We are on vacation next week, so no new post for the week of February 4, 2019.

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The Original Miami Beach Antiques Show ended yesterday after a 4-day run that started this past Saturday. I, for one, am extremely pleased.

After selling six Tiffany lamps on Sunday, I sold another Tiffany lamp and a Handel lamp on Monday, for a total of eight lamps. I’m pretty sure that’s a personal record. And we didn’t just sell lamps. We sold glass, bronze, porcelain and etchings. Amazingly, most of the sales were to new buyers, including some who weren’t senior citizens. That was quite refreshing.

The return to the Miami Beach Convention Center was well received. Attendance was excellent every day (except Tuesday, the last day), after very slow starts each morning (except opening day). We made no sales on Tuesday, but still finished with a superb show.

We’re looking forward to next year’s show, but are concerned about the effects of the very early dates in January. Right now, the show is scheduled to open on Sunday, January 5, 2020, with a possible opening on Saturday, January 4, at 3 PM. It would be a huge mistake not to open for a full day on Saturday, so I hope management will come to their senses and realize the importance.

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Now we’re off for a couple of weeks of R&R before we head to Asheville, NC for our favorite show of the year, The 32nd National Arts & Crafts Conference at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC, February 15-17, 2019. If you’ve never been to this show, make plans NOW. You’ll thank me.

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The Original Miami Beach Antiques Show opened to the public this past Saturday at the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center. Opening day, Saturday, was a good day with excellent attendance and interest and with commensurate sales. What a difference a week makes.

Sunday started very slowly. There’s never a good reason to open at 11 AM on a Sunday, but most promoters think they know better. As the day went by, attendance picked up considerably, as well as interest and sales, including French glass and especially Tiffany lamps. We sold six Tiffany lamps in one day. Wowza!

The show is already a success with only two days of business. Hopefully we can do some business on Monday and Tuesday, as well. Ordinarily I post once a week on Monday, but I will post again this Wednesday with the final results of the show. So tune in on Wednesday.

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.

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When a show is slow, it gives me time to write a contemporaneous account of the activity. Unfortunately, the show is very slow, allowing me the time to write this blog.

Friday, 1 PM. There were about 75 people on line at the opening, but they quickly dissolved into the show space. I had a few serious questions about a bronze and a Tiffany & Co. clock, but no sales as of the moment.

Friday, 7 PM. The show was dreadfully slow today, but we did manage to make one sale of a lovely Gallé box. I spent most of the day sending photographs of items in the show to my best clients. At least I was successful making sales there.

Saturday, 1 PM. The show has been just as slow today as yesterday. No serious inquiries and no sales as of this moment.

Saturday, 7 PM. The day has been fairly tortuous. Very few people and no sales. What a difference from last year, when attendance, interest and sales were significantly better. Just hope that Sunday will be better or this show will end up a disaster.

Sunday, 1 PM. Why the show opened at 11 AM is beyond me. No one comes to a show on Sunday morning. You could have bowled in the aisles it was so empty.

I did have one serious inquiry recently. Got my fingers crossed it will lead to a sale.

Sunday, 6 PM. The show is closed. Our serious inquiry led to a sale, so we had only two sales for the entire show. Since one was an important Tiffany Studios Aquamarine vase, the show was a financial success, but it certainly felt like a failure. It’s no fun sitting at a show for three days, open 23 hours to the public, and twiddling my thumbs most of the time because so few people attended.

Next year the Miami show schedule will be turned on its head. The Original Miami Beach Antique Show will be held January 5-9, 2020, Sunday-Thursday, with a possible opening at 3 PM on Saturday. Personally I think that’s terrible. We would need a full day open to the public on Saturday, the same as this year. The show is also going back to five days, from four presently.

The Miami Airport Show is scheduled for three weeks later. That means that we have to set up the Miami Beach show just after New Year’s and then wait around for three weeks until the Airport show. That will be very difficult. I’ll keep you posted if anything changes.

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.

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By the time you read this blog, we’ll be traveling to warm, sunny Miami for the opening of the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show this Friday, January 18, 2019. It opens at 11 AM and closes on Sunday at 5 PM. The weather is predicted to be in the 70s for the next 10 days (except January 21 in the 60s). The show will feature over 200 premier exhibitors from the U.S., Canada, Europe and South America, offering the finest antiques and decorative arts. It’s a very high quality show that is worth a trip from anywhere in the world (and clients do fly in from as far as Japan).

We’ve had a few months to add some really great items to our already extensive inventory. You’ll be able to get first crack at them before the big, important Original Miami Beach Antiques Show the following week.

The show isn’t very big, but it is very high quality. The dealers who choose to exhibit at this show are dealers of distinction, with inventories to prove it. Try to make it to this show and also enjoy the great weather and the great food in some of the best restaurants in the country. You’ll be able to visit two shows for the price of one airline ticket.

Please stop by my booth and say hi!

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.

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We haven’t exhibited at a show since early November, when we were in Winnetka for the Antiques + Modernism Winnetka show. That’s given us plenty of time to search high and low for some truly great items to bring to our upcoming two shows in Miami, FL and one show in Asheville, NC. Following is a preview of several items, all of which are for sale.

Good Daum Nancy glass is difficult to find, but I’ve been able to buy 15-20 of the finest Daum Nancy vases and lamps available. The large Swan example above is just one of the outstanding examples.

Tiffany Studios glass and lamps is another area where I’ve made a concerted effort to find the best available. I’ve been quite successful. The Nasturtium cameo glass vase above is wheel-carved and internally decorated. It’s a museum-quality, exceptional example.

I bought the Daum Nancy table lamp pictured above from the son of an 83-year-old woman who asked him to sell it for her. His grandmother received the lamp as a wedding gift in February, 1929 in Sarre Union, France. Is that great provenance, or what? It’s a wonderful, colorful, big (24″ tall) lamp.

I bought several Tiffany Studios desk sets in both Pine Needle and Grapevine, so I have many different items for sale. There was a time a few months ago where I sold out of Pine Needle and had very few Grapevine items left.

The few items mentioned here are just a taste of all the new merchandise I have for sale. Email or call if there’s something you like or something you’re looking for.

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.