Date: Fri 27-Mar-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

HuntValley

Full Text:

Hunt Valley Antiques Show

w/cuts

By Joyce Ruskin Hanes

COCKEYSVILLE, MD. -- The Hunt Valley Antiques Show, now in its 28th year, was

the weekend of February 28, with a preview on Thursday, February 27. In a

convenient location just north of Baltimore, the show spreads through the

ballroom, four salons, and a hallway at the Hunt Valley Inn and, as one of

three major shows in the area, the event is popular among the local collectors

because of its high quality and variety of merchandise.

Manager Robert Armacost selects each of the exhibitors with a balance in mind.

Many of dealers have been with the show for well over ten years, resulting in

little turnover -- only five dealers were new in this latest edition:

Fletcher/Copenhaver of Fredericksburg, Va.; Peg and Judd Gregory of Dorset,

Vt.; Lawrence Forlano of York, Me.; Arcadian Antiques of Princess Anne, Md.;

and Mario Pollo of Port Ewen, N.Y.

The beneficiary of the event, the Family and Children's Services of Central

Maryland, was pleased with the turnout for the preview party and the funds

raised through a silent auction. Two speakers added to the excitement and

helped increase the gate: Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, addressing

"Classic Georgian Style," and George E. Read, who discussed "The Ten Golden

Rules of Collecting."

The show was a success for almost all of the dealers. Every category sold

well, including formal and country furniture, ceramics, folk art, paintings

and prints. Sales of American furniture were particularly strong. Tucker Frye

of Woodbury, Conn., sold almost everything he brought. He seems to have a

magic touch, and even had pickers bringing merchandise in to him throughout

the show and then promptly sold.

Ed Weissman of Portsmouth, N.H., also had an excellent show, selling chairs,

chests and cupboards. Tony Werneke sold a highboy, a chest-on-chest, a tea

table, a pair of Queen Anne chairs, a banister-back chair and a Queen Anne

wing chair. Hanes and Ruskin sold several Windsor chairs and a campaign desk.

Jo Calame of Rutabaga Pie sold a country Sheraton tall-post canopy bed.

Joan Datesman of Merry Walk Antiques sold a four-piece set of Mexican leather

furniture from the 1930s with wonderful folky decoration, as well as a painted

shelf, a grained side table with tin sides, a good quilt, and a lot of

Quimper.

"Baltimore has a taste and appreciation for folk art and interesting objects,"

Datesman said. Her Quimper mixes beautifully with her country furniture and

accessories. "I like to display the pottery in a setting compatible with the

way it was used, rather than a booth filled with only pottery." It works well;

Datesman always sets up a charming display and sells well.

Also displaying folk art and country furnishings were the Radanays of

Libertytown, Md. They sold a painted blue Vermont chest, a painted shelf, a

most unusual papier mache foot tub, a bench, and hooked rugs. Among the items

still available as of Sunday midday were a four-drawer country chest in

original red paint with a scalloped apron and French feet ($2,450), and a

painted bowl with a marvelously smooth interior surface for $900.

Thurston Nichols of Breinigsville, Pa., also specializes in folk art. Included

in his display was an imposing tall ship weathervane from New England,

constructed of wood, with a weathered surface, circa 1880, for $8,900. A pair

of Prior-Hamblin school portraits looked over the crowds. Their ages were

noted on the works -- she's 43 and he's 44 -- and they both appear quite

pleased to have had their portraits painted.

Gloria Greenwald, a folk art dealer from Lambertville, N.J., reported a strong

show and displayed a set of six Pennsylvania decorated chairs ($3,600); a

Queen Anne table in old mustard paint, circa 1730; a one door cupboard in

original red paint from New England, circa 1820; and a beautifully executed

portrait of a young boy with his rocking horse.

Sidney Gecker specializes in painted furniture, American pottery, and other

forms of folk art. He has exhibited at the show for a number of years, and

said that there continues to be a great deal of interest in his merchandise.

He displayed four chalkware cats, all from the same collection, varying in

height up to 15‹ inches. They were American, circa 1830-40.

Also in the folk art realm was a beautifully detailed, carved, gilded and

polychromed sternboard eagle from New England, dating from the Nineteenth

Century, in the booth of Heller Washam of Portland, Me.

