27th Summer Antiques Show Sizzles a Second Time

- SHOW Baltimore, Maryland
27th Summer Antiques Show Sizzles a Second Time
by Robert Kyle
T
he Three Musketeers did it again. The trio of
young show promoters, known as the Palm
Beach Group, convincingly confirmed that
last year’s dramatic resurrection and rebirth of a
middling 26-year-old downtown Baltimore event
was no accident. One for all and all for one certainly translated into giving many dealers more financial security and increasing Baltimore’s tourism
revenue.
From August 30 to September 2 the Baltimore
Convention Center was once more pulsating with
people from all over the country who collectively
re-energized the Baltimore Summer Antiques
Show, the Labor Day weekend show launched by
Frank Farbenbloom and his Sha-Dor company in
1980.
The Palm Beach Group presented its first Baltimore show last year. The town hasn’t seen this
much excitement since Cal Ripken’s streak. Now
the new promoters—Robert Samuels, Kris Charamonde, and Scott Diament—have started their
own streak of two big wins since purchasing the
show in October 2005.
“We brought in a lot of high-end collectors, people who actually spent a great deal of money,” said
Kris Charamonde, co-managing partner. “A couple
of our exhibitors were in seven figures, which
didn’t happen last year.” Seven figures? In Baltimore? With aggressive promotion and a budget to
back it, the Palm Beach Group boys demonstrated
that buyers are out there, you just need to inform
them of your show and have desirable merchandise from reputable dealers.
For instance, M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans,
Louisiana, displayed a Paul Revere coffeepot
priced around $1.8 million. It sold. Standing 11",
it’s one of only three armorial coffeepots Revere
produced prior to his career change to become a
Revolutionary. His other two similar coffeepots are
in museums.
“I talked to Albert Levy, and he told me he had
one of his best shows he’s ever had, bar none, and
he exhibits at some of the best shows in the world,”
Charamonde said. Levy is based in Palm Beach,
Florida.
“We were able to bring in those types of collectors and sell that type of artwork or antiquity,”
Charmonde said. “We were selling antiquities in
excess of a half million dollars this year, which
was even a surprise to me. That was a goal we
always had, but we didn’t realize we’d reach it this
fast.”
One of the strategies was to upgrade the quality
of dealers, which in turn would appeal to a more
sophisticated level of buyer. “What we did last
year and again this year, we brought in a lot of
higher end exhibitors who really saw some great
performances this year because we started to
advertise regionally instead of promoting the show
in the Baltimore area,” Charamonde said.
“We started to really go after the higher end collectors in Virginia, Delaware, D.C., and Pennsylvania, and our strategy really worked,” he said. “In
checking the comp tickets that came in, which we
had given to some of those collectors, the majority
of them were from far-away places. People actually drove several hours to get to the show. Not just
A passerby checked out a large
19th-century painting of a nude,
Orientalist Beauty by Albert
Aublet (French, 1851-1938). The
91" x 56" oil on canvas was
offered by Basking Ridge, New
Jersey, dealer Jay Chatellier for
$75,000.
A life-size red-painted bellhop on a
stand was seen in the booth of Peter Nee
of Millwood, Virginia.
Soon after the show opened on Thursday, Jonathan
Daniels of Daniels Antiques, Hallandale, Florida,
sold the two antique gaming machines (shown to his
right) to the same buyer. The one at left is a Mills
Jumbo Poker machine. Used in saloons and bars
where cigars were prevalent, it does not pay out
money but is a penny machine from which a winner
gets coupons for free cigars. A straight, for instance,
awards the player ten cigars. Next to Daniels is a
1929 Mills baseball machine. The machines were
sold in the neighborhood of $20,000 for both. The
sale, said Daniels, increases the total gaming
machines he sold in the last six months to 20. Discussing their scarcity, Daniels said, “There’s not a
retail store in America where you can find these.”
