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Baltimore, Maryland

27th Summer Antiques Show Sizzles a Second Timeby Robert Kyle

A passerby checked out a large19th-century painting of a nude,Orientalist Beauty by AlbertAublet (French, 1851-1938). The91" x 56" oil on canvas wasoffered by Basking Ridge, NewJersey, dealer Jay Chatellier for$75,000.

A life-size red-painted bellhop on astand was seen in the booth of Peter Neeof Millwood, Virginia. Rita K. Balee of Stonehouse Antiques &

Design, Wayne, Pennsylvania, has beendoing this show for 18 years. She describedthis as “very good” for her, but it couldhave been better if she had sold biggerpieces. “I sold a lot of smalls, porcelain,and jewelry but no furniture—and furni-ture is my thing!” she said, adding, “ButI’ll take it any way I can get it.” In front ofher is a 19th-century Italian carved woodsheep, one of two, priced at $2500 for thepair. The game table is English, circa 1820,made of Brazilian rosewood, and tagged$5800.

Peter Broda stood next to a pair of circa1930 torchères priced at $1800. The glassis yellow supported by gilt brass. Brodawas assisting dealer Roy Rover of Easton,Pennsylvania. Early in the show andduring setup, they had sold jewelry andsterling, Broda said.

Soon after the show opened on Thursday, JonathanDaniels of Daniels Antiques, Hallandale, Florida,sold the two antique gaming machines (shown to hisright) to the same buyer. The one at left is a MillsJumbo Poker machine. Used in saloons and barswhere cigars were prevalent, it does not pay outmoney but is a penny machine from which a winnergets coupons for free cigars. A straight, for instance,awards the player ten cigars. Next to Daniels is a1929 Mills baseball machine. The machines weresold in the neighborhood of $20,000 for both. Thesale, said Daniels, increases the total gamingmachines he sold in the last six months to 20. Dis-cussing their scarcity, Daniels said, “There’s not aretail store in America where you can find these.”

One of the most desir-able early gamingmachines is the elegant72" tall Watling’s Jack-pot. It was made in 1904and accepts nickels.Daniels Antiques hadthis one priced at$50,000, give or take afew nickels.

The Three Musketeers did it again. The trio ofyoung show promoters, known as the PalmBeach Group, convincingly confirmed that

last year’s dramatic resurrection and rebirth of amiddling 26-year-old downtown Baltimore eventwas no accident. One for all and all for one certain-ly translated into giving many dealers more finan-cial security and increasing Baltimore’s tourismrevenue.

From August 30 to September 2 the BaltimoreConvention Center was once more pulsating withpeople from all over the country who collectivelyre-energized the Baltimore Summer AntiquesShow, the Labor Day weekend show launched byFrank Farbenbloom and his Sha-Dor company in1980.

The Palm Beach Group presented its first Balti-more show last year. The town hasn’t seen thismuch excitement since Cal Ripken’s streak. Nowthe new promoters—Robert Samuels, Kris Chara-monde, and Scott Diament—have started theirown streak of two big wins since purchasing theshow in October 2005.

“We brought in a lot of high-end collectors, peo-ple who actually spent a great deal of money,” saidKris Charamonde, co-managing partner. “A coupleof our exhibitors were in seven figures, whichdidn’t happen last year.” Seven figures? In Balti-more? With aggressive promotion and a budget toback it, the Palm Beach Group boys demonstratedthat buyers are out there, you just need to informthem of your show and have desirable merchan-dise from reputable dealers.

For instance, M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans,Louisiana, displayed a Paul Revere coffeepotpriced around $1.8 million. It sold. Standing 11",it’s one of only three armorial coffeepots Revereproduced prior to his career change to become aRevolutionary. His other two similar coffeepots arein museums.

“I talked to Albert Levy, and he told me he hadone of his best shows he’s ever had, bar none, andhe 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 collec-tors and sell that type of artwork or antiquity,”Charmonde said. “We were selling antiquities inexcess of a half million dollars this year, whichwas even a surprise to me. That was a goal wealways had, but we didn’t realize we’d reach it thisfast.”

