It is almost impossible to understand the complete ramifications of “being free”. Every human is subjected to a kind of brain washing when they are raised, be it by parents, care givers, schools, etc. It is inevitable and, in a normal upbringing, helps the child to adjust to society. Of course, the traits inherent in the child will surface eventually, but the child is no more free of them than of his upbringing. In a way, we are all destined to be a certain way.

By Clinton Howell of Clinton Howell Antiques

From time to time, I drive through a village in Albany County called Preston Hollow. The town used to have a number of antiques shops, but in winter, nothing is open so I am not certain how many remain. The road through Preston Hollow, Route 145, goes by a number of houses built around 1850 in what was called the Greek style. The houses all have large fascia boards with a straightforward patterned fenestration and a roof pitch that is extremely recognizable.

Antique dealers have always liked to locate their shops in towns like Preston Hollow. The buildings not only have age, but many of them also seem mildly dilapidated, a factor that has a psychological affect on bargain seekers. The reverse is true for shops in the city where the high end client wants the shop they are walking into to reflect some grandeur. That is understandable as you hardly want to write a six figure check out to someone in a house that needs a paint job.

The sad thing about Preston Hollow is, however, not that it is losing its place as an antique center. It is that the Greek style houses are melting away. A house that I have watched for years has been abandoned and is now covered in vines and is being scavenged for materials. Three more years and it will be completely gone. I have seen this happen all along Rte. 145 as well as Rte. 20, the primary east/west road from Albany to Buffalo that long predates the New York State Thruway.

Time levels everything, of course, and I am not enough of a sentimentalist to believe that everything needs saving. Preston Hollow still has some wonderful houses. What I find to be very sad, however, is neglect. And neglect seems to partner with inertia during recessions to encourage even greater dilapidation which leads to even greater neglect. The cycle just increases when the money dries up like it has. It is a sad way to lose our heritage.

By Clinton Howell of Clinton Howell Antiques

Have you ever walked down the street and found a dollar bill or maybe even a five or a ten? Neither have I. I know I have lost them, but I have never found any. The reason is that I like to look at people. All kinds of people attract my attention. Tall, short, fat, skinny, all colors, all ages are fun to look at. We are all worth a movie, in my opinion, and that is part of the fun of life. Grumps and overly serious minded people are, perhaps, the exception to the rule.

But when I am not looking at people, I look at buildings. I don’t reference them from any other point of view than their aesthetics. Of course some buildings are very memorable for their aesthetics, but some are not, most notably the majority of apartment buildings. I wondered to myself the other day, for example, why anyone would ever use a white glazed brick in an urban setting. It is a little like wearing all white to a mud wrestling event. It isn’t going to last so why be so foolish?

Looking at things is an extension of my job, which is looking at furniture. I look at all furniture. No era has a lock on the perfect design for something. The egg chair, for example, is the perfect chair for an adolescent suffering from, well, adolescence. And Gehry’s cardboard chair is ideal for people who move a lot, because it is so easy to carry. Mackintosh’s furniture sits well in his tea house, but not too many other spots and Wiener Werkstatte furniture is wonderful in cafes because it is light and sturdy and stylish.

The 18th century furniture makers, however, have a lock on craftsmanship.  The French and English workshops had rigid apprenticeship systems and that slavish adherence to method produced incredible results. The woodcarving, the inlay, joinery, the choice of materials were all the best of the best. And because I love craft, I never cease to want to look at 18th century furniture. Take a really close look some time. No ten dollar bills, just million dollar craftsmanship.

By Clinton Howell of Clinton Howell Antiques

The hula hoop was a fad when I was around eight or nine. So was the Pluto Platter which was the early version of the Frisbee. Fads, crazes and manias are extraordinarily interesting in their instant appeal across a wide spectrum of people. The Pet Rock was another one, but I have to say that I did not fall for it. I was thinking about fads because the same thing happened to English furniture in the 1980’s and 90’s.

I would not quite call it hysteria that gripped the market, but English furniture was certainly hot at the end of the last millennium. I would never say that the attention to English furniture wasn’t warranted. I believe in it as much now as I ever did. But like everything that gets “hot” there is an inevitable cooling off period. That is a law of physics that I do not have at my finger tips, but it could also be called just plain common sense.

Having said that it has cooled off, it appears that parts of the business have stayed red hot. Certain items sell for huge sums. I would call this the important furniture, English furniture that is just plain rare and superb. Of course, you might rejoin to me, great is always great and begets big prices. That isn’t always the case. Auctions, for example, stir the blood of bidders, knowledgeable and otherwise. Does the morning after ever bear regrets?

As a market, I am delighted that English furniture has largely cooled off. I have a number of great things in my inventory, but I also have some very good things as well. These items, I may have bought one a month for the last six months, are a lot less expensive than they would have been even ten years ago and I am selling them for a lot less as well. There is a big upside to the aftermath of a fad. That is, if you haven’t bought a lot of rocks.

By Clinton Howell of Clinton Howell Antiques

You could bowl me over with a feather sometimes with the way the world works. Forty odd years ago, I was in the Canadian plains, perhaps Moose Jaw or possibly Regina, with two friends driving back towards New York via the Trans Canada Highway. After a night on the plains, we decided to eschew the usual granola and yoghurt for a hearty breakfast of steak and eggs. So we went to a truck stop and were people watching when an odd threesome emerged from an old gray Chevy. Odd because there was a short, older, white haired but balding man with a shiny rumpled suit, a tall skinny young man with long hair, beads, a leather vest and jeans, and finally a voluptuous and attractive young lady with a halter top and cut offs. The three of us were perplexed by this threesome, but absolutely flabbergasted when the young woman walked into the diner, headed right to me and said, “Aren’t you Clint Howell?”

