Date: Fri 26-Jun-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: LIZAM

Quick Words:

Brandywine-Antiques-Sho

Full Text:

Brandywine River Museum Show

(W/Cuts)

LIZA MONTGOMERY

CHADDS FORD, PA. -- Few things are more pleasant for the antiques lover than

attending an intimate show with excellent dealers. Add those qualities,

however, to a lovely setting and a worthy beneficiary, and you have one of the

best events around: the Brandywine River Museum Antiques Show, held each

Memorial Day weekend.

The booth settings of 32 dealers, assembled by Armacost Antiques Shows, Ltd,

in the museum's courtyard and four-floor interior, mirrored the idyllic

environs both within and without the Brandywine -- an institution filled with

the work of the Wyeth family and named for the river which passes just feet

from its doors.

Resistance is useless in such an atmosphere. Thus preview patrons, girded with

cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and music (not to mention cool temperatures and

clear skies), must have found their hands twitching continually toward their

checkbooks. In addition, should attendees near the bar and food tables on the

entrance level find themselves without partners for conversation -- or are

bored silly by them -- a special exhibition, "A Cast of Characters: Nineteenth

Century Chalkware from the Museum of American Folk Art," was a charming

distraction.

More serious distractions included the Newport, R.I., porringer top tea table

dating from the first half of the Eighteenth Century shown in the booth of

Harold Cole/Autumn Pond, Woodbury, Conn., its rich, old finish screaming from

across even a crowded room, and Anthony S. Werneke's American Chippendale

secretary bookcase, circa 1770-85, in glowing mahogany and chestnut -- be

still my heart and hand over that wallet. Of course, a price of $45,000 for

the former and $68,500 for the latter may have given pause to some.

In this area, however, the pause doesn't last long. "We had terrific sales,"

said Norma Chick of Autumn Pond, who greatly enjoyed her third year at

Brandywine. "We love the location and the atmosphere. It's a laid-back show.

You also get a nice, steady gate of interested, knowledgeable people who come

to spend money." Among purchases from their booth were a tiger maple drop-leaf

table, a Dutch delft garniture set, and a running horse weathervane.

"[Brandywine] benefits from the weekend holiday," commented Bob Armacost.

"It's a destination for a lot of reasons: Winterthur and Longwood Gardens, for

example. There's always a good crowd from Pennsylvania, New York and

Maryland." Although the gate was slightly slower on Sunday and Monday due to

the closing of sections of I-95, Armacost relays that an impressive 80 percent

of dealers reported being "very pleased" with sales.

A pleasing centerpiece in the booth of V.F.. Jacobsen, Cold Spring Harbor,

N.Y., was a massive English, three-pedestal dining table with original finish

and gilding. The removal of two leaves allows for the use of a smaller table

in a more casual setting.

Donald R. Sack American Antiques, Canadensis, Pa., offered a sublime South

Jersey or Philadelphia Queen Anne walnut lowboy, circa 1740-60, with cuffed

Spanish feet, as well as a Chester County, Pa., walnut high chest with

original brass eagles. Across the way, an enormous pewter cupboard commanded

attention in the booth of Phil and Judee Harbaugh/Colonial Antiques, Arcanum,

Ohio. Measuring 84 inches wide and 7'8" high, the circa 1760-70 piece was

created in the same house in which the Harbaughs found it -- and still retains

an unfinished side.

Many an appreciative eye turned toward the pair of portraits of young children

featured by Heller-Washam Antiques of Portland, Me. Within these oil on poplar

panels (with Hirschl & Adler provenance, tagged at $68,000) were colorful

glimpses into an early 1800s home on the New York/Connecticut border. A

Housatonic Valley maple Governor Winthrop desk, circa 1765-80, with carved

interior, offered for a reasonable $14,500, was yet another draw to that

well-arranged booth.

A five-year Brandywine veteran, Kim Washam, like Norma Chick, very much

enjoyed the show's atmosphere. "The committee is wonderful," she said. "They

host dealer picnics on the lawn, cocktail parties ... the end result is that

you feel very welcome."

Armacost agrees. "It's one of the friendliest organizations I know. They go

out of their way, and that translates into dealers feeling good about being

there and having fun. Their customers pick up on it -- it becomes infectious."

A first-time Brandywine exhibitor, Kemble's American Period Furniture,

travelled all the way from Norwich, Ohio, with an eye-catching selection of

Pennsylvania items. "We've heard so much about the show, and we knew many

people affiliated with it. We had to do it," said Roland Kemble , who, with

wife Marilyn, is a case of a dealer who could not resist Brandywine's siren. A

Philadelphia cherry two-part corner cupboard with scroll top, heavy waist

molding, and diamond panes, circa 1830-40, offered for $16,500, pulled many

patrons in their direction.

The Kembles were among five new dealers Armacost brought in this year (Peg and

Judd Gregory of Dorset, Vt., and Joan R. Brownstein of Ithaca, N.Y., also

signing up). Space, however, is limited -- an experience to be enjoyed by a

lucky few.