One of the strategies was to upgrade the qualityof dealers, which in turn would appeal to a moresophisticated level of buyer. “What we did lastyear and again this year, we brought in a lot ofhigher end exhibitors who really saw some greatperformances this year because we started toadvertise regionally instead of promoting the showin the Baltimore area,” Charamonde said.

“We started to really go after the higher end col-lectors in Virginia, Delaware, D.C., and Pennsyl-vania, and our strategy really worked,” he said. “Inchecking the comp tickets that came in, which wehad given to some of those collectors, the majorityof them were from far-away places. People actual-ly drove several hours to get to the show. Not just

This flock was so life-like that this reporter thought they wereactually mingling and manuring in the booth. Upon closerinspection they proved to be on canvas, not on the floor. The 35"x 40" 19th-century Sheep and Shepherdess by Cornelius vanLeemputten (Belgian, 1841-1902) was priced at $14,500.

With 60 book dealers included in the roster, the book section cre-ated a show within a show. This photo, taken on opening day,Thursday, shows the popular booth of the John Bale Book Com-pany, Waterbury, Connecticut. Its proprietor, Dan Gaeta (farleft), was pleased. “It was a very good show, better than I expect-ed, he said. “All of the booksellers I spoke with were abuzz withpositive comments,” he said. His sales ranged from about $20 to$1500 and included fine bindings and local history. “There wasconsistently heavy traffic, especially Saturday and Sunday.”

one or two people but manythousands. It was extraordinary!We couldn’t believe how wellwe were able to pull from neigh-boring states this year.”

Buyers were treated to more

dealers this year. When word cir-culated of the success of lastyear’s show, a waiting list quick-ly formed. The promotersaccommodated these dealersthis year by adding at least 100

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 Star-bucks added nearby, the booksellers stayedbusy. “It was constant heavy traffic, especial-ly Saturday and Sunday,” said Dan Gaeta ofthe John Bale Book Company, Waterbury,Connecticut. “It was one of our better sellingshows. Mixing book dealers with high-endantiques dealers works,” he said. “The otherbooksellers were abuzz with positive com-ments,” he added.

“We love the book fair,” Charamonde said,“and we subsidize it. I don’t think the bookdealers realize that the rate they pay for thesquare foot is the lowest in the event. We sub-sidize them because we feel they add atremendous element of charm and academic

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Some of the show’s book dealers displayed photo-graphs, broadsides, and period documents. This unusu-al piece is a statement about the assassination of Presi-dent James Garfield. Its author, identified only as“Queen Emma,” expressed herself in words and illus-tration. Dealer Ian Brabner of Wilmington, Delaware,described it as early “Outsider art” and a “quixoticpuzzle.” He priced it at $950. The message discusses thefatal attack by Charles Guiteau on President Garfieldon July 2, 1881. A bouquet of flowers contains faces ofpeople. On the left side of the page are buildings.Garfield did not die directly from the bullet wound butfrom an infection and other complications over twomonths later.

Here’s Maile and the three Georges. No, they’renot a rock band, they’re a happy family. New Jer-sey print and map dealer Maile Allen recently gavebirth to little George. He was seven weeks old whenthis photo was taken. He’s in the arms of his father,George, a biology professor at Middlesex Collegein Edison, New Jersey. On the other side of Maileis her father, George. “The baby’s great-grandfa-ther is a George too,” she said. Their show wasslower this year than last, but they plan to returnnext year.

Teresa Puckett (center) and her husband, Charles (right, atshowcase), 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 illuminatedmanuscripts. “It was an excellent show for us,” Teresa said. “Wesold a full range of items from inexpensive maps to very expen-sive maps and a number of illuminated manuscripts.” She saidsales ranged from about $50 to $15,000. “The attendance waswonderful,” she said, “especially on Thursday and Saturday.”

