Premier Antique Show, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Oct 28-30, 2011

The Premier Antique Show Metro Toronto Convention Center, 255 Front St West on Oct 28th, 29th and 30th 2011 is well stocked with furniture, fine art paintings, fancy dishes, antique tools, sporting goods, coins, candy dispensers, musical, medical, military instruments all laid out on beautiful wooden tables or locked away in wood and glass cabinets, or under lights in glass and steel display cases. Each dealer has invested in professional hangers, lighting fixtures and has suitable furniture for showcasing their wares. Most have illuminated display cases on top of which rests a stack of freshly printed business cards. They’re at this show to sell stuff, and also to network and make connections with pickers, dealers, art directors, props buyers, interior decorators and designers. Read Shopping for Treasures in Toronto Thrift Stores on Squarespace.

Antiques Shows Are Like Museums on Acid

Have you ever been to a really high-end antiques show? It’s kind of overwhelming. There are so many beautiful objects of art, and history from all over the planet all collected together without any context or any attempt at sorting out their individual stories, and so to a logical mind, it’s like a museum on acid. Pick up any one object and somebody will scurry over and shed their knowledge and you can eat it up and keep eating and getting more and more knowledge from every dealer until finally, you’re full. And then you just want out. You have to get away as fast as possible before you throw it all up over somebody.

The advertisement boasts, ‘Decorative arts, Canadiana, vintage designs and accessories, fine jewelry, and objects of art.‘ And that’s accurate. It’s the best stuff on the pro tour; the Premier shows are like the PGA of Antiques. Someday in the near future the miracle of cyber computing will make available an advanced inventory management software that will be able to sort everything out and tell user where to find all the bits and pieces of a particular period, niche or genre of collecting, no matter how small.

Each object is a piece of many stories, and today the premier antique show is a kaleidoscope of high end history and culture that ignores shoes, ships and sealing wax to focus on cabbages and Kings. There are cameo broaches by the bushel, bronze statues, Bakelite telephones, long steel swords, authentic military medals and mint condition model airplanes. The elephants are called pachyderms here. There are fine art paintings and art deco signage and lots of great pottery.. But there are NO antique glass bottles or insulators anywhere - there are however some stoneware jugs and crocks but these are hidden away under the cabinets and chests of drawers, and made visible only to the person who's looking for them, and wants to find them.

Antique Dealers Don’t Like Canadian Pickers TV Show

At one point I had an interesting exchange with some very articulate and knowledgeable people with some interesting insights into the cable TV show craze sweeping North America. The rise of such mercantile concepts as Pawn Stars, and other antiques pickers has TV companies scrambling for new concepts in this niche and many of these folks have had phone calls or emails from one television company or another. And to my surprise I discovered that this crowd likes American Pickers TV show, but does not care much for the Canadian version. They noted how Canadian Pickers only seems to shop at well known antique dealers' houses and shops wherein of course they cannot possible find a bargain in the true spirit of being a picker. And more. These snippets of text I scribbled on my pad,
“Its just a TV show and you can't be a real picker on TV. “
“They don’t rip people off - they get ripped off. They pay too much !“
“And the stuff they buy is what’s hot, not quality. They buy art deco signs and TV antiques, old gas pumps and reconditioned juke boxes. Show pieces. I’d like to see one episode on Georgian furniture and then we’ll see how much they really know.”
“The TV Pickers like to buy show what the young people today call ‘vintage’”
Standex Electronics reed switch is a magnet thingy inside a small vacuum tube.

