select galleries in the United States, borrows from a repertoire of traditional techniques, forms and subjects to create contemporary social and political commentary.

“Such commentary was not uncommon in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century English wares,” observed Erickson, whose has pieces at the Yale University Art Gallery and other museums with important American collections.

Caskey-Lees remains committed to the collector-driven New York Ceramics Fair, which Bill Caskey calls “a feather in our cap.” After shows in San Francisco, Caskey-Lees returns to Manhattan in March for New York Arts of Pacific Asia and in May for the New York International Tribal & Textile Arts Show.

“Both are going to be pretty smashing this year,” said Bill Caskey. For information, 310-455-2886 or www.caskeylees.com

Loyal Following Turns Out For Ceramics Fair

Kick Off To Americana Week

New York Ceramics Fair

New York Ceramics Fair

By Laura Beach

Web

ALAN KAPLAN - LEO KAPLAN LTD

“The great early Toby jugs are much more popular than they were,” says Alan Kaplan, who brought a delectable assortment from $1,000 and up. From left to right are Lord Admiral Howe, The Sailor and Ralph Wood’s Roman Nose, Eighteenth Century examples priced between $17,500 and $27,500. Leo Kaplan, Ltd, New York City.

 

ELINOR PENNA 2

Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson turned up for Americana Week in the booth of Elinor Penna, a Garden City, N.Y., Staffordshire dealer.

 

JOHN SUVAL PHILIP SUVAL INC

“The story of the China Trade is on this plate,” said John Suval. From the Arms of Holbourn service, the $5,500 piece pictures views of the harbor at Plymouth Sound, Fort St George in Madras, and the Pear River in Canton. Philip Suval, Inc, Fredericksburg, Va.

 

KURAU CANARY

Russell Carrell would have loved this stash of canary yellow Staffordshire children’s mugs at William and Teresa Kurau, Lampeter, Penn.

 

SAMPSON AND HORNE

Wedgwood and Bentley black basalt bust of the English actor David Garrick, 1790. Sampson & Horne Antiques, London.

 

SIMON WESTMAN

A bear-baiting jar at Simon Westman, a London dealer in early English pottery.

 

THE STRADLINGS

Collectors of American pottery and glass rush to check out the rarities at The Stradlings, New York City. Trophies included the 14½-inch “Washington & Lafayette” Smith & Day of Norwalk, Conn., slip-decorated redware charger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANNE MCPHERSON AND PETER WARREN

Private dealer and consultant Anne McPherson catches up with exhibitor Peter Warren, an English pottery specialist from Wilton, Conn.

 

BECKERDITE, ATKINS, HUNTER

Luke Beckerdite, editor of Chipstone’s American Furniture, shares a word with English pottery dealer Garry Atkins. Right rear, Robert Hunter, editor of Chipstone’s Ceramics in America.

 

CHRISTOPER SHEPPARD GLASS

Christopher Sheppard Glass, London

 

COCOBOLO DESIGN

Contemporary ceramics at Cocobolo Design, New York City, included triangulated vases of stoneware with painted oxide glaze, far right, by Shizue Imai.

 

ERICKSON 2

Michelle Erickson of Yorktown, Va., a talented artist whose medium is clay, combines contemporary social commentary with period techniques and design references. Pictured are three from a set of albarello-style tin-glazed jars that depict the seven deadly sins on one side and seven virtues on their reverse side. The series is called “Medisinal Virtues.”

 

ERICKSON

Too new to be on Michelle Erickson’s website, perioddesigns.com, this Palissy ware-inspired sculpted and glazed plate, “Paradise Lost,” comments on America’s military entanglement in the Middle East.

 

IAN SIMMONDS

Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., dealer Ian Simmonds with a lacy pressed glass “Gothic Arch and Heart” footed compote, probably Midwestern, circa 1830. This year and last, Simmonds shared a booth with The Stradlings, who share his love of American glass.

 

IMPORTANT FRENCH CERAMICS VANDEKAR

A spectacular pair of circa 1840–50 French enameled Baccarat glass vases, center, with painting attributed to Jean-Francois Robert. Flanking them is by a pair of English cobalt blue cut glass vases, circa 1850. Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge, New York City.

 

JAMES LABAUGH

James M. Labaugh, Pound Ridge, N.Y.

 

JANICE PAULL

Pair of Mason’s Ironstone Imari vases, $15,000. Janice Paull, Portimao, Portugal.

 

JONATHAN HORNE AND PAUL VANDEKAR

Jonathan Horne of Sampson & Horne Antiques, London, and Paul Vandekar, Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge, New York.

 

KATERINE HOUSTON PORCELAIN

Boston ceramist Katherine Houston is known for hard paste porcelains inspired by ancient Chinese and Eighteenth Century European examples.

 

MARK J. WEST

Known for English and Continental glass, Redhill, England, dealer Mark J. West included Belgian Val St Lambert in his display.

 

MOYLAN SMELKINSON THE SPARE ROOM

Moylan-Smelkinson, The Spare Room, Baltimore, Md.

 

PAUL WINSOR

Woodbury, Conn., dealer Paul Winsor leaves his furniture in the shop and brings English pottery to the show. A highlight was this circa 1750 Delftware flower brick.

 

PAULL AND HUSBAND

Janice Paull and her husband Brian are English ex-pats who now make their home in Portugal’s Algarve. Their active US show schedule includes the New York Ceramics Fair, Nashville Antiques and Gardens Show and the Newport Antiques Show.

 

SANTOS

London-based Santos showed premier examples of Chinese Export porcelain for the European market. The firm brought samples of volume two of the sweeping resource, Portugal in Porcelain From China: 500 Years of Trade by dealer A. Varela Santos.

 

STEAMBOAT KURAU

The Hudson River steamboat Chief Justice Marshall of the Troy Line, Enoch Wood & Sons, from a selection of historical china with New York subjects at William and Teresa Kurau, Lampeter, Penn.

 

SYLVIA POWELL DECORATIVE ARTS

William de Morgan carnations, bottom, join wall masks by Richard Garbe, ARA. Center, an Inca-influenced glazed pottery mask of 1934. Top right, “Fate,” a 1926 limited edition bone china mask for Doulton & Co. Sylvia Powell Decorative Arts, London.

 

VINTAGE INTERIORS II MARCIA FEINTSTEIN

Marcia Feinstein, Vintage Interiors II, Alexandria, Va.

 

VINTAGE INTERIORS

Cross-cultural influences are seen in this circa 1810–20 Coalport ice pail in an Imari palette, one of a pair. Vintage Interiors II, Alexandria, Va.

 

 

 

CARPENTIER-RICKARD LOAN SHOW

Don Carpentier and Jonathan Rickard teamed up again this year to produce the loan show “Delicious Dipped Wares,” a luscious survey of slip-decorated English pottery. By mutual agreement, a favorite object was this huge Eighteenth Century agate dipped bowl with lots of decorative flourishes. It was snapped up on the floor during set up.