Zero to Sixty Highlights from the Philadelphia Shows 60year history
Still life with Fruit, Cheese, Wine, Milk, Cakes and Peppermint Stick, c. 1850-70 Oil on canvas, 461/2 x 541/2 inches. Courtesy of Olde Hope.

Zero to Sixty: Highlights from the Philadelphia Show’s 60-year history

The loan exhibit at the world-renowned antique fair brings together defining pieces of the American folk art genre.

To commemorate its 60th edition, the Philadelphia Show presents a retrospective of past loan exhibits that attest to its role as one of America’s finest art andantiquesfairs. The 13 carefully curated artefacts represent the different genres and breath of the American decorative arts—from miniature children’s furniture to presidential miniatures. Several of these antiques had utilitarian beginnings, but their cultural underpinnings have elevated them into objects of value that present a rare glimpse into the lives and fancies of their makers and owners. Here's a look at a select few.

1900年代上地毯从脚下:地板覆盖物Used in America’, 1977

The art of the hookedrugwas born of thrift in rural America. In the 1820s, before which floors remained largely bare as few could afford carpets, women began to piece together rugs from old clothes, scraps of wool, cotton and yarns during the long, harsh winters. Some of these rugs were made to be hung like paintings, and designs included striking representations of flora and fauna, sceneries, abstract motifs, and more. These rugs are valuable as artefacts of a predominantly female artistic genre from a time when women couldn’t be artists.

This 19th-century hooked rug from Vermont was inspired by a vase of arranged cut flowers and features a border composed of lively swirls resembling a Grecian scroll. The types of dyes (either natural or chemical) used to colour the yarns changed throughout the 19th century, with women mixing their own dyes from leaves, insects, tree barks, or roots when European varieties were too expensive. This rug's colours are soft and muted today owing to age.

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19th-century hook rug, Wool, 40 x 60 inches. Collection of Joan M. Johnson.

Dressing Box from ‘Neat and Tidy’, 1985

Curated by Massachusetts-based collector and historian Nina Fletcher Little, this exhibit focused on eye-catching boxes from the 18th century onwards, largely from Pennsylvania. In her catalogue essay, she described how, because many of the purposes for which boxes "were made have become obsolete, they help in the understanding and appreciation of lifestyles that have now disappeared.”

The form of this dovetailed dressing box closely mimics a full-scale chest of drawers that held linens in many 18th-centuryPennsylvania房屋。减轻黑暗沃尔恩镶嵌的装饰ut and personalises it for the owner. The interweaving arcs, scalloped frame for the inscription on the front face, and portrait on the ends hint at the neoclassical tastes of the day.

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Dressing Box, Berks County, Pennsylvania, Circa 1760 Walnut, white pine, lightwood inlay 14 1/4 inches x 21 14 inches x 11 1/4 inches. Courtesy of Bernard & S. Dean Levy, Inc.

Leaping Stag Weathervane from ‘Courting the Winds’, 1988

For this show, folk art dealer Gerald Kornblau and silent co-curator Joan Johnson amassed loans of nearly three dozen weathervanes from private and public collections to illustrate the sheer ornamental variety of these traditionally architectural fixtures.

The 1860’s copper Leaping Stag weathervane is attributed to A.L. Jewell & Company, one of the first commercial makers of weathervanes in the US. The company’s stags are distinguishable through their blunt-ended, round-cornered snout and simple light impressions found on the body.

Vanes continue to be highly sought-after in Americanfolk art, with the most expensive one being auctioned off at Christie's in 2006 for $5.8 million. Antique vanes largely serve as interior sculptures today, with designs symbolising shifts in cultural fascination: From the popularity of horse vanes in the 1880s, owing to a national craze for horse racing, to 20th-century vane designs inspired by machine innovations such as aeroplanes and automobiles.

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Leaping Stag, Possibly by A.L.Jewell & Company (1852-1867), Waltham, Massachusetts, ca. 1860-1865. Copper, copper tubing, and traces of the original yellow sizing and gilt, 3334 x 35 x 434 inches. Courtesy of Jeffrey Tillou Antiques.

Still Life from ‘The Cook’s Fancies’ 1995

This still life(featured image), abundant with fruit overflowing from a tall compote, cheese, pies, pitchers of cream, cakes, brandy carafes, and peppermint sticks, was first showcased in the 1995 loan exhibition that brought together works of art and cooking utility from 18th and 19th century America. The seemingly floating shelves resemble long sideboard tables that, by the 1760s, were placed along the walls of dining rooms to display dining accoutrements and serve food.