Fancy a pair of stone dragons for your front entrance, or a Victorian terrarium for your console? Then head right over to the Antique Garden Furniture Show at the New York Botanical Garden.
Cast stone antique dragon sculptures from a Main Line Philadelphia estate at Aileen Minor Antiques.
Massive 4th Century AD terracotta oil jar at Village Braider Antiques.
The rarefied selections from the 31 dealers showed that they’ve clearly been saving their best for this stellar fair. At last nights opening red sold tickets were everywhere. The well-heeled crowd of shoppers included: designer Bunny Williams, Martha Stewart, John Danzer of Munder-Skiles, garden writer Charlotte M. Frieze, and Mara Seibert and Leonore Rice of Seibert & Rice.
The standout item at the show both for it’s interesting history and sheer size was the almost 6’ tall Roman terracotta olive oil jar at Village Braider Antiques. For the past hundred and thirty years or so the lichen and moss decorated jar called a private Newport estate home. Before that it had been buried since at least the 4th century AD in the churchyard of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome!
Among the treasures at Barbara Cirkva Schumacher’s Fleur booth was a 19th century concrete faux bois plant stand in the shape of a sinewy tree, perfect indoors or out. At Shorr & Dobinsky, a suite of five French iron urns, all signed, were notable for their unusual feet that lifted them off the ground. Jeffrey Henkel, from Pennignton, NJ , offered a beautifully detailed, French, oak and walnut spiral-staircase perfect to reach the hayloft or as an imaginative bookcase in the library.
The show runs though this weekend during one of the peak seasons when the garden is at it’s most glorious.
