The Antique Dealers' Association of America (ADA) is reviving their popular online show platform amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it was announced by ADA President, Steven S. Powers. ADA is the largest member-based antiques trade organization in the United States, founded in 1984. The health crisis has resulted in the cancellation of Spring 2020 art and antiques shows across the country, leaving prestigious dealers with covetable inventory for sale and a newly engaged audience online. In support of their membership, ADA has swiftly organized an online show featuring more than 50 dealers from California to Connecticut with over 1,000 objects of the best in American antiques, fine art, folk art, Americana, Native American, and other decorative arts. The 2020 ADA Online Show will be live Friday, April 24 through Monday, April 27 at www.adadealers.com.

“Several years ago, when the ADA launched the first online antiques show in the country, it was an innovative and novel alternative to more traditional art and antiques shows. Now it is a necessity, said ADA president, Steven S. Powers. “The ADA Online Show will provide a platform where our member dealers can offer exquisite works they saved to exhibit in fairs that have been canceled due to the pandemic. Our members are small businesses and mostly self-employed dealers who have been profoundly impacted by this crisis—we look forward to sharing their exceptional material and look forward to the opportunity to reach a new audience.”

In addition to interior designers and a new wave of younger buyers that have been called “grandmillennials," a growing audience of buyers has been drawn to antiques in recent years, and for a variety of reasons: the thrill of the chase, buying a piece of history and becoming part of it, the sustainability and stewardship factor or simply seeking a truly one-of-a-kind piece. The ADA Online Show looks forward to sharing significant works ranging from the 17th to the 20th centuries for browsing and buying, some showing the international influences of Europe and Asia, others distinctly embodying American material culture.

“The ADA has led the way in establishing an online platform where antiques dealers can offer material on their own terms,” said Michael Diaz-Griffith, co-founder of the New Antiquarians, a community of interest for younger collectors of antiques and historic art. “The Association’s forward-thinking approach also allows new and young collectors to view and purchase material on their own terms, from the comfort of their homes. It’s a wonderful opportunity for new audiences to see antiques and art they might have missed otherwise, and a great step into the future for the antiques trade.”

The four-day online antiques and art show will allow a broad audience of new and experienced collectors to shop and learn from America’s preeminent dealers using their cell phones, laptops and other personal devices. The ADA Online Show search function will help narrow down items from a dozen categories, each representing a mix of styles and price points. These fresh-to-market pieces will be presented with high-quality images, and, for further transparency and buyer confidence, prices will be listed and ADA members guarantee their merchandise in writing stating approximate age, origin, condition and restoration, if any, of all pieces that are sold. The “ADA Guarantee” is one of the most important attributes of this stalwart organization. 

Highlights include:

• Thistlethwaite Americana presents the Ching Ying low table made in 1967 by father and son design duo Philip and Kelvin LaVerne
• Circa 1750 English delft plate with a fish border from Samuel Herrup Antiques
• An intriguing and rare mid-19th century Redware folk art sculpture of a drunkard astride a keg made in Northern France from Steven Powers
• An antique sterling silver mixed metal pitcher in the Japanese taste by Tiffany and Co., c.1878from Spencer Marks
• A Chippendale blockfront chest made for and given to Abigail and Josiah Quincy II in 1769 for their wedding from Bernard S. Levy & Sons, Inc.
• An oil on canvas of Provincetown from Garvey Rita Art & Antiques by American Impressionist Caleb Arnold Slade

GENERAL INFORMATION

Friday, April 24 through Monday, April 27, 2020

Starts: 10AM EST, April 24

Ends: 10PM EST, April 27

Location: Online at adadealers.com

Inquiries: Dealers will be available to answer questions via text, email and by phone
from 9 AM EST- 9 PM EST for the run of the Show.

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