Date: Fri 26-Feb-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: LAURAB

Quick Words:

Soho

Full Text:

Downtown Antiques Show In Soho

with cuts

BY LAURA BEACH

NEW YORK CITY -- The Downtown Antiques Show is bringing uptown looks to Soho.

Now in its second year, the fair returned to Manhattan's Puck Building between

January 15 to 17, coinciding with the Winter Antiques Show and several other

events around town.

Only 27 dealers strong, the jewel-box of a show is managed by Sam Halpern, a

Canadian promoter who operates some of the largest and most successful indoor

antiques events in that country.

Halpern has also taken over the Long Island Antiques Show in Oyster Bay, N.Y.

Exhibitors at the October fair, formerly managed by the Antiques Council,

credit him with good attendance and lively sales there.

With its gleaming hardwood floors and distinctive architectural details, the

Puck Building makes a handsome backdrop for the Downtown Show. Stylishly

upscale if towards the decorative side, the Downtown Show offers a thoughtful

balance of American and English formal and country furniture and accessories,

folk art, garden furnishings, Asian antiques and Oriental rugs. With 11

dealers from north of the border, it is an unusual opportunity to buy Canadian

artifacts as well.

"I was really excited about the show and the quality of dealers in it," said

Mary-Ellen Stephens of Quelle Surprise. The Georgetown, Canada dealer recently

relocated to Massachusetts but continues to work with her Canadian partner.

"My sales were down this year. The weather and competition on Saturday from

the Pier Americana Show hurt us. But Sam is a great promoter and this show is

a sleeper. New York can support it."

Quelle Surprise, which participates in all of Halpern's Canadian ventures, is

well named. The dealers handle charming, unusual smalls, including English art

pottery, Canadian primitives, copper and brass. "It's an eclectic look. If we

like it, we buy it," Stephens said.

With odd examples of reasonably priced Canadian folk art, Old Church Trading

of Delhi, Ontario has been a big hit here. "We will definitely come back next

year," dealer Phillip Ross said. "The attendance was somewhat disappointing. I

don't know if the concentration of shows is an asset or a detriment, but we

enjoy doing the show. We come prepared. We did a large mailing beforehand, and

some people we sold to last year came back." Old Church Trading sold a Shaker

bench and primitive paintings by Quebec artists.

"This was our first year and it was very good," said Tony Martin of

Indoor/Outdoor Antiques & Gardens, Orangeville, Ontario. "The people who were

there, were there to do business, so the gate didn't matter. We sold a lot of

high-end French garden stuff and architecturals. A real cross-section."

Indoor/Outdoor participates in all of Halpern's Canadian events. "They're all

very good," said Martin.

One of the most elegant stands belonged to David S. Brown, a Montreal dealer

who keeps an open shop on Rue de la Montagne. "I had some nice activity on

Sunday and overall was pleased," said Brown, who had returned for his second

year. "I'm planning to go back. But all things considered, I would like to see

more people coming out for the show. It has great potential." Brown retailed

formal English and some American furniture from the Eighteenth through

mid-Nineteenth Century, porcelain and silver.

Furniture dealer Ray Kisber of Quebec was heavily stocked. Interesting

examples included a Regency card table, $10,500; a Flemish table cabinet,

$14,500; a German side cabinet, $5,500; and an Asian traveling shrine, $1,400.

Kisber devoted a second booth to Twentieth Century metal furniture.

Julie Harris traveled from Kansas City to exhibit vintage sporting equipment,

college memorabilia, and trunks and luggage. "I do a lot with photographers,"

the Missouri dealer explained. "Here at Hallmark they use my things for cards.

I sell to decorators, designers and retailers. It's a sporting person who

buys; sometimes he is upgrading. I used to sell to sports bars, but the

material has gotten way too expensive."

Sporting the latest in garden and architectural embellishments was Balsamo

Antiques of Pine Plains, N.Y. Table tops were laden with alabaster urns and

topiary frames. Cast stone garden balls were $55 to $75.

Blemora Heritage Antiques of Utterson, Ontario, mingled formal and country

furnishings. Next to a pine settle and a hooked rug was a Regency Revival

sarcophagus-shaped cellerette of circa 1860, $3,250. The armchair pictured

next to it was $1,650.

Fine rugs and carpets were for sale at Oriental Rugs Ltd. of Old Lyme, Conn.,

Highlights included a 8'10" by 12'8" Kirman and a dramatic Tehran carpet,

6'10" by 10'10". "I love its scale, design and color," dealer Karen DiSaia

said of the turn-of-the-century piece.

"Our whole thing is the freshness of our exhibits. We're offering New York new

dealers and new merchandise," Halpern concluded.