The Puckett booth displayed thisilluminated manuscript, once a leafin a circa 1470 Gregorian chantchoir book. It shows a miniaturepainting of Zacharias and John theBaptist in the upper left comer. Writ-ten on parchment (animal skin), itwas created in Italy in either Lom-bardy or Milan. The dealers wereasking $20,000 for it.

pursuit to the show; the culturalside that a lot of people enjoy.”

The Baltimore SummerAntiques Show, which became afour-day affair last year when thePalm Beach Group took over, hasquickly evolved into three sepa-rate entities. Wednesday, dealersetup day, has become a private,members-only show where thetrade transacts among itself.Many dealers contacted reportedgood sales during setup.

“The way the show has shapedup is that Thursday and Fridayseem to be more like the old [Sha-Dor] crowd, the dealer crowd andthe savvy collectors,” Chara-monde said. “Bigger sales happenon Saturday and Sunday with pri-vate individuals.” Retail buyers,he said, “are a new group we’retrying to bring to the show thatweren’t aware of it prior to this.That seems to be snowballing.”

He said they were pleasantlymobbed over the weekend. “OnSaturday you would not want anymore people in the building. Itwas packed with a nice, healthylevel where it created a feeling ofexcitement on the floor, the excit-ing kind of feeling when youknow a lot of business is beingdone.” How many people werethere on Saturday? “In excess often thousand,” he said.

During the Sha-Dor era, 10,000people over three days were allanyone could hope for. That wasperceived as the total of all peoplewho liked antiques in this geo-graphical area. The new promot-ers challenged this assumption.Last year, in only its first Balti-more show, the Palm BeachGroup demonstrated that about20,000 additional buyers wereout there, they just needed aninvitation. Increasing the adver-tising did the trick. To pay for it,dealers now pay about double thebooth rent they did under the for-mer promoter.

“It’s a bold investment on theside of the promoter; you have tobe willing to commit the dollars,”Charamonde said. “We reallythrow it out there,” he said of theadvertising, which this yearincluded full-page ads in USAToday.

“It’s a risky thing, and it’s beenworking. It just goes to show thatif you’re willing to invest, it willpay off…We’ve invested a lot ofmoney in the show, and we’remaking a much lower profit mar-gin than normally would beexpected because we’re lookingat the long view rather than theshort view and not just trying tomake a quick buck. We’re look-ing to build a very substantialbusiness that will run for anothertwenty-five years.”

In planning their inaugural Bal-timore show last year, the pro-moters turned publicity over toprofessionals who know thetown. Caitlin McIntyre of Pro-files, a Baltimore PR agency,reviewed ways she and the com-pany spread the word. Much ofthe media exposure was free.

“Profiles was successful insecuring television interviews onour local CBS, ABC, and Foxaffiliates as well as MarylandPublic Television and CN8, theComcast network. As a result,fourteen television segmentsaired featuring the show,” saidMcIntyre.

“Additionally, to promote thenew lecture series, we secured aninterview with two lecture speak-ers on WYPR, Baltimore’sNational Public Radio affiliate.We were also able to place sever-al feature stories, including a fea-ture on the front of the Baltimore

Examiner and on the cover of the“Live!” section of the BaltimoreSun.

“Gus Davis from Camilla DietzBergeron Limited sold nine of thethirteen pieces by two p.m. thathe brought to his live TV inter-view Thursday morning. We hadarranged for his appearance,” shesaid.

In addition to placing storieswith the local media, the agencyworks the streets and community.“We do a good deal of grassrootsmarketing, including targetedticket mailings, cross-promotionwith arts and cultural institutionsin the Mid-Atlantic region, andset up promotional displays,”McIntyre said.

The lecture series she referredto was a new feature this year. Sixspeakers over four days discussedjewelry, Satsuma earthenware,decorating with antiques and art,smiling Sichuan statues, Englishand American silver, and collect-ing books. The presentations tookplace in a meeting room in thelobby of the convention center,which enabled anyone to attendfree of charge without payingshow admission, which is $12Thursday and $8 thereafter.

