The Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas has issued a special invitation to all Crucians to attend its first-ever auction of antique West Indian furniture, gallery-quality art, and decoratives.
The Antiques, Art and Collectibles Auction will be held Sunday, Dec. 12, 1999, at the Old Stone Farmhouse at Mahogany Run. The auction preview begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by the auction at 1 p.m. Tepper Galleries of New York will serve as auctioneers.
"We are hoping that our Crucian friends — especially the many residents who treasure West Indian antiques — will make plans now to join us for this exciting event," said Trudie Prior, president of the 203-year-old congregation. "Many of the pieces we will auction have never been seen by the public before because they've been in private homes, so this should be of major interest to serious collectors and others interested in antiques."
The Hebrew Congregation — second oldest in the Western Hemisphere to Curacao — is holding the auction to help defray the rising cost of keeping its Synagogue open to the public. The 166-year-old Synagogue building, which is now undergoing a major restoration, has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
Among the items to be auctioned will be:
— A 48-inch round pedestal table and a four-poster bed with rams' head headboard from the Danish West Indies, a French West Indian armoire, a Danish West Indian solid mahogany armoire with fancy figured solid-paneled doors, and dozens of other West Indian antiques, including a shoerack, chairs, candlestands and rockers.
— Nearly 50 pieces from the MAPes MONDe collection, including an original double- sided drawing from Camille Pissarro's sketchpad; old Virgin Islands and Caribbean maps, pictorials, documents, books and newspaper articles; and four Luca Palermo watercolors.
— An original acrylic sculpture by internationally known artist Yankel Ginzburg, who once lived in St. Thomas.
— Works of art by many of the Virgin Islands' leading artists, including Don Dahlke, Eric Winter, Shansi Miller, Leo Carty, Eunice Summer, Diane Kreiner, Paul Youngblood, Elroy Simmonds and Janet Cook-Rutnik.
Antiques aficionados from other Caribbean islands and the U.S. mainland are expected to fly to St. Thomas that weekend for the auction.
"We hope the largest contingent of visitors will be from our sister island of St. Croix," Prior said.
