ART OF THE ANTIQUE THERE'S BEAUTY AND VALUE IN AGED OBJECTS.

Byline: Sandra Barrera

Staff Writer

Say, how much for the George II-period (1740-1750) mahogany bookcase with all the cool secret drawers?

Sally Gould Wright, second-generation owner of the 52-year-old Richard Gould Antiques on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles isn't telling.

Stop by her booth Thursday at the Los Angeles Antiques Show, and if you're a serious collector, you can see the price tag -- that is, if you're not distracted by all the furniture, jewelry, wall prints and China elsewhere.

Wright is one of 65 internationally and nationally recognized antiques and fine arts dealers who will be exhibiting their high-

end goods at Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Air Center through April 29.

Presented by the Antique Dealers Association of California, the Los Angeles Antiques Show isn't the biggest showcase of its kind in Southern California. But it's the finest.

Think stark museum-style installations and rooms appointed in 17th- to 19th-century furniture and decorative pieces, including those from the always popular folk art arena.

"This is really the rage in the business right now," says Michael J. Ogle, whose American Garage Antiques in West Hollywood specializes in popular 19th-century trade signs, weather vanes and painted game boards.

He expects a giant hand sign once used by a fortuneteller to fetch between $10,000 and $15,000.

"Trade signs are the most sought after in the folk arena, and they are bringing high money everywhere in the country," Ogle adds, explaining that the more original they are, the more they can fetch.

And while in past years such items as paintings have sold for more than $1 million, Wright, who's also the Los Angeles Antiques Show chair, says those who don't have a million bucks to spend can still walk out with something of quality.

She'll have 18th-century Chinese export porcelain saucers ($50 to $75) and 19th-century Chinese lacquer boxes (about $100) at her booth.

"Here's something beautiful that you can own in your own home, something that has a patina of age," Wright says. "There's a romance about it and a feeling of the past, but at the same time, these absolutely beautiful objects kept over time will increase in value. And they could be a very good investment."

Want a preview?

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Antiques Show will kick off with a star-studded reception to benefit P.S. Arts, a nonprofit organization that funds arts education in public schools.

Attendees include actress Diane Keaton, celebrated interior decorator Joe Nye, American pop artist Ed Ruscha and other stars of the art, design, architecture and entertainment worlds.

"We really wanted to emphasize the arts community in L.A., which is so fertile," says Kimberly Brooks, a Venice-based artist and vice chair for P.S. Arts. "When you think about it, an antique is a piece of artwork made sometime in the past. So for the Los Angeles Antiques Show to be helping arts education really is helping all of the future designers, architects and artists who will be creating antiques for a show in the future."

Sandra Barrera, [phone]

[e-mail]

LOS ANGELES ANTIQUES SHOW

Where: Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Air Center, 3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica.

When: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through April 28; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 29.

Tickets: $15 daily, includes catalog. [phone]. www.losangelesantiqueshow.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) The midcentury gold-leafed iron floor lamp, right, by Maison Jansen is being sold by San Francisco dealer Habite. At left is a yip wan, a 17th- to 18th-century ancestral wood totem found in the Karawari caves of New Guinea, recently sold by Joel Cooner Gallery -- and valued at over $100,000.

(3) This object, called an oschele, served as currency in the 19th century for the Ngende/Nkutchu people of Central Africa. The Joel Cooner Gallery will offer a similar oschele at the L.A. show. These rare objects are generally valued at $35,000.