Antiques Week in Philadelphia is quickly approaching. Hundreds of dealers will be making their way to the City of Brotherly Love in April for the Philadelphia Antiques Show and the 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show, as well as museum exhibits, performances and gallery events.
This year there are more reasons than ever to come to Philly, take in the sights and stay longer. We offer just five at PhiladelphiaAntiquesWeek.com.
Quilts may at first glance seem old-fashioned, and collectible. Many collectors today however think of quilts as art, and not just any art. Quilts have a good deal in common with modern art. Yes, modern art.
“Quilt designs have parallels in works by 20th-century artists whose multi-million-dollar paintings are now revered and even iconic,” says Americana Dealer Laura Fisher “The compositions of Frank Stella, Sol LeWitt, Victor Vasarely, Josef Albers, Jasper Johns, Bridget Riley, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol and Sean Scully, for example, so resemble some antique pieced quilts in their geometry that we have to wonder whether this was merely the spontaneous generation of ideas, or whether 20th century artists were influenced by the works of anonymous quilt makers preceding them.”
Fisher says Amish quilts of the early 20th century, originating in a culture celebrated for minimalist icons such as Diamond in the Square and Bars, were among the first quilts to be collected by admirers of modern art.
The realm of quilts on display at shows today is also expanding. Categories such as rustic utilitarian quilts, African-American quilts, and quilts from various cultures have been largely ignored in antiques scholarship, but now are exhibited and studied worldwide. In days past, Fisher says a higher premium went only to quilts from the hands of a skilled or an identified maker, but now collectors’ dollars endorse edgier, linear, graphic, anonymous antique and vintage examples.
In many cases, they may also be a good investment, and in any case provide a lot of decorating bang for the buck. Fisher says graphic quilts offer wall coverage inch by inch that is visually compelling for a fraction of the money than paintings of similar size.
Graphic quilts are the focus of a special collection assembled by Laura Fisher of FISHER HERITAGE at the Hayes Fine Arts Storage Building during Americana Week.
It may not be the first place you think of to go during Americana Week, but more and more, vistors with an eye for vintage are making this urban market a must stop on any trip to the Big Apple.
It’s held a building that could be the envy of other shows. The grandiose and recently restored lobby of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank. Yet the grandness of the space can make some items like Valentines cards and salt-n-pepper shakers seem out-of-place.
That’s not to diminish what’s there, or to say there isn’t anything of quality there, or that everything is inexpensive. It isn’t. One weekend I noticed a classical/empire piano stool priced at $79, a great brass ship’s clock, some vintage typewriters, unique lighting creations and a handmade wooden boxcar trunk. I left with a vintage sweater, the first article of clothing I ever bought from anywhere that wasn’t a department store.
If you’ve been to the show you know that Clinton Hill Clocks has perhaps the best looking booth in the place—and it’s right in front. Items have included vintage
promotional items in the form of a Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower, and paintings by Robert Goldstrom, who has become known as the painter of this, the most prominent building in Brooklyn.
Lon Black is most often set up with his large assortment of postcards. Saying postcards of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank are difficult to find, he was offering some enlargements of some of the images. I have a feeling that while in some sense it is already the symbol of Brooklyn (like the Statue of Liberty is for New York or Empire State Building is for Manhattan), the recent restoration is going to solidify that status. Lon’sextensive knowledge in postcard history has made his booth a fixture in the flea. Hardly any request in particular cards could challenge him, no matter whether it is related to a specific period, or a specific location. Even better, a lot of postcards are still un-used.
One of the thick glass and iron bank tables in the middle of the central hall was covered with an interesting display of vintage Valentine cards. It would be hard to argue this isn’t at the heart of Americana. It’s interesting how this branch of ephemera has climbed its way up the collecting ladder. I noticed exhibits of cards recently at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Winterthur.
If you like the Brooklyn Flea, don’t miss Americana & Antiques at the Pier
A box car chest was being offered by Susan Walker, who travels to the flea from Rhode Island. The $175.00 asking price seemed to be more than reasonable and we thought it was of such a quality it could easily be twice that in another venue.
