Winter Antiques Show

Lindsay Pollock writes an early review on the opening of the 56th annual Winter Antiques Show.  According to the report sales have so far been very strong.  Last year many dealers reported struggling at the show, but this year appears to be different with buyers having more confidence, and perhaps a bit of pent up demand from putting off purchases.

Pollock reports

Tickets to attend the first hour of the annual show, held at the Park Avenue Armory, cost $1,000 to $2,500. Publisher and collector Peter M. Brant and Sallie Krawcheck, president of Global Wealth & Investment Management at Bank of America Corp., the fair’s main sponsor, were among attendees.

“Last year was somber,” said folk-art dealer David Schorsch. “This is a different year and it’s back. It’s not crazy, but it’s back.”

Sales were sluggish at the 2009 edition, amid a dismal economic outlook. A year later, buyers are more confident and eager to spend.

The Winter Show, known to cater to the tastes -- and pocketbooks -- of New York’s rich, hosts 75 exhibitors this year and runs through Jan. 31. Proceeds benefit East Side House Settlement, a South Bronx nonprofit organization.

German Armor

The fair presents a smattering of American and European furniture and fine art. London arms-and-armor dealer Peter Finer offered a 16th-century suit of German armor for $750,000 and an impressive 1574 German sword for $48,000.

Other marquee offerings include sculptor Paul Manship’s neo-classical, 9-foot-tall pink marble urn, priced at $6 million, at dealer Gerald Peters’s stand. Manship’s best-known work is Rockefeller Center’s golden “Prometheus” statue. The 7-ton urn, featuring American Indian-themed designs, was originally commissioned in 1914 for the driveway of Cleveland, Ohio, industrialist William Gwinn Mather’s estate.

Peters is also selling four gilt-bronze panels by Manship, originally designed for the facade of the American Telephone & Telegraph building on Lower Broadway. The panels represent the four elements -- air, fire, water and earth -- and are available as a set of four for $6 million.

Less expensive yard fare is available from Maine dealers James and Nancy Glazer, whose stand is dominated by a 1903 turquoise copper elk, which formerly topped an Elks club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The price: $425,000.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.