The Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair

Louis XV-style lacquered commode, circa 1880

Merchandise Mart, eighth floor; merchandisemartantiques.com

Dealers at last year’s posh Chicago Antiques Fair (recently renamed the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair) had to accommodate a last-minute surprise neighbor: art-gallerist refugees from Art Chicago after that fair’s venue fell through (see page 13). Ultimately, it wasn’t such a bad thing, says Philip Chasen, whose eponymous East Norwich, New York, antique store specializes in Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass: “I made some sales to people who came first and foremost for the other show,” he says. “So there is some proven synergy.”

Chasen has always been keen to do shows in Chicago, particularly this one. “It’s very intimate, elegant and ultra-high quality, and important and sophisticated collectors show up,” he says. Treasures at this year’s antique fair range from bronze vases for ikebana (Kaoru Nasu Art, Kyoto, Japan) to maps (Arader Galleries, Philadelphia). Clock expert Gordon Converse, who has appeared on Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser, will be there with his Pennsylvania-based shop. But the pièce de résistance will be the Paris Antiques Market pavilion: It features eight dealers from the Marché Aux Puces flea market north of Paris, and it’s the first time they will have shown outside of that city. Their participation has inspired the decor of the entire space, down to the food vendors—a Parisian bistro will be catered by Froggy’s French Café of Highwood. The Mart tapped Chicago designer Sanjay R. Singhal to help create the ambience: “What we have tried to do is capture the flavor of Paris by doing a beautiful French formal garden leading into the fair,” he says. The garden, a mix of faux boxwood and real flowers, will run the length of the space.

Amethyst and nephrite jade brooch

Singhal says he’s excited to stumble upon a treasure at the fair: “When I go shopping for antiques, I never go with any preconceived notions—if you go looking for something particular, you are never going to find it,” he says. “It’s the accidental pieces that give us the most pleasure.”

Hot tip Go on Sunday between 11am and 1pm even if you think the antiques fair is too rich for your blood; if nothing else, you’ll get some complimentary mimosas out of it.

Preview Party, Thu 26, 6–9pm $150–$500; Fri, Sat 11am–7pm; Sun 11am–6pm; Mon 11am–4pm

Photo: Joseph Desler Costa

Lisa Stone, curator of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Roger Brown Study Collection
“I think Intuit will come back with an especially vibrant show,” Stone says. She also notes the buzz surrounding Charles Steffen’s enigmatic drawings on kraft paper, presented by Russell Bowman Art Advisory. “Steffen’s work made quite a splash at the Outsider Art Fair in New York.”—Audrey Mast