With 60 book dealers included in the roster, the book section created a show within a show. This photo, taken on opening day,
Thursday, shows the popular booth of the John Bale Book Company, Waterbury, Connecticut. Its proprietor, Dan Gaeta (far
left), was pleased. “It was a very good show, better than I expected, he said. “All of the booksellers I spoke with were abuzz with
positive comments,” he said. His sales ranged from about $20 to
$1500 and included fine bindings and local history. “There was
consistently heavy traffic, especially Saturday and Sunday.”
one or two people but many
thousands. It was extraordinary!
We couldn’t believe how well
we were able to pull from neighboring states this year.”
Buyers were treated to more
Rita K. Balee of Stonehouse Antiques &
Design, Wayne, Pennsylvania, has been
doing this show for 18 years. She described
this as “very good” for her, but it could
have been better if she had sold bigger
pieces. “I sold a lot of smalls, porcelain,
and jewelry but no furniture—and furniture is my thing!” she said, adding, “But
I’ll take it any way I can get it.” In front of
her is a 19th-century Italian carved wood
sheep, one of two, priced at $2500 for the
pair. The game table is English, circa 1820,
made of Brazilian rosewood, and tagged
$5800.
One of the most desirable early gaming
machines is the elegant
72" tall Watling’s Jackpot. It was made in 1904
and accepts nickels.
Daniels Antiques had
this one priced at
$50,000, give or take a
few nickels.
dealers this year. When word circulated of the success of last
year’s show, a waiting list quickly formed. The promoters
accommodated these dealers
this year by adding at least 100
This flock was so life-like that this reporter thought they were
actually mingling and manuring in the booth. Upon closer
inspection they proved to be on canvas, not on the floor. The 35"
x 40" 19th-century Sheep and Shepherdess by Cornelius van
Leemputten (Belgian, 1841-1902) was priced at $14,500.
Peter Broda stood next to a pair of circa
1930 torchères priced at $1800. The glass
is yellow supported by gilt brass. Broda
was assisting dealer Roy Rover of Easton,
Pennsylvania. Early in the show and
during setup, they had sold jewelry and
sterling, Broda said.
more exhibitors, making the total about 550.
Included were about 60 book dealers.
Located in a separate section of the show,
which had a lower, cozier ceiling and a Starbucks added nearby, the booksellers stayed
busy. “It was constant heavy traffic, especially Saturday and Sunday,” said Dan Gaeta of
the John Bale Book Company, Waterbury,
Connecticut. “It was one of our better selling
shows. Mixing book dealers with high-end
antiques dealers works,” he said. “The other
booksellers were abuzz with positive comments,” he added.
“We love the book fair,” Charamonde said,
“and we subsidize it. I don’t think the book
dealers realize that the rate they pay for the
square foot is the lowest in the event. We subsidize them because we feel they add a
tremendous element of charm and academic
- SHOW pursuit to the show; the cultural
side that a lot of people enjoy.”
The
Baltimore
Summer
Antiques Show, which became a
four-day affair last year when the
Palm Beach Group took over, has
quickly evolved into three separate entities. Wednesday, dealer
setup day, has become a private,
members-only show where the
trade transacts among itself.
Many dealers contacted reported
good sales during setup.
“The way the show has shaped
up is that Thursday and Friday
seem to be more like the old [ShaDor] crowd, the dealer crowd and
the savvy collectors,” Charamonde said. “Bigger sales happen
on Saturday and Sunday with private individuals.” Retail buyers,
he said, “are a new group we’re
trying to bring to the show that
weren’t aware of it prior to this.
That seems to be snowballing.”
He said they were pleasantly
mobbed over the weekend. “On
Saturday you would not want any
more people in the building. It
was packed with a nice, healthy
level where it created a feeling of
excitement on the floor, the exciting kind of feeling when you
know a lot of business is being
done.” How many people were
there on Saturday? “In excess of
ten thousand,” he said.
During the Sha-Dor era, 10,000
people over three days were all
anyone could hope for. That was
perceived as the total of all people
who liked antiques in this geographical area. The new promoters challenged this assumption.
Last year, in only its first Baltimore show, the Palm Beach
Group demonstrated that about
20,000 additional buyers were
out there, they just needed an
invitation. Increasing the advertising did the trick. To pay for it,
dealers now pay about double the
booth rent they did under the former promoter.
