The 2011 spring International Show at the mart is now over, and what a show it was. This year’s show seemed somehow different than other shows that I have exhibited at recently, a buzz was in the air. We had great attendance at the show for all four days. Monday, the last day, the show was so crowded that even when it closed at 3 p. m. security had to try to get the customers to leave the floor so we could pack and move out of the building before midnight. It felt good to be a part of an antiques show that continues to grow and evolve into something truly special for the exhibitors as well as for the clientele. Click on images to enlarge.
On the 11 foot long 18th century Italian refractory table is a collection of 19 mounted automotive hood ornaments. They were mounted on iron bases so that each hood ornaments could pivot on its stand, perfectly balanced so that you could display them in any direction; showing movement, like a school of fish in the ocean.
The chrome automotive ornaments seemed to fly towards you. They dated from the 1930s to late 1950s.
From flying rams to rocket men the variety of sleek streamlined industrial designs on the hood ornaments is remarkable, most of these chrome beauties were created to symbolize speed and sophistication. Click on images to enlarge.
The outside wall of the booth shows a collection of autographs that have been made into “Rorschach tests.” Below the autographs is an expandable steel table with a variety of interesting objects all being lit by two large polished steel Jielde lamps from France.
On the steel top table we have an unusual wood, leather, and iron prosthesis dating from the civil war era next to two Dutch dartboards that are now on their way to NYC, the pair of French angel wings found flight also, (sorry couldn’t resist.)
One of the most famous autographs in the collection was this one from baseball’s Shoeless Joe Jackson. You can see in the close-up photo that the signature is written in ink vertically and then the paper was folded over, pressed, and then unfolded to create a “Rorschach” made from the wet ink. The signee then signed below the ink creation in the traditional manner.
The French architectural mirror in the center of the photo is surrounded by the eclectic mix of art, period furniture, and unusual objects that my customers have come to expect from my booth displays at the mart.
One of my favorite things in the booth was this collection of early automotive headlight lenses that have been mounted in custom display stands. The lenses date from the early 1900s to the 1930s, they were also lucky enough to go to the same home as the hood ornament collection. I really love the interplay of light in these lenses. Click on images to enlarge.
Ignore the person in the mirror, getting the lights right can be tricky at a show, especially when lighting artwork. At least Greg is being reflected in a wonderful silver gilt Louis Phillippe mirror, surrounded by tramp art, a German scale, and a pair of large 18th century pricket style altar sticks we found in Belgium.
On the French chest is a huge 19th blown glass bottle in front of a collection of silver European ex-votos hung on either side of the gilt mirror.
The framed quotes are from the Dick and Jane flash card series. The cards were fun to hang is various ways to produce different sentences, and suggestions. The flash cards found their way to many different Chicago area homes. The German black forest antlers also stayed behind in the city with their new owners.
The large contemporary painting in this photo was done in 1957 by Guillermo Silva Santamaria (1921 – 2007.) Silva is best known for his innovations in printmaking and his teaching skills but his oils are remarkable. This painting titled “The girl with the apple cheeks.” was painted during his brief stay in St. Louis during the late 1950s teaching printmaking classes at Washington University School of Art. Click on images to enlarge.
In the photo above on the far left is a rare French advertising poster for an opera by Charles Gesmar who was famous for doing many of the amazing art deco posters for the Moulin Rouge in the early 1920s. The Gersmar poster is behind a polished steel windsor chair made in the 1940s by hand, next to the chair is an American Indian drum supporting a mid-19th century store display manikin of a female torso, all living happily and hopefully briefly in my booth.
I had two paintings by St. Louis artist Alvin Metelman (1896-1948) in my booth at the show. The academic painting shown above is a wonderful example of what a painting class might have looked like in St. Louis in the early 20th century.
The title of this painting by Metelman is “before the masquerade,” and I think it is one of the best paintings I’ve had in the shop in years. Metelman seemed to paint mostly portraits and those portraits seem to be of average people in the city life of St. Louis; such as dock workers, boxers, and this lovely woman who seems to be so comfortable with herself and her surroundings. The oil was found in its original frame which is very plain for such a masterly executed painting but yet at the same time the frame is exactly what is needed so as to not compete with the vibrancy of the sitter. Click on the images to enlarge.
Lounging beneath the Metelman portrait is a large articulated artist figure that was originally found here in St. Louis. Most of these figures are French but somehow this one found its way to the city, the gateway to the west. During the cities’ artistic heyday of the late 19th century to the early 20th, many European and eastern artist came to St. Louis, some to stay and some to go on to paint the vast wilderness of the wild west.
Gold jewelry, a Newell Arnold bronze, and a Meissen vase are all sharing space in the showcase. Click on images to enlarge.
This shelf held some of the odd baby doll mold forms on the left and a doctors teaching aid from the 1930s on the right. The teaching aid has donned a pair of eye glasses/mask made out of spoons. The spoon mask found a much more lively face to hang out on in Chicago.
The 11 foot long table required a new tableau after the hood ornaments went off to their new home, so another collection seemed in order and the French door knockers worked out great displayed on the marble trivets. Remember we have a stash of these really cool marble trivets at the shop, they sell for $ 50 bucks each and they are perfect for a cheese board, an orchid tray, that hard to find hostess gift, or last but not least they make a great kitchen trivet or hotplate as my Grandmother Mary would’ve said. Email me for more info on the trivets or anything else you see in the blog photos that you have questions about. I hope these photos will inspire you to attend the fall show at the mart coming up this October 13th – 16th, 2011 as well as the spring show in 2012. The shows will be here before you know it. Click on images to enlarge.
