Date: Fri 16-Oct-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: LIZAM

Quick Words:

Wilton

Full Text:

Wilton Antiques Show

WILTON, CONN. -- It's time for the Wilton DAR Antique Show, so it must be

fall, and after a picturesque drive down Route 7 and a pass within two large

doors, as through Alice's looking-glass, one sees the reflections of both an

antiques wonderland and its market touchstone.

It is a gratifying assemblage of 125 high-caliber dealers. What magnifies that

sense of satisfaction waits just outside for the early opening: 456 patrons

who have come to spend money. Their anticipation is palpable and rewarding in

a contrary world of antiques venues.

Marilyn Gould's Wilton shows work: They simply do not disappoint the consumer.

Her eye for dealers mirrors the tastes of her audience, and the resulting mix

of folk, formal and country has generated an unsurpassed response in this

affluent Fairfield County niche.

And thick and fast they arrived at the high school field house for general

admission, too, numbering 2,500, additional proof of Wilton's popularity

despite a September 20 conflict with Rosh Hashanah. This conflict, however,

did mean a noticeable loss of regular clients for many exhibitors.

"We were unhappy about that but we were not able to change the date," said

Gould, "because of the school calendar. But I think we made it up with new

customers -- attendance was excellent."

Gould named the Jewish holiday as one of three mitigating factors that ended

with "not everybody having the good fortune to sell well." Sunny skies and

warm temperatures ("The field house was hot for the first time") and a final,

full-page advertisement that failed to run in this publication were the

remaining two elements that she noted had an impact.

"This was the fourth Wilton we've done and the least successful," said fine

art dealer Jeff Cooley of The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Conn. "But I continue

to marvel at Marilyn. She gets the people in." Lovely landscapes by Bruce

Crane, Robert Vonnoh, and Charles H. Ebert were priced in his display from

$18,000 to $36,000.

"[Sales] at a one-day event will be all over the spectrum," echoed clock

exhibitor Gordon S. Converse, who also reported a weak Wilton. "However there

were a lot of people there. That's why I support [Marilyn's] shows." Striking

interest in his booth was a circa 1810 Napoleonic mantel clock featuring a

light-on-his-feet Father Time for $13,500. "He really gives the impression

that time flies," said the Strafford, Pa., dealer.

At the other end of the chess board, the offerings of many dealers, such as

Steven J. Rowe, Newton, N.H., disappeared much faster than a Cheshire Cat by

Sunday afternoon. Rowe featured a circa 1800, cherry, snake-foot candlestand

for $12,500; a gentleman's secretary with a striking interior faced with

bird's-eye veneers; and a circa 1810 Salem, Mass., secretary, and "sold every

piece of furniture" shown. "September is very good for us," he related.

Exhibits seemed to carry a minimalist look overall -- perhaps mindful of the

coming season -- with most featuring a few carefully selected items arranged

to offer a maximum of space in which to admire them. As is the norm at Wilton,

dealers and patrons paid court to paint; if trade signs, paint-decorated and

cottage furniture, and architectural and garden items were not the dominant

objects, then they made guest appearances nearly everywhere.

A show standout was Peter Eaton Antiques' Chippendale, New Hampshire,

seven-drawer tall chest with rare paint decoration, only the second the

Newburyport, Mass., dealers have owned in 30 years. It seemed a bargain at

$19,000. Their Silas Hoadley, Plymouth grandfather clock in original red

surface wore a sold tag before the show's opening.

A circa 1850-90 cast zinc spread-wing eagle, which probably at one time

intimidated citizens from a public building, now welcomed them into the booth

of Heller-Washam Antiques, Portland, Me., for $18,500. The bird was

beautifully flanked by two wooden columns of a doric fashion. Quirky and

wonderful and hinting of fall was H.K.H.'s centerpiece birchbark canoe,

artfully hung over a harvest table, priced at $6,850 and $1,950, respectively.

