French Country Living Antiques had some charming displays.

At Thursday night’s New York Botanical Garden Sculpture and Antiques Fair Preview Party and Collectors’ Plant Sale sponsored by 1st Dibs, Martha Stewart and a large representation of socialites brushed shoulders with me (a rare privilege for them, I’m sure.)

My new friends, Tim Brennan and Dave Mouilleseaux of Brennan & Mouilleseaux Antiques, have very eclectic taste.

As the personalities posed for New York Times social photographer Patrick McMullan, I strolled the fair solo sipping my cocktail while exploring the 30 vendors that offered a wide range of items dating from 1750 to the present day, among which I uncovered some fabulous finds.

Large 20th century iron sculpture by unknown artist from Rose Garden Antiques.

Ornate 18th century garden ornaments filled the space beside sleek contemporary garden sculptures while American antique garden furniture mingled with French, English, Belgian, Swedish, and Italian selections. Botanical prints hung out next to folk art, but of course my favorites were the eclectic indoor/outdoor pieces.

Artist Michael Fogg from Colchester, Connecticut demonstrated how he fashions ferrocement faux bois twigs and wooden stump planters from concrete, below.

Fogg, who crafts his wares using no forms or molds, told me he is experimenting with integrating copper within some concrete pieces like an outdoor bench. From the small round sample he shared, I could visualize a stunning addition to his already cool collection.

Michael Fogg crafts faux wood log planters and such from concrete.

Other contemporary artists exhibited for the first time at the show included Tom Gottsleben, John Hardacre, C.A. Johnson, Jeff Kahn, and Kim Dickey, daughter of garden designer and author Paige Dickey.

It was hard to pull myself away from two unusual Salterini pieces from Joan Bogart Antiques. Produced in Brooklyn from 1928 to 1953, Salterini wrought-iron outdoor furniture designs borrowed from Gothic Revival and Art Deco. Although I’d seen some Salterini garden furniture and sconces before (the clamshell chairs could be from today), I’d never seen anything like the life size rare circa 1930 wrought iron tree planter in Joan Bogart’s collection, above.

Here’s how the ingenious design works: after hooking a garden hose to the planter’s trunk, pressure pulls the water up to the top where it rains out spraying the numerous five inch pots held in the planter’s branches. Can’t you just picture it on an urban patio? I can, and I’m lusting for this piece.

Then there were the indoor pieces that slipped outside into the outdoor room. The effervescent duo Tim and Dave from Brennan & Mouilleseaux tempted me with a fantastic 1940s oversized chandelier, above, dripping with turquoise beads that were added in the 1960s. They’d replaces the old lampshades with some mercury glass ones for a bit of extra bling that perfectly completed the fixture. More lust here as I can imagine it hanging in my own covered patio space.

A rare 1880s Mergomobile green wooden bicycle, above, stopped everyone in their tracks at Cincinnati dealer Scott Estepp’s booth.

The very convivial Estepp engaged me and educated me about his many unusual found objects like the vintage folk house model made of thread spools, above, which Martha snapped a photo of just after I did.

Martha poses. Photo via Jonathon Ziegler.

Some very nice furniture from Barbara Israel Garden Antiques caught my eye. Israel, one of the fair’s chairmen, also had a very nice French circa 1900 set of curved wrought iron settee and armchairs, below.

Photo via NYBG.

And if you like as I do the textures and colors of rusted metal, there was plenty to be found. Finnegan Gallery from Chicago was offering a rare early 19th century English Regency rusted wrought iron plant stand, below.

Beside the plant stand was a wonderful late 19th century Italian garden table whose  rich green and orange patina texture looked fabulous with the violet buds beside it.

I spotted this giant antique cork screw, below, and unfortunately can’t find whose it was, so if anyone knows, please comment below. The cork screw could be perfect for a wall above a bar, or anywhere really. Pure fun.

Visit The Garden Garden Sculpture and Antiques Fair 1750-2013 from April 26th to April 28th, from 10-5 daily to explore the following dealers:

Antique American Wicker

Arader Galleries

Balsamo Antiques

Joan Bogart Antiques

Brennan and Mouilleseaux Antiques

Dawn Hill Antiques

Scott Estepp Gallery

Finnegan Gallery

Fleur

French Country Living Antiques Ltd.

Jeffrey Henkel

Barbara Israel Garden Antiques

Anthony Kavanaugh Period Garden Ornaments

Judith and James Milne At Home Antiques

Aileen Minor Antiques

Susan Frei Nathan Fine Works on Paper, LLC

Pagoda Red

Francis J. Purcell,Inc.

R.T. Facts Antiques The Red Horse Antiques

Rose Garden Antiques and Design

Schorr and Dobinsky

Shop in the Garden

Linda  Howard Stein

The Sugarplum

Telescopes of Vermont

Village Braider Antiques

Bob and Debbie Withington Antiques

Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Robin Plaskoff Horton, Urban Gardens.