How To Find the Antique Show in the Metro Convention Center

Heritage Antique Shows www.heritageantiqueshows.com

Premier Antique Show, LIST OF DEALERS

Andrew Zegers, Oshawa, ON
Antique Diamond, Toronto ON
Antique Clocks and More, Toronto, ON
Antiquing with Helen, Toronto ON
Artophile, Port Perry , ON
Barry Ezine, Moffat, ON
Bayshore, Kingston, ON
Bernardi’s Antiques, Toronto, ON
Carmen Berdan, Toronto, ON
Cherry Hill Antique, (CADA), Grafton, ON
Christel Art, Montreal, PQ C.R.
Cornish, Exeter, ON
Cynthia Findlay Antiques, Toronto, ON
Decart Inc, Longueuil, PQ
Daniel Tsang, Montreal, PQ
Farirholme Antiques, Toronto, ON
Fred Louckes, St Catherines, ON
Gallery de Louve, Montreal, PQ
Gary Dawson, Aurora ON
George Brown, Toronto, ON
Glenn Manor Galleries, Shakespeare, ON
Great Britain, Toronto, ON
I Miss You Vintage, Toronto, ON
Inquisitive Antiques, Toronto, ON
J. Taylor Antiques (CADA) Hamilton, ON
Jane Vining, Toronto, ON
Jonny’s Antiques (CADA), Shakespeare, ON
Manley & Sheppard, Toronto, ON
Michael Rowan (CADA) Green River, ON
Paul Murray Fine & Decorative Arts (CADA)
Kitchener, ON Patricia’s Antiques, Cobourg, ON
Paul Braybrook, Sarnia, ON
Peter E. Baker Antiquaire (CADA) Elgin, PQ
Peter Vernon, Toronto, ON
Poirer Schweitzer, Montreal, PQ
Polikers, Greenwood, ON
Richard Fienstead Holder, Toronto, ON
Richard Fulton, Toronto, ON
Royal Antique Rugs, Toronto, ON
T. Donald (Perovic) Antiques, Toronto, ON
Times Past Antiques, Ottawa, ON
Turner Chapel Antiques, Oakville ON

Have You Ever Met A Borosilicate Lampworker?

Dumpdiggers met Neal Kuellmer, a borosilicate lampworker at his home studio on a rainy day, March 4th, 2009. He explained to me how lampworking is different than glassblowing; it requires a fraction of the energy and produces different results. Today its used to make intricate but functional art glass, jewelry, pipes and bongs.

Artist Neal Kuellmer of Metamorphosis Glassworks provides Canadian society with custom glass and functional art from his studio at 146 Brock Ave just north of Queen St W (other side of the bridge just past the beer store).

Unit 303 is at the back end of the top floor of an old industrial building (owned by Mervin of course) right off the railroad tracks opposite a primary school. The building is probably one of the last ‘artist communities’ left in Toronto, a city where sky high real estate prices have converted almost all of the old manufacturing and warehouse buildings into expensive urban condos. But this building proves there are still pockets of independent art production and manufacturing software, here and there, all along Queen West.

Neal has about twelve hundred square feet and two big windows under a metal roof upon which the rain outside beat a steady tattoo. Neal has the place all to himself, a creative domain in which to make his daily bread. The guy is pretty cool, he offered me a cold beer as soon I walked in the door and the beats were pumping. He posed for some pictures by the window before we got busy in his shop.

Neal doesn’t have a big blast furnace like the glassblowers at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre, but rather he uses a fat propane torch fixed to a bench. As I watched he worked a lump of material with glass rods – but I didn’t give him time to do anything fancy. Nor did I pause to learn anything about the processes; I'd have to experience it all over again to really understand it. While researching the subject however, I did find a great page on the history of lampwork in the Online Glass Museum.

Here’s what I do know: Kuellmer of Metamorphosis Glassworks makes functional art, jewelry, and ornaments to suit the public. He sells most of his work in shops along Queen St West and in special shows and exhibitions, some of which occur at his studio. Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with the main glass-forming constituents being silica and boron oxide. Borosilicate glass was first developed by German glassmaker Otto Schott in the late 19th century, and sold under the brand name "Duran" in 1893. After Corning Glass Works introduced Pyrex in 1915, it became a synonym for borosilicate glass in the English-speaking world. The European manufacturer of Pyrex, Arc International, still uses borosilicate glass to make its Pyrex glass kitchen products.