“It’s a bold investment on the
side of the promoter; you have to
be willing to commit the dollars,”
Charamonde said. “We really
throw it out there,” he said of the
advertising, which this year
included full-page ads in USA
Today.
“It’s a risky thing, and it’s been
working. It just goes to show that
if you’re willing to invest, it will
pay off…We’ve invested a lot of
money in the show, and we’re
making a much lower profit margin than normally would be
expected because we’re looking
at the long view rather than the
short view and not just trying to
make a quick buck. We’re looking to build a very substantial
business that will run for another
twenty-five years.”
In planning their inaugural Baltimore show last year, the promoters turned publicity over to
professionals who know the
town. Caitlin McIntyre of Profiles, a Baltimore PR agency,
reviewed ways she and the company spread the word. Much of
the media exposure was free.
“Profiles was successful in
securing television interviews on
our local CBS, ABC, and Fox
affiliates as well as Maryland
Public Television and CN8, the
Comcast network. As a result,
fourteen television segments
aired featuring the show,” said
McIntyre.
“Additionally, to promote the
new lecture series, we secured an
interview with two lecture speakers on WYPR, Baltimore’s
National Public Radio affiliate.
We were also able to place several feature stories, including a feature on the front of the Baltimore
Examiner and on the cover of the
“Live!” section of the Baltimore
Sun.
“Gus Davis from Camilla Dietz
Bergeron Limited sold nine of the
thirteen pieces by two p.m. that
he brought to his live TV interview Thursday morning. We had
arranged for his appearance,” she
said.
In addition to placing stories
with the local media, the agency
works the streets and community.
“We do a good deal of grassroots
marketing, including targeted
ticket mailings, cross-promotion
with arts and cultural institutions
in the Mid-Atlantic region, and
set up promotional displays,”
McIntyre said.
The lecture series she referred
to was a new feature this year. Six
speakers over four days discussed
jewelry, Satsuma earthenware,
decorating with antiques and art,
smiling Sichuan statues, English
and American silver, and collecting books. The presentations took
place in a meeting room in the
lobby of the convention center,
which enabled anyone to attend
free of charge without paying
show admission, which is $12
Thursday and $8 thereafter.
The Palm Beach Group has not
only dispelled the prevailing
notion that audiences for antiques
are shrinking, they noticed that
furniture—said to be soft for the
past few years—is selling in Baltimore. “We sold a lot of furniture,” Charamonde said. “You
know people say furniture is
dead? Not true. Not true at all. We
had a lot of exhibitors all over the
floor selling furniture.”
Publicist Caitlin McIntyre said
first-time dealer Michael Sams of
Corydon, Indiana, “sold out his
booth on the first day of the show
and had to bring in several new
items.” She added that “most of
his sales were between fifteen
thousand and thirty-five thousand
dollars.” June Greenwald of
Cleveland, Ohio, sold a 1936 oil
painting, The Law by R.H. Ives
Gammell, priced at $225,000.
“I’ve been watching things go
out. Bronzes, decorative arts,
European furniture—EnglishItalian pieces, especially if
they’re decorative,” said Neil
Rasmussen, a first-timer from
California. Describing his show
as “fairly OK,” he said he knows
what to bring next time.
For dealers who haven’t yet
signed up, there may not be a next
time. “At this point we have an
incredible ninety-five-percent resign rate,” Charamonde said after
the show closed. “I’m not pushing for expansion,” he said. “It
would be more to accommodate
people at this point. We have
room to expand by another fifteen
percent.”
For more information, call
(561) 822-5440 or go to (www.
palmbeachshowgroup.com).
Zane Moss of New York City had
this 32" x 29" circa 1880 English
apothecary cabinet with original
labels priced at $2900.
Teresa Puckett (center) and her husband, Charles (right, at
showcase), had plenty of company in their booth for four days.