William Lewan of Fitzwilliam, N.H., was in the spirit with a display of

gameboards and a wonderful paint-decorated two-drawer blanket chest. Also in

the game was Nikki and Tom Dupree, Suffield, Conn., who featured a delightful

"Temple of Honor" game wrought by Clara Danson for $5,400. A ten-foot-long

Twentieth Century trade sign in the form of a fountain pen, at $6,800,

certainly stopped patrons in their tracks in front of Joan R. Brownstein,

Ithaca, N.Y., but a circa 1800 New England blanket chest in old red paint, for

$5,200, made them linger.

Textiles of note included M. Finkel & Daughter's "Moses in the Bullrushes"

sampler, circa 1805, Mrs Royce school, Hartford, Conn. Amy Finkel pointed out

a Federal-looking millhouse with 16-pane windows placed just behind the work's

charming and colorful figures in the reeds. Windsor Antiques of the Stamford

Antiques Center, Stamford, Conn., displayed a wonderful woolie with a rare

beaded crown, circa 1860, and Wilton newcomers Hallam & Swope, New York,

featured an interesting, unfinished, circa 1820 sampler depicting the interior

of a South Carolina manor home. The piece, tagged at $15,000, had been folded

and placed in a box; its colors were still quite vibrant.

A circa 1840 oil on canvas portrait of soulful-eyed sisters Elizabeth and

Priscilla Ashby was a highlight of Hawks Nest, Hinesburg, Va. The Robert

Street work (ex coll Peter Tillou) had been purchased from a private New York

City collector and had never been shown before. It was priced at $11,500.

Although the White Rabbit was nowhere in sight, his brown cousins made

appearances on the delightful mugs and plates displayed by Nancy Knuden,

Orange, Conn. A particularly fetching piece featuring bunnies playing croquet,

in mint condition, was $1,600. Minding the booth was Nancy's husband, who

shook his head when asked where she had acquired them. "I have no idea," he

said with a bemused expression. "She has a talent for finding these things."

Mocha ware mugs of graduated sizes drew one's eye into the booth of Geranium,

Dorset, Vt., while a fantastic circa 1785 Lord Rodney mug left the most

lasting impression. During the American Revolution, Lord Rodney, an

outstanding and much-feared British admiral, was expected to bring his fleet

up from the West Indies to meet with French ships. Fortunately for the

colonies, he never made it. "Prostate trouble," whispered dealer Marcia King.

While two Staffordshire porcelain dogs were the subject of dealer discussion

at Jane McClafferty Antiques, front and center was a circa 1780 Rhode Island

cherry six-drawer tall chest for $6,900. Dominating the exhibit of

Newsom-Berdan, Hollowell, Me., was another chest of drawers of a terrific

size: 58¬ inches tall, with original brasses and feet, its walnut case

beautifully dovetailed. Probably of Pennsylvania origin, the piece, dated last

quarter Eighteenth Century, came out of a house down the coast of Maine.

Perhaps the most striking example of formal furniture in the show was Irvin &

Dolores Boyd's Duncan Phyfe style, tiger maple, three-pedestal banquet table,

measuring 9'1" long. Priscilla Boyd Angelos explained that her father had sold

the piece 25 years ago, and had purchased it again just before Wilton.

According to Jonathan Boyd, who spoke to us later from the Fort Washington,

Pa. shop, the table was snapped up by a couple whose neighbors spotted it at

the show and gave them a call. The sale of that piece, in addition to two

other major pieces, made for the best Wilton the Boyds have ever had.

Another formal favorite was an Eighteenth Century maple Queen Anne dropleaf

table, in rare small size, which spent most of the day "on its back" at Marie

Plummer/John Philbrick, Yarmouth Me., but did not sell at $22,000.

"With Wilton being a very decorative show I always wonder if I will do well,"

admitted Philbrick, "but I do." Leaving his booth instead were 1680-1740

accessories in brass, pewter and iron, a trend repeated often throughout the

show: hearth items, specifically, seemed to wear a great many red tags.

"And we sold an expensive mirror," he paused. "Looking glasses do well at

Wilton." An appropriate observation for this particular wonderland.