Once again the Chicago Botanic Garden show does not disappoint. The weather was perfect, unseasonably warm for that time of the year so the narcissus and tulips were in full bloom as were many of the trees. So the stage was set for a beautiful show even before you got into the show itself. I’m going to start off with a few photos of my booth and then follow up with some of the floral displays and a sample of the dealer’s booths that were setup at the show. Click on images to enlarge.
The pressed flower botanicals date from 1887 and have the plant specimen’s name, and often which state the plant was found in written delicately in brown ink. They have been archivally framed in silver gilt frames.
Several of the botanical specimens were arranged in a naturalistic way above a water-colored rock landscape. This is a very unusual technique and quite beautiful.
The carved wooden deer paper-mache mold forms, in the foreground of this photo, found greener pasture and a new home. I’m sure they will enjoy living in the Chicago north shore area.
As you can see I actually did bring everything…. and the kitchen sink, albeit a french early 20th century farm sink. A collection of door-knockers shows off well in their unlikely location.
Certainly the heaviest thing I brought to the show was this huge fossilized shell. Luckily we did not have to put it back on the truck when we left the show, the fossil having found its way to a new home. The chairs on either side of the shell were designed by Pipsan Saarinen in the 1950s, they also found a new place to dwell.
The Swedish tall case clock is dated 1772 and is all original. The workbench was crowded with collections of unusual objects, including a collection of found sculptures made from vintage gas burners by a St. Louis artist who had collected them many years ago. Click on images to enlarge.
The Sculptures on the workbench were joined by french glove display hands and a pair of 19th century male manikins marked with their Paris labels.
The articulated artist model has found a perch on an English garden gate from the 1920s.
The flying cranes in the photo above were actually tin litho advertising signs that one by one flew away at the show (sorry couldn’t resist).
Hanging above the industrial tall cart was a Curtis Jere sculpture of a giant over-sized chrome kitchen strainer from the 1970s.
The doll head mold forms create an interesting collection in mass on the shelf, above them is a hand-painted folk art steel trolley car with great color and crackled surface. Click on images to enlarge.
The booth had an area that felt like a small room off to one side that at times became a very tight space which seemed to draw even more people into it and make it feel even smaller.
On a marble top table I have a french fist door latch, a Chinese terra-cotta fountain, an English 19th century carved marble basket of fruit, and a huge battery jar from Belgium full of oranges, just encase we got hungry at the show.
The very back corner of the booth chocked full of curious objects.
After the large hand-painted carousel panel with “Rosalie” painted on it left the building we put this life size European Art Deco garden sculpture of an archer on the back wall. The shadow play is great. He seems to look just as good inside as it will outside in a garden. Click on images to enlarge.
Now for the incredible floral displays placed throughout the show. This urn greeted you at one of the main entrances to the show, it reached seven feet high full of fresh flowers. Boxwood topiaries were in each corner.
“Picnic on the lawn in Provence” seemed to be the theme of this display in a long hall. Large urns full of hydrangeas are at either end of a long table setup in shades of blue and white.
Two geese decoys seemed to be having an intimate conversation surrounded by all the festive table decorations. I also noticed the decoys were the only antique pieces in this display at the antiques fair.
Orchids… huge balls of blooming orchids. Wow.
This is a closeup of one of the spheres of orchid plants, they were really amazing. Click on images to enlarge.
There were four corners in one room planted with this park-like setting at one of the entrances to one of the two large tents at the show.
This is a wonderful 19th century cast iron twig-form gate and fence that was used in one of the garden displays.
Please excuse the dark photo. It was taken on a cloudy day and so the tent was very dark. This is part of the same display that is in the previous photo. I thought the hen and chicks planted in the horseshoe chair were a great visual. The play of textures and color are great. Click on images to enlarge.
One of the many halls that were fully planted and decorated with blooming flowers and water features in and around the shrubs. One of the reasons I enjoy doing the show so much is to see what creative and interesting floral displays are going to be at the garden’s antique fairs year after year. Think about attending next year’s show if you couldn’t make it to this one. I’m going to follow these images with just a few photos from the over 100 antique dealers booths from the antique fair last week.
Linen walls and no kitchen sink..that’s for sure. This is Branca’s booth.
This is Balsamo’s booth they are from New York state. Click on images to enlarge.
The Finnegan Gallery from Chicago with a really great carved limestone bench.
Rod Lich and Susan Parrett’s booth with wonderful garden objects as well as rare Old Hickory furniture and folk art. They are from Georgetown, Indiana. A link to their website is here.
Kimball & Been, Architectural and Garden Antiques always have a great assortment of iron urns and garden containers. They are from Woodstock, Illinois.
Doug Taylor and John Lynch of Praiseworthy Antiques in New York state brought everything and the bathroom sink as well as the toilet and the tub all of which are salesman samples. Interesting play of scale with the child size bathroom pieces and the large porcelain enameled ampersand sign standing at attention behind them.
More & More Antiques, from New York City had a great pair of dogs very similar to a pair of J. W. Fiske zinc dogs that I had at the garden show two years ago.
Celtic Gardens Imports, located in Michigan has an amazing collection of stone objects mostly from Ireland. He has a very nice, very green website here.
Michael and Lynn Worden of Worden Select Objects from Michigan have a wonderful assortment of garden antiques often with a strong graphic quality.
Michael Worden and I were wandering the halls taking photos at the same time, hence this photo of him taking a photo of me while I’m photographing him. This show has an intense setup getting ready for opening in less than two days so we can get a bit goofy by the end of the day. Another great show is now over and time to go to the Chicago Merchandise Mart International Antiques Show coming up next week. The show starts Thursday, April 30th and runs through Monday, May 3rd. You can find all the info on the show and FREE tickets to all the shows at the Mart that weekend by clicking here.