This coming spring and summer, Neal is opening his doors to the public, and will be sharing his studio and his experience with students. Do you want to make your own earrings? or how about a hanging mobile for your kitchen window? Neal is now taking appointments for one on one classes - that's the best way to learn the art and science of borosilicate lampwork. Very small classes (only one or two people each time) will be given five hours of information and practical execution, for one hundred dollars each. This fee covers all expenses and materials, anyone interested in learning the craft can email metaglass AT gmail DOT com.

Canadian Fine Art sold in Snowstorm

A severe snowstorm swept through Eastern Ontario on January 1st, 2008 - snowflakes the size of soda crackers fell from the sky as we drove west from Cobourg through the blizzard to buy some good Canadian Art.

This was especially unfortunate weather for Randy Potter; the auction entrepreneur was hosting a high profile estate sale this morning inside his own converted automotive garage turned auction hall at 15 Cavan Street in the snow clogged heart of historic Port Hope.

Bad weather is always good news for auction attendees, and veteran Dumpdiggers don’t think twice about sorting their way through six inches of wet snow to get at the best bargains of the year. There was certainly no snow removal service at work in Port Hope yet, and the center of the snowstorm was Whitby, Ajax and Pickering. Nobody would be commuting from Toronto today. The oversized flakes were still falling as my friend's four-wheel drive SUV found easy parking outside Randy Potter's cinder block building.

Inside this cluttered antiques arena, behind its huge garage doors and underneath the unflattering fluorescent lights, Randy Potter himself held court.

On Jan 1^st 2008, in the middle of a severe Ontario snowstorm there was some serious early Canadian contemporary art for sale.

Presiding over the market, Randy Potter was the only man with a microphone, and two hundred spectators eagerly listened to the charismatic auctioneer (who seemed to know most of the audience by name) as he rattled off keyword specific phrases associated with each Canadian cultural object de’art on the block.

Much of this stuff sold cheap, and I was surprised to learn the true values of Canadian art deco lamps and ashtrays. My friend thought aloud about buying a crate of Lincoln Logs for two bucks (for his kids), but then seemed more captivated by the antique porcelain dolls heads, dishes, pottery and crocks that he could see on tables in the background.

This was an auction with commentary by Randy Potter, who occasionally lamented the soft prices with anecdotal remarks like, “I sold this very piece a couple of years ago for six hundred bucks…’ which he said in a tone of obvious disappointment as today's winning bid totaled less than half that amount.

Occasionally one of Randy’s assistants would rest a long stick below one of fifteen Norval Morrisseau signed acrylic on canvas paintings that were hung with care on the wall behind the podium, and the bidding would get white hot for a few minutes.

Fifteen Norval Morrisseau paintings were sold.

Norval Morrisseau paintings are, in my opinion, a terrific investment. The auction staff had hoped that each of these pieces would fetch between three to five thousand dollars as Norval Morrisseau is now considered by contemporary critics to be one of the most important painters (native or otherwise) that Canada has ever produced. You would think the price of his art would appreciate handsomely after his recent 2007 death? But these market factors were not evidenced on Jan 1st 2008 in Port Hope - and consequently there were some real bargains to be had here.

Public apathy (from years of bad prices) and the economic realities at work in this 'age of uncertainty' continue to deflate art auction values - I suppose there's a myriad of factors that keep the prices of these beautiful pieces in the basement; most of these canvases sold for between two to three thousand dollars.

In addition to these terrific pieces there was a Roland Gissing oil on canvas, and a William Brymner painting. There was also an F. Catano water colour, a Lemoine Lionel Fitzgerald painting as well as a Lemoine Lionel Fitzgerald pen & ink; and a Charles Jones Way water colour. But above all of these respected artist's work there was one eagerly anticipated piece - a 19^th century painting that was signed C. Krieghoff. Three bidders ran the price higher and higher. There were two bidders in the room, and one telephone bidder. This oil painting sold for $12,000 as everyone in the room clapped.

Marshall Gummer scrutinizes the Sale Bill

In the back of the room a very knowledgeable appraiser named Marshall Gummer was calmly waiting for exactly the right moment to raise his enumerated card.