The business, trading as Charles Edwin Puckett, Akron, Ohio,
specializes in antique maps, prints, and medieval illuminated
manuscripts. “It was an excellent show for us,” Teresa said. “We
sold a full range of items from inexpensive maps to very expensive maps and a number of illuminated manuscripts.” She said
sales ranged from about $50 to $15,000. “The attendance was
wonderful,” she said, “especially on Thursday and Saturday.”
Here’s Maile and the three Georges. No, they’re
not a rock band, they’re a happy family. New Jersey print and map dealer Maile Allen recently gave
birth to little George. He was seven weeks old when
this photo was taken. He’s in the arms of his father,
George, a biology professor at Middlesex College
in Edison, New Jersey. On the other side of Maile
is her father, George. “The baby’s great-grandfather is a George too,” she said. Their show was
slower this year than last, but they plan to return
next year.
Some of the show’s book dealers displayed photographs, broadsides, and period documents. This unusual piece is a statement about the assassination of President James Garfield. Its author, identified only as
“Queen Emma,” expressed herself in words and illustration. Dealer Ian Brabner of Wilmington, Delaware,
described it as early “Outsider art” and a “quixotic
puzzle.” He priced it at $950. The message discusses the
fatal attack by Charles Guiteau on President Garfield
on July 2, 1881. A bouquet of flowers contains faces of
people. On the left side of the page are buildings.
Garfield did not die directly from the bullet wound but
from an infection and other complications over two
months later.
The Puckett booth displayed this
illuminated manuscript, once a leaf
in a circa 1470 Gregorian chant
choir book. It shows a miniature
painting of Zacharias and John the
Baptist in the upper left comer. Written on parchment (animal skin), it
was created in Italy in either Lombardy or Milan. The dealers were
asking $20,000 for it.
On the wall behind New York City dealer Valerie
Ivory is a set of four wood and metal plaques made
in France circa 1880. She was asking $9000 for
them. Her best sales were during setup and on opening day, she said. Yes, she sells ivory.
Jackie Smelkinson and Marcia Moylan of
The Spare Room were all smiles when the
show closed on Sunday. The Baltimore
dealers, who are veterans of all 27 years
this show has been in town, described it as
“outstanding.” They sold jewelry, ceramics, and random smalls. In the showcase
behind them are Regency period Coalport
ceramics, priced from $400 to $2200.
One of the oldest items at the show was an
Egyptian ibis in a plastic case, found in the
booth of Coliseum Antiques, Los Alamitos,
California. It dates to 1 or 2 B.C. and was
priced at $23,000.
☞
- SHOW -
Butler & Butler Antiques, Sarasota, Florida, brought
plenty of smalls and this year, like last, did very well
with them. An example of the bronzes included, from
left, a dog by Mene, $895; bears with cub by Moselsio,
$1150; and a seated bear by Luc, $895.
This 18" x 24" painting, A New Story by Louis
Moeller (1855-1930), was priced at $60,000 by
Michael A. Latragna of Rochester, New York.
Neil and Jan Rasmussen bought
the marble-top table at the show
and were taking it home to use.
On top, a marble bust of a woman
was marked $1295. Next to it a
bronze by Emmanuel Villanis was
marked $2895. The painting of a
New England fall landscape by
Robert Wood was priced at
$12,950. The dealer said Wood
The pottery behind Susan Libby may resemble eventually moved to Texas and
majolica, but it’s actually Awaji. The Wilton, Con- California where his paintings are
necticut, dealer and her husband, Thomas, special- popular.
ize in the ceramics made on the Japanese island of
Awaji, where the first kiln was established in 1831.
Influenced by international trends and design
changes, the potters produced their own version of
Art Nouveau and Deco, the focus of the Libbys’
inventory. She said they got more interest than sales
at this show, and they tend to sell more at Modernism shows. Prices ranged from $150 to $12,000.
They trade as Cannondale Antiques. Thomas is
working on a book about Awaji.
“A beautiful show” was the description heard over
and over by dealers and visitors alike. When the
promoters asked the Baltimore Convention Center
if they could expand this year by adding over 100
additional dealers, the capacious downtown
structure had no problem accommodating them.
