As I was saying earlier today, I spent a good part of yesterday at the 54th annual Winter Antiques Show, which