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| By
Janie N. Lewis. Illustrations by Vernon Carne |
 Art
and antiques don't come any finer than they do in Palm Beach,
Florida. The balmy weather alone justifies a visit to Palm
Beach in January, but for the serious collector, the area
is tough to beat for blue-chip offerings. Plan your getaway
to coincide with either the Palm Beach Winter Antiques Show
(January 9-12), Art Palm Beach (January 9-14) or the Palm
Beach International Art and Antique Fair (January 30 to February
9), all in West Palm Beach.
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...For while Palm Beach is an antiques
mainstay, the current excitement is the renewal of West
Palm Beach's Antiques Row. This stretch of charming shops
starts at the corner of Southern Boulevard and South Dixie
Highway. On the northeast corner is Floral Emporium,
No. 3900, where you'll find tabletops nearly covered with
tortoise trays, blackamoors, bronze statues and tole boxes;
a "Medici" Italian etched-glass tapered vase ($1,700) is
a standout.
Across the street at No. 3901 South
Dixie, Hawkins Antiques and Art Gallery is a mix
of English and French country pieces. A mid-19th-century
French gueridon table ($1,275) is shown with a pair of Louis
XVI chairs upholstered in vintage toile de jouy fabric ($3,600).
Michael MacLean Antiques, 3803 South Dixie, brims
with 18th- and early 19th-century Italian and French antiques
as well as some English period furniture. An early 18th-century
French Provincial walnut three-drawer commode with a serpentine
front is $26,500.
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Christa's South Antiques and Custom
Framing, 3737 South Dixie, offers 17th- to 19th-century
Continental furnishings and decorations as well as shell decorative
accessories inspired by the grottos of Pompeii. A beautiful
Empire mahogany cabinet replete with mercury gilt-bronze stars
is $16,000.
N.P. Trent Antiques, 3729 South Dixie, has an excellent
assemblage of Regency English, French and Italian furniture
approximately dating to early Empire (1804-15). A few doors
down,
Brass Scale Antiques, No. 3721, offers a mix of toile-upholstered
chairs piled with needlepoint and embroidered pillows. Tabletops,
walls and floor space are loaded with wall sconces, Staffordshire,
rock-crystal candlesticks, porcelain inkwells, tortoise tea
caddies and hand-painted armorial plates. A 19th-century framed
stumpwork horse represents the period's unique needlework
($2,850)...
The art galleries and antiques shops epitomize the quality
of life in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. Beauty is abundant,
from palm-lined boulevards to Mizner architecture. Renowned
dealers and scores of collectors flock to the annual events,
which exemplify the over-the-top standards for which the area
is known.
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