Malvern, Pennsylvania, dealer Gordon
Converse held one of his specialties, a
bargeware teapot. Dated 1880, its price
was $15,500. The chest below is Pennsylvania cherry marked $3800. The clock is
French, circa 1800, signed Rebel. The reenameled dial is by G. Merlet. He was
asking $18,000 for it. The oil painting,
Hon fleur harbor by Maurice Courant
(French, 1847-1925), was priced at
$10,500.
Early in the show, Essex
Antiquarians, Essex, Massachusetts, put sold tags on a
pair of marble-top stands.
On top is a circa 1830 Rose
Medallion urn converted to
a lamp. Its price was $2950.
The Needle’s Work Antiques,
Morton, Illinois, had several
samplers to choose from. This
one, dated 1732, made in England by French-born Leah
Bouhault, has this part of
Psalm 37:37 in King James
English, “Mark the perfect
man and behold the upright:
for the end of that man is
peace.” The sampler had a
price of $3340. Dealers Dawn
and Bruce Lewis said the
alphabet on it has 24 letters,
with no J or U.
Not only new to the show, Neil
and Jan Rasmussen hadn’t been
any farther north on the East
Coast than Miami. From Menlo
Park, California, they brought a
wide variety, most of which went
back on the truck. “As a dealer
for approximately forty years, I
know that when you’re the first
time on the block it takes a while
for people to get accustomed to
you,” he said. “I think we’re experiencing a little bit of that. We
had a fairly OK show, but it
could’ve been better.” He said
after the show they were headed
to Brimfield, then to Moosehead
Lake in Maine to relax.
Robert and Judy Milberg of
Setauket, New York, brought an
unrelated mix of merchandise and
sold it. “I deal in an eclectic blend,
and I sold quite a bit of it,” he said.
Sales included Chinese items such as
snuff bottles, mid-century Italian
glass, oil paintings, American and
European ceramics, mid-century
modern furniture, Scandinavian
rosewood glass-top tables, and a midcentury floor lamp. “I did very well
last year, and this year is comparable,” he said. They’re shown standing
with a circa 1860 Japanese porcelain
vase priced at $5000 and a French
Art Deco table marked $4000. The
cowhide on the floor was not for sale,
but people wanted it anyway.
This unusual “Suffragette’s
Prayer” was dated 1914 and
available from Carlson & Stevenson, Manchester Center, Vermont, for $750. Although its
intent may have been longing for
the right to vote, its author seems
to have had another priority. It
reads, “Oh! I want the vote the
same as a man/ Oh! I want the
vote just as bad as I can/ But, tho’
I want the vote just as bad as I
can/ There’s one thing I’d like
better/ and that is—The Man!”
Outside, dealer John Orban (left) of Cadiz, Ohio, and
Charles Bojack (center) try to figure how to load a
circa 1850 French commode, which was bound for
Florida. “We had more serious buyers on the first and
second day,” Bojack said. “The first couple of hours
were like a feeding frenzy. We about emptied half our
booth.” The weekend, he said, had more “casual and
spontaneous” buyers.
The white carpet, shipped by rail from Florida, not
only gives the show class and brightens the hall, it
also makes walking the long aisles easier on the feet.
Buyers who felt the need to take a break found rows
of chairs to be convenient rest stops.
Sheila G. Parish of Tutto dal Mondo specializes
in jewelry and sterling silver. Larry, her husband, set up his own booth across from hers
with a collection of vintage advertising tins. He
brought a few over for this photo. Sheila held
open a large yellow tin, designed to look like a
trunk, which held Glycerole “for oiling and
dressing shoes,” it reads. Priced at $350, it may
have been a salesman’s container. In front of
Larry is a circa 1875 Moses cough drop tin for
$540 and a small tin with a scale on the lid for
biscuit maker William Crawford & Son. Its
price was $1450. The dealer said biscuit is
another name for cookie, for the British.
This 1790 silver
tureen made in
London by
Andrew Fogelberg and
Stephen Gilbert
was available
from Tutto dal
Mondo, Penn
Valley, Pennsylvania, for
$18,000.