So when I walked into my shop this morning and the chair started talking to me, after a two week hiatus, about not being in New York for Hurricane Sandy. I was relieved to know that we were again conversing. But when it went on to suggest that I might have a sixth sense for catastrophe seeing as I had missed both Sandy and 9/11 by being in Thailand, I was more than a little nonplussed. I thought of my experience in Canada, as I often do when such odd things happen. How did it know where I had been on 9/11?

“Well, I know things that you wouldn’t imagine that I know. For example, I know all the English furniture dealers in New York City. And I know most of the dealers in London and quite a few in England. None, I might add, would ever mention a Barcelona chair as good furniture design.”

“But it is,” I insisted.

“No, it is good industrial design, because that is what most furniture has become in the 20th and 21st centuries. We, the top echelon of 18th century furniture, are designed. I mean, one of the great innovations of your ilk was the three legged stool. But it is hardly a designed piece of furniture. It is a great functional object as is your Barcelona chair whether it is chromed, blue steel or gold plated with sable cushions. I know them, and I know how they act and think. They are an industrial product.”

“What’s wrong with that,” I asked?

“Nothing at all, but it is industrial design. A problem is posed and it is solved in a nice mechanical fashion with pencils, rulers, graph paper and compasses. In the 18th century, there was a design vocabulary with rules that were established by the Greeks and worked and re-worked through the centuries with little additions from other cultures here and there. Even though every piece of 18th century furniture has a similitude to its overall style, it is the details and how they were deployed that makes a piece of furniture distinct and designed. It is as different from industrial design as night is to day. And, I might add, I don’t begrudge it for a second. People who understand us get this. You should as well.”

“I guess I stand corrected,” I said.

“Oh, and by the way, as long as you are referencing your past, do you remember the name of the girl that walked up to you in that diner just outside of Regina?”

“No,” I said, “I don’t.”

“I do, but I will let you to try and remember. It is good exercise for your memory.”

Just what I needed, I thought. To be preoccupied by a disintegrating memory from forty years ago. My chair was back on form.

The Spring Show NYC, the second year of which happens this spring from May 2-6, is a life long dream of the Art and Antique Dealers League of America. It is held in the Seventh Regiment Armory between 67th and 68th Streets on Park Avenue. I am often asked why there needs to be yet another fair promoting art or antiques? Aren't there enough already?

The answer to this question, like many questions, is yes and no. Yes, there are enough shows from the point of view that there are a lot of them and no, there are never enough shows in that if you have the ability to see something at a show, any show at all, that excites you, the show is worthwhile.

This may sound like giving free reign to any and all shows. Some shows seem more like publicity stunts than serious efforts at showing the best of the best. This may be true to some extent. Some shows work harder at finding dealers of a better standard and some shows, no matter how well intentioned, just can't make it.

I would say that the idea behind every show is to create an exposition that is memorable. It isn't about the attendance, though the participating dealers care a lot about that, and it isn't about the charity that might sponsor the event, it is about what you get to see when you enter that show.

One hundred and seventy-one years ago, the Crystal Palace exposition was inaugurated to display the finest of British arts and manufacturing. It was a stunning success. Fairs, shows and expositions have never looked back offering attendees a chance to see amazing things coupled with the ability to learn about them from someone who knows what they are talking about.

This then is the impetus behind every show. Expose the best of the best to people. Make a splash and show off mankind's craft and artistry. It is surprising how intriguing man's abilities are when applied to the arts and crafts. I can guarantee that this year's Spring Show NYC will not disappoint.

NEW YORK - The Art and Antique Dealers League of America (AADLA) is pleased to announce that the second edition of their Spring Show NYC will open to the public on May 2-6, 2012 at the Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue and 67th Street. Once again, the opening night invitation-only preview Wednesday, May 2, will benefit the ASPCA®, (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) with 1stdibs.com, the premier online marketplace for purveyors for luxury goods, as the show’s sponsor.

“We are delighted to welcome back 1stdibs and the ASPCA as our partners, and look forward to building upon the success of last year’s inaugural fair,” said Clinton Howell, the League’s president. “We are particularly encouraged by the enthusiastic response from the League members.” added Howell. Among the premier galleries returning to the show are: Kentshire Galleries, Hyde Park Antiques, Douglas Dawson, Carlton Hobbs, Mary Helen McCoy Fine Antiques, George Subkoff Antiques, Dalva Brothers, Earle Vandekar of Knightsbridge, Leo Kaplan, Questroyal Fine Art, Patrick Bavasi, O’Sullivan Antiques, L’Antiquaire & The Connoisseur, Michael Pashby, Spencer Marks, Alfred Bullard, Robert Simon Fine Art, Yew Tree Antiques, Vallin Galleries, and E&J Frankel.

“1stdibs.com was thrilled to participate as the sponsor for the first annual AADLA Spring Show NYC,” said Michael Bruno, founder and president, 1stdibs. “The dealer mix was exceptional and the crowd of shoppers was stellar. We are very pleased to be participating again along with the ASPCA in 2012”.