Has it really been only 10 years? It seems like The American Antique Show has been around much longer. Held by The American Folk Art Museum as a benefit for exhibitions and educational programming, TAAS has become the top Americana show in the country and one of the 5 antique shows held in New York during what’s known as antique season in January.

Judging by the energy and enthusiasm of dealers and attendees at this year’s show, and the red “sold!” dots on item after item in booth after booth, the economy must be on the upswing. Dealers, some giddy with delight, were enthusiastic about their sales by Friday afternoon – and the show had 2 more days to go.

Jeff Cherry, owner of Cherry Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine, was pleased with the sale of a rare 6-drawer dresser made by Ernest Stowe of the Saranac Lake region of New York in the early 1900s. This beautifully-designed birch bark dresser is one of only a handful of pieces made by this artist who, according to Cherry, is considered the finest of the original Adirondack furniture designers. “The dresser came directly from the Adirondack camp where it has been since the camp and contents were purchased in the 1930s,” stated Cherry. The asking price was $125,000.

Elizabeth Warren, co-chair of the show and a museum trustee, noted that there were several new exhibitors this year. The Andrew Edlin Gallery, Galerie St. Etienne, the Outsider Folk Art Gallery, and Leatherwood Gallery all had high traffic through their booths and plenty of red dots.

“I added to my collection of children’s christening mugs. I love those!” exclaimed Warren. She purchased her mug, decorated with her name Elizabeth, from Leatherwood Gallery. Mo Wajselfish, owner of the Gallery, specializes in 19th century children’s earthenware pottery, as well as Black Forest carvings and other unusual antiques. He had a big preview night noting that Martha Stewart, Bunny Williams, along with her husband John Roselli, were all in his booth at the same time. On Friday afternoon he exchanged contact information with Barbara Streisand.

Mary Douglas Drysdale, designer, and a champion of using Americana in interiors, said, “TAAS is a show I never want to miss. Its dealers offer wonderful, diverse objects with a mind to sell. It is an antique show for the real world.” Drysdale was shepherding a Washington, DC client through the show and found the perfect hooked rug at Just Folk. The rug depicted George Washington, and just in case you don’t recognize General George, the hooker spelled Washington’s name out in great big letters.

Susan Baerwald and Marcy Carsey, owners of Just Folk, were also signing and selling their book, Unfiltered, a catalogue of the work of Bill Traylor, outsider artist.

“This is our 3rd year doing the show and it is extremely well-run. It isn’t forbidding to the customers, there is plenty of room to look, and a wide variety of offerings,” noted Baerwald.

Also, signing books was Scott Sanders, a New York-based designer who got his start at polo Ralph Lauren. According to Sanders website he, “created the company’s Interior Design Department and, as design director, transformed the residences of Polo Ralph Lauren clients in California, Florida, New York, Connecticut and Paris.” He has had his own design firm for 10 years.

Picture Perfect: Designing the New American Family Home, published by Pointed Leaf Press is Sanders first book. He documents the process of designing the interiors of a house under construction in minuet detail. Sanders was born and raised in Ohio where his grandfather and father were builders. He grew up immersed in design and took to it deeply and quickly. His childhood drawings (illustrated in the book) show a boy who, by the age of 12, had already defined his style and knew how to articulate it in sketches.

At Jeff R. Bridgeman American Antiques, business was brisk. His booth is always one of the most visually interesting in the show with huge framed flags and unusual folk sculpture. Bridgeman is extremely knowledgeable about early American flags and patriotic and political commemoratives. Little scholarship has been published on this wide-ranging topic, but Bridgeman is the go-to-guy for reliable information and outstanding examples of early American flags. He offered, and sold, a rare commissioning pennant with the mark of a US Navy ship, dating between 1837 and 1845. He noted that less than 1% of the flags he stocks date from this period or before.

At Jeff and Holly Noordsy, the red dots were abundant. These Vermont dealers feature colored glass from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as other decorative arts. “We have had a really good couple of months, said Holly Noordsy. “This is our 3rd year in the show and we are doing well.”

Noordsy noted that shortly before they arrived at the show, they found, in Vermont, a rare example of the work of the North Carolina folk artist Granny Donaldson. The wall hanging with crocheted figures and animals sewn onto a rust-colored backing was a rare find indeed-especially so far from its source.

The museum refers to the dealers who have been with the show for all ten years as “founding exhibitors.” Two of those exhibitors Stella Rubin Antiques and American Primitive had show-stopping objects for sale.

American Primitive showed off the carvings of Carl Christansen [d.1957], a recently-discovered Nebraska folk artist. According to Tina Anton, co-owner of the gallery, Christansen accomplished most of his work late in life as a disabled man and in a wheel chair. Prior to the show the Antons had already sold many examples of his work. They offered two pieces that showed the whimsical and unusual subject matter used in his work. Lizard Cave is a wonder of mixed media and seems to make fun of the carved bird trees being offered by several other dealers.

Stella Rubin can always be relied upon to bring new, fresh and highly-prized textiles and jewelry to TAAS. This year she showed items owned and used by the 1950s iconic television and movie star Roy Rogers. The batwing chaps worn by Rogers were beautifully framed and the signs of wear have been lovingly preserved. Beneath them were 3 pairs of Rogers cowboy boots, their leather toes tipped up with wear. Even though Rogers died in 1998, his boots still retained the shape of his feet. Rubin was also offering a stunning Mexican-made wrist watch owned and worn by Rogers.

If Roy’s chaps didn’t stop you in your tracks, then the Rooster quilt in her booth was sure to-as it did Barbara Streisand. Made from hundreds of small pieced velvets and wools, this quilt is the best example of an original design in a late 19th century quilt. Rubin always gets the goods!

Batwing Chaps and Cowboy Boots owned and worn by Roy Rogers
Offered by Stella Rubin
Photograph courtesy of the author.