Antiques, Art & Design at the Armory Kicks Social (and Shopping) Season into High Gear

September 25, 2011 at 9:00 am
Filed under Fashion & Beauty, Review

There was no mistaking that the “season’ was kicking into high gear with the Avenue Shows annual Antique, Art & Design at the Armory drawing an enormous crowd for its special preview on Wednesday, September 21, 2011. Event co-chairs Ellie Cullman, Jamie Drake and Dr. Eva Anderson-Dubin filled the historic space with New York’s most fashionable design-centric collectors for a first look at a stunning array of the finest in art, antiques and design that show organizers had gathered from a well-vetted group of dealers and designers.

The dazzling displays in this wonderfully edited show with little redundancy featured French, English, Italian, Swedish and Continental furniture from the 17th Century to mid-Century Modern; fine silver; sparkling art glass; Russian antiquities & art; Tiffany lamps and frames; French Art Nouveau and Art Deco furniture and objets; Chinese export porcelain; eye-popping jewelry; contemporary art; antique wicker; rare books and manuscripts and much more.

In addition to providing the ultimate shopping experience, the show also offers a series of special events and discussions now through Sunday, September 25rg, including: a designer panel discussion, The Influence of Women in Interior Design; Estate jewelry dealer CIRCA’s symposium on The Art of Colecting Estate Jewelry and a rare look at the legacy of Angelo Donghia and much more.

Great Performances provided an endless assortment of tempting hors d’oeuvres, a bountiful pre-fall buffet of filet mignon, roast turkey with a dizzying array of grilled vegetables and for the sweet lovers, mini-cheesecakes, fruit tarts and a divine chocolate tart with sea salt & chili pepper.

Champagne and select wines flowed like the River Seine to quench the thirst of fashionable folks such as Barbra Streisand, Jean Shafiroff, Cassandra Seidenfeld Lyster, Anka Palitz, Margo Langenberg, Robin Cofer and Dominick D’Alleva, designer Berry Brown, TV producer Wendy Neuss, Polly Onet, Martha Glass, model and muse Veronica Webb, Gary Andreassen and his wife actress Katherine Andreassen, image guru Montgomery Frazier, Felicia Taylor, Debbie Bancroft, Ashton Hawkins, Mark Gilbertson, artist Terry Fugate-Wilcox, dealer Dallas Boesendahl, designer Brad Ford, Charlene Nederlander, actress Cindy Guyer, Dawne Marie Grannum, Dr. Penny Grant, uber agent Lionel Larner, Janna Bullock, Guy Regal, Prince of Chintz Mario Buatta, Rene Steinberg, Sandra Long with Tom Gates, Zak Ambrose, Eleonora Srugo, Tena Davies & Brad Shaheen, writer Vevlyn Wright, our favorite Lady Barber Kathleen Giordano, Avenue Magazine’s Julie Dannenberg and Peter Davis and fabled Hamptons chronicler Dan Rattiner and wife Christine Wasserstein.