The Palm Beach Group has notonly dispelled the prevailingnotion that audiences for antiquesare shrinking, they noticed thatfurniture—said to be soft for thepast few years—is selling in Bal-timore. “We sold a lot of furni-ture,” Charamonde said. “Youknow people say furniture isdead? Not true. Not true at all. Wehad a lot of exhibitors all over thefloor selling furniture.”

Publicist Caitlin McIntyre saidfirst-time dealer Michael Sams ofCorydon, Indiana, “sold out hisbooth on the first day of the showand had to bring in several newitems.” She added that “most ofhis sales were between fifteenthousand and thirty-five thousanddollars.” June Greenwald ofCleveland, Ohio, sold a 1936 oilpainting, The Law by R.H. IvesGammell, priced at $225,000.

“I’ve been watching things goout. Bronzes, decorative arts,European furniture—English-Italian pieces, especially ifthey’re decorative,” said NeilRasmussen, a first-timer fromCalifornia. Describing his showas “fairly OK,” he said he knowswhat to bring next time.

For dealers who haven’t yetsigned up, there may not be a nexttime. “At this point we have anincredible ninety-five-percent re-sign rate,” Charamonde said afterthe show closed. “I’m not push-ing for expansion,” he said. “Itwould be more to accommodatepeople at this point. We haveroom to expand by another fifteenpercent.”

For more information, call(561) 822-5440 or go to (www.palmbeachshowgroup.com).

On the wall behind New York City dealer ValerieIvory is a set of four wood and metal plaques madein France circa 1880. She was asking $9000 forthem. Her best sales were during setup and on open-ing day, she said. Yes, she sells ivory.

Jackie Smelkinson and Marcia Moylan ofThe Spare Room were all smiles when theshow closed on Sunday. The Baltimoredealers, who are veterans of all 27 yearsthis show has been in town, described it as“outstanding.” They sold jewelry, ceram-ics, and random smalls. In the showcasebehind them are Regency period Coalportceramics, priced from $400 to $2200.

One of the oldest items at the show was anEgyptian ibis in a plastic case, found in thebooth of Coliseum Antiques, Los Alamitos,California. It dates to 1 or 2 B.C. and waspriced at $23,000.

Zane Moss of New York City hadthis 32" x 29" circa 1880 Englishapothecary cabinet with originallabels priced at $2900.

Early in the show, EssexAntiquarians, Essex, Mass-achusetts, put sold tags on apair of marble-top stands.On top is a circa 1830 RoseMedallion urn converted toa lamp. Its price was $2950.

Butler & Butler Antiques, Sarasota, Florida, broughtplenty of smalls and this year, like last, did very wellwith them. An example of the bronzes included, fromleft, a dog by Mene, $895; bears with cub by Moselsio,$1150; and a seated bear by Luc, $895.

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Outside, dealer John Orban (left) of Cadiz, Ohio, andCharles Bojack (center) try to figure how to load acirca 1850 French commode, which was bound forFlorida. “We had more serious buyers on the first andsecond day,” Bojack said. “The first couple of hourswere like a feeding frenzy. We about emptied half ourbooth.” The weekend, he said, had more “casual andspontaneous” buyers.

Robert and Judy Milberg ofSetauket, New York, brought anunrelated mix of merchandise andsold it. “I deal in an eclectic blend,and I sold quite a bit of it,” he said.Sales included Chinese items such assnuff bottles, mid-century Italianglass, oil paintings, American andEuropean ceramics, mid-centurymodern furniture, Scandinavianrosewood glass-top tables, and a mid-century floor lamp. “I did very welllast year, and this year is compara-ble,” he said. They’re shown standingwith a circa 1860 Japanese porcelainvase priced at $5000 and a FrenchArt Deco table marked $4000. Thecowhide on the floor was not for sale,but people wanted it anyway.

The white carpet, shipped by rail from Florida, notonly gives the show class and brightens the hall, italso makes walking the long aisles easier on the feet.Buyers who felt the need to take a break found rowsof chairs to be convenient rest stops.