Forager House Collection had an eclectic and folky booth, with like items

grouped together. There were several framed quilt segments, a collection of

highly polished copper, wooden book boxes, and picture frames made of

seashells. George Korn, one of the Forager House partners, had a copy of the

March/April Country Home magazine, which contained a feature article on their

house in Nantucket, Mass. The photographs in the article reflected the same

eye for design that is evident in their booth displays.

There was a plethora of highboys on the floor. Val Jacobsen's was Queen Anne

with a bonnet top from New England. Harold Cole/Autumn Pond had a cherry

highboy in old dry finish from the Suffield, Conn., area for $32,000. Hanes

and Ruskin featured a flat-top maple version from New England. Peg and Judd

Gregory had a maple Rhode Island highboy, with tiger maple on the bottom

drawers, for $19,500. The Captain's House of Portland, Me., displayed a Dunlap

highboy from New Hampshire in all original condition, including the brasses.

Irwin and Delores Boyd of Fort Washington, Pa., showed a Salem, Mass., tiger

maple highboy, circa 1740-60, with original brasses, for $29,500. R.M. Worth

had a cherry New England highboy with charming and unusual proportions, circa

1760, for $9,500.

There were several secretary bookcases available. Harold Cole's was from the

Wadsworth family and was originally owned by Daniel Wadsworth, who gave the

land for the Atheneum in Hartford. It was made in four parts, and included a

tambour front, and a possibly unique figure-eight decoration on the glazed

doors. The top crest consists of a mirror and three finials, and it retains

its original lion's head brasses.

James Wilhoit of Alexandria, Va., exhibited a Hepplewhite inlaid mahogany

secretary in three parts. An unusual feature of this one was the cylindrical

lid. Dating from 1790-1810, it was priced at $21,500.

Jo Calame of Rutabaga Pie had a country Chippendale secretary bookcase made of

applewood. Constructed of two pieces, it retained an old surface and was

ticketed at $13,500.

Charles and Rebekah Clark of Woodbury, Ct., displayed a classical bookcase

secretary from Albany, N.Y., made around 1830. Made of mahogany, poplar, and

pine, and having gilt gothic traced doors, it is attributed to John Meads and

William Alvord, and priced $19,500.

Also in the tall furniture category was a well proportioned chest on frame in

the booth of Donald Sack. (Sack has recently announced that he is returning to

the family firm in New York. He will be missed on the show circuit by both

collectors and his fellow dealers.) The chest was from the Delaware Valley,

circa 1760, and was constructed of walnut, priced at $28,000.

Also leaving the show circuit is Valdemar Jacobsen of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.

He is retiring after many years of exhibiting in such shows as The Winter

Antiques Show, The Washington Thrift Shop Show, The Boston Ellis Memorial

Antiques Show, and Hunt Valley. Armacost presented Jacobsen with a bottle of

champagne, and all of the booth neighbors joined in a toast to honor

Jacobsen's numerous years with the show.

Anne Pelot of Alexandria had an Eighteenth Century walnut stand-up desk in

fairly rare slantfront form with fluted quarter columns from Chester County,

Pa., circa 1780. What was distinctive was its tall writing height, which makes

it usable only if one stands up or sits on a very tall stool. In original

condition, it was available for $5,500.

Fletcher/Copenhaver were new to the show but not to the area, having exhibited

at other shows in Baltimore in the past. The dealers specialize in paintings

and drawings, and their art is always beautifully displayed and well

researched. An enchanting painting by Cesar de Cock (1823-1904) was entitled

"Tranquil Day on the River." Painted in 1872, it is in pristine condition and,

according to Joel Fletcher, is "an understated poetic vision which underlies

an apparent objectivity." It was priced at $32,000.

The partners were happy with their new venue, saying that on opening day they

sold a Sully portrait to a major local collector, and continued doing "good

business every day." They commented that they saw many clients from their past

shows, as well as many new customers.

Lawrence Forlano, another new exhibitor, had a big smile. "I love this show,"

he said. "I have been selling continuously since [it] began."

Some longtime Baltimore collectors, who attend and support all of the shows in

the area, said, "This is above average. The merchandise is outstanding. It is

the best show in Baltimore, and has been for years."