Dealers in the Brooklyn Flea are scattered throughout the building, upstairs and down and even in the vault. Making our way to the far reaches of the lower level, we met an enterprising carpet dealer named Zach Zaman, the second generation of the carpet business. His inventory include a large selection of carpets which can suit both the higher and lower end of the market.
Finally, while playing with the typewriters and wondering whether I had use for one (can you imagine a typewriter can fetch five bills or more?) Just now I felt a forgotten desire to hear a bell at the end of a sentence. I wonder if there’s an app for that.
The Brooklyn Flea is held during Winter Months Saturday and Sundays at One Hanson Place across from the Atlantic Station Subway Stop.
This article has been adapted from a version at Urban Art & Antiques.
Editor’s Note: Ameicana Week is just around the corner and the benefits are starting to come in. Just today, we heard from Stella Show Mgmt. Co that a 2 for 1 ticket is available for Americana & Antiques @ the Pier and Antiques at the Armory. Here’s the scoop, direct from Jeanne Stella.
Stella Show Mgmt. Co. invites Antiques Week in New York customers to take advantage of a “two shows for one admission” fee of $20 for both Americana & Antiques @ The Pier and Antiques at the Armory. Admission to each show separately would be $15.00 for a savings of $10.00 per person.
These shows also offer free shuttle busses between the two shows. There is a free shuttle bus from the Armory on 26th Street to the Winter Antiques Show at the uptown armory. (Ed note: Tickets to the Winter Show, $20 per day, are separate.)
Antiques at the Armory
Redware plate to be Shown on Pier 92
Antiques at the Armory, January 20-21-22, at the Armory on 26th Street, offers 100 dealers with important but affordable folk art and Americana, fine art and formal furnishings, modern design, art and lighting, ceramics, silver, jewelry, rugs, textiles, native American, and tribal artifacts.
Americana & Antiques @ The Pier
Americana & Antiques @ The Pier, January 21-22, on Pier 92, is the largest and most diverse show of Antiques Week in New York. It has been called “the freshest show of Antiques Week.”
Baseball theme candy containers at Antiques at the Armory
It offers many young dealers and those new to the show scene. Although heavy on folk art and country furnishings, it is also strong on silver and jewelry and is an exceptional source for industrial artifacts and repurposed and up-cycled items. Steam-punk and outsider art show up at this show too.
For more, please visit the Show page.
The New York Ceramics Fair celebrates its 13th year with the season’s first opening preview Tuesday, January 17th. For the second year, New York Ceramics Fair visitors can enjoy its elegant new venue, the Grand Ballroom of the Bohemian National Hall, home of the Czech Consulate, 321 East 73rd Street.
The January 17th preview, from 5 to 9 pm, is $90 per person and offers a “first look” at this year’s Fair enhanced by libations and a light repast. This year’s Ceramics Fair will again present a select group of world renowned galleries and dealers specializing in important pottery, glass and porcelain.
The Fair offers the most distinguished ceramics lecture series in the US. A complete schedule is available on the AmericanaWeek.com EVENT page.
While last year, a combination of economic concerns and uncertainty about the new venue resulted in a slightly smaller Fair than in years past, visitors to the 2012 Fair will enjoy the return of many US based galleries as well as a extensive participation of worldclass international dealers, many from the UK.
The 2012 Lecture Series, now being booked, will be presented in the recently renovated first floor Cinema, which can accommodate 60. Again this year, lecture tickets are $10 per lecture plus show admission of $20 (run of show). Series tickets for three lectures can be purchased for $25 plus show admission. The full lecture series will be announced in the coming weeks.
Bohemia National Hall is just 2 blocks from Sotheby’s and only 9 blocks from the Park Avenue Armory. The Fair is staged in its 4th floor Grand Ballroom and surrounding balcony.
The Ceramics Fair’s regular hours are Wednesday, January 18- through Satuday, January 21 from 11 am to 7 pm, and on Sunday, January 22 from 11 am to 4 pm. General admission for the run of the Fair is $20, with a color catalogue included.
Produced by Caskey Lees Inc., Topanga, CA, the New York Ceramics Fair is a vetted Fair at which collectors may purchase with confidence.