This 18" x 24" painting, A New Story by LouisMoeller (1855-1930), was priced at $60,000 byMichael A. Latragna of Rochester, New York.

Neil and Jan Rasmussen boughtthe marble-top table at the showand were taking it home to use.On top, a marble bust of a womanwas marked $1295. Next to it abronze by Emmanuel Villanis wasmarked $2895. The painting of aNew England fall landscape byRobert Wood was priced at$12,950. The dealer said Woodeventually moved to Texas andCalifornia where his paintings arepopular.

Not only new to the show, Neiland Jan Rasmussen hadn’t beenany farther north on the EastCoast than Miami. From MenloPark, California, they brought awide variety, most of which wentback on the truck. “As a dealerfor approximately forty years, Iknow that when you’re the firsttime on the block it takes a whilefor people to get accustomed toyou,” he said. “I think we’re expe-riencing a little bit of that. Wehad a fairly OK show, but itcould’ve been better.” He saidafter the show they were headedto Brimfield, then to MooseheadLake in Maine to relax.

This unusual “Suffragette’sPrayer” was dated 1914 andavailable from Carlson & Steven-son, Manchester Center, Ver-mont, for $750. Although itsintent may have been longing forthe right to vote, its author seemsto have had another priority. Itreads, “Oh! I want the vote thesame as a man/ Oh! I want thevote just as bad as I can/ But, tho’I want the vote just as bad as Ican/ There’s one thing I’d likebetter/ and that is—The Man!”

“A beautiful show” was the description heard overand over by dealers and visitors alike. When thepromoters asked the Baltimore Convention Centerif they could expand this year by adding over 100additional dealers, the capacious downtownstructure had no problem accommodating them.

This 1790 silvertureen made in

London byAndrew Fogel-

berg andStephen Gilbert

was availablefrom Tutto dal

Mondo, PennValley, Pennsyl-

vania, for$18,000.

Sheila G. Parish of Tutto dal Mondo specializesin jewelry and sterling silver. Larry, her hus-band, set up his own booth across from herswith a collection of vintage advertising tins. Hebrought a few over for this photo. Sheila heldopen a large yellow tin, designed to look like atrunk, which held Glycerole “for oiling anddressing shoes,” it reads. Priced at $350, it mayhave been a salesman’s container. In front ofLarry is a circa 1875 Moses cough drop tin for$540 and a small tin with a scale on the lid forbiscuit maker William Crawford & Son. Itsprice was $1450. The dealer said biscuit isanother name for cookie, for the British.

The pottery behind Susan Libby may resemblemajolica, but it’s actually Awaji. The Wilton, Con-necticut, dealer and her husband, Thomas, special-ize in the ceramics made on the Japanese island ofAwaji, where the first kiln was established in 1831.Influenced by international trends and designchanges, the potters produced their own version ofArt Nouveau and Deco, the focus of the Libbys’inventory. She said they got more interest than salesat this show, and they tend to sell more at Mod-ernism shows. Prices ranged from $150 to $12,000.They trade as Cannondale Antiques. Thomas isworking on a book about Awaji.

Malvern, Pennsylvania, dealer GordonConverse held one of his specialties, abargeware teapot. Dated 1880, its pricewas $15,500. The chest below is Pennsyl-vania cherry marked $3800. The clock isFrench, circa 1800, signed Rebel. The re-enameled dial is by G. Merlet. He wasasking $18,000 for it. The oil painting,Hon fleur harbor by Maurice Courant(French, 1847-1925), was priced at$10,500.

The Needle’s Work Antiques,Morton, Illinois, had severalsamplers to choose from. Thisone, dated 1732, made in Eng-land by French-born LeahBouhault, has this part ofPsalm 37:37 in King JamesEnglish, “Mark the perfectman and behold the upright:for the end of that man ispeace.” The sampler had aprice of $3340. Dealers Dawnand Bruce Lewis said thealphabet on it has 24 letters,with no J or U.