Antique Shows

The Washington, Connecticut Antiques Show is a designer Eden, a gathering of industry luminaries in a stunning autumnal setting. Proceeds benefit the indispensable Gunn Memorial Library and Museum in Washington, of which I am a trustee.

As an interior designer, I’ve claimed countless treasures here over the years, and was honored to volunteer to serve as chair for this year’s 26^th annual show, which takes place October 5-7 in an expansive new venue.

This year’s show theme is “the harvest,”  which be celebrated in the decor and menu. The festivities begin with the always-lively preview night gathering on Friday evening. In a nod to the show’s devoted out-of-town supporters, we’ve added a collector’s party on Saturday night, featuring the jazz stylings of Allegra Levy and her New York-based trio. In keeping with the harvest theme, we tasked four noted designers–Florence Dampierre, Philip Gorrivan, Ostafin Design for Privet House and Davis Raines Design to create designer tablescapes incorporating the harvest theme.

This year I’m particularly excited to check out the stellar group of artists and dealers making their WCAS debut. One in particular, ceramic artist Matthew Solomon, has earned a breathless following for his baroque botanical sculptures, at once stunningly lifelike, and haunting. I can’t wait to meet him and take in his newest work.

Hotel Silver has long been a favorite resource for objects with history and timeless beauty. Owner Ginger Kilbane rescues pieces from the most exclusive European hotels, luxury rails and ocean liners, and restores them to their original glory. Just to hold one of her triple-plated dishes is to be transported to a more glamorous era.

Cooltiques, as the name suggests, has a puckish sprit that infuses their remarkable collection of its 19th and early 20th century folk art and decorative objects. They have a knack for elevating humble industrial materials, highlighting their simple, elemental appeal.

This year’s show will have much to entice the modern collector, including the Midcentury mecca that is Duane Antiques.

Bruce Glickman and Wilson Henley will transport their sleek Manhattan salon, where decorators and collectors regularly indulge their obsessions.

Kathleen McCarver Root cut a swath through New York publishing houses as a photo editor before channeling her passion into the Litchfield fine art photography gallery KMR Arts.

As a curator she is in a class by herself, championing work of amazing breadth. Show-goers can take in her current exhibition over fortifying cocktails at the Mayflower Inn.

Eckert Fine Art boasts a stable of modern masters – Eric Fischl, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Eric Forstmann – and a destination outpost in nearby Millerton, NY.

I hope you will consider take a drive to Washington for this lovely Litchfield County, CT tradition!  For more information on the 26th Washington, Connecticut Antiques Show, click here.