Item number #174 on the Jan 1st 2008 Sale Bill at Randy Potter's Auction House was indexed as E.Conyers Barker water colour and Marshall Gummer, one of Canada’s foremost antiques and collectibles experts, was on his own personal quest to buy this painting.

The expert that MoneySense magazine relies upon for accurate appraisals first bid one hundred dollars, then two hundred, and then three hundred dollars - all without hesitation. Marshal acted real determined to make the other bidders aware of his stubborn determination to possess this painting.

The price climbed to three hundred and twenty five dollars and Randy Potter called out ‘Three fifty?’ and Marshall nodded his head. 'Three seventy five?' Four Hundred. SOLD! And that’s how my friend bought a significant piece of Canadian art history for four hundred bucks.

In the painting entitled 'Caledon', E. Conyers Barker used watercolors to paint the likeness of Caledon's first homes (one complete with an outhouse) in 1929 - Marshall has of course researched this piece in great detail and more information appears on Marshall's website, The Appraiser.ca.

Ernest Conyers Barker was born in Toronto on the 18th of March 1909. He died just a few years ago, in Barrie Ontario on the 5th of December 2003. He was inflicted with polio at an early age and remained confined to a wheelchair throughout his life.

Conyers Barker was a fine representational artist best known for his landscapes. He worked in water colours, oils and acrylics. This wheelchair bound painter was a significant member of the Canadian art scene for many years because he was early in ‘the club’ as they say, at the age of 17 years old - in 1924 he won the significant distinction of having a painting hung at the Art Gallery of Toronto, which only later became the AGO.

Born in Toronto, young Ernest studied art at Central Tech (Bathurst at Harbord St.) under Lawrence Panton, Alfred Howell, B.Coghll and P.Haworth and finally under Frederick Henry Brigden at the OSA.

D. Freeman, who has since authored a book, ‘The Horizontal Boy – The Life and works of Conyers Barker’ has made a good presentation of the fact that the crippled boy was a friend of Franklin Carmichael, Joachim Gauthier, Tom MacLean, A.J.Casson and Franz Johnston and was affectionately labeled as 'the Horizontal Boy' early in his career by these distinguished members of the Group of Seven. This was in recognition of his 'non conformative linear' approach to landscape painting, in which he simplified and stylized colour shapes to suggest landscape forms - according to D Freeman, it had nothing to do with his slouching.

Despite the crippling disabilities suffered as a result of contracting polio as an infant, Earnest worked assiduously throughout his life, especially in Northern Ontario and Algonquin Park, following in the footsteps of his earliest influence, Tom Thomson.

His principal ambition during his middle years was to become the finest abstractionist in Canada. But this pursuit did not materialize as the development of his own unique and distinctive form of Realism took over – Conyers Barker’s Realism brought him commercial success in the 1950’s when he was recognized in Canada’s fledgling art scene as an Individualist. He traveled extensively throughout Canada, particularly in the Prairie Provinces and the Maritimes, but Conyers Barker also painted in Florida, and in the Dominican Republic and in Scotland, Wales and England.

Formally, E. Conyers Barker was and will always be remembered as an Ontario artist with his first studios in Toronto, then in the town of Stayner, and finally in Barrie where he worked throughout the 1950’s as an illustrator and commercial artist for Canadian Television CKVR.

Actively painting into his celebrated nineties, blindness finally overcame E. Conyers Barker in the year before his death on 5th of December 2003.

Marshall Gummer was all smiles after purchasing a smart art investment. This is the brand of fine art that he enjoys the most as it reminds him of his own youth and the time he spent on his cousin’s farm in Dartford, Ontario.

And this was a really terrific acquisition, which I personally have no doubt will be further proved as the market appreciates and Canadian culture finds a new premium in the hearts and minds of collectors.

When buying fine art as an investment, Dumpdiggers believes that content is just as important as the painter’s pedigree, and those paintings that detail historic glimpses of early Ontario landscapes will be some of the first pieces to skyrocket in price. Smart buy Marshall. Good time management my friend you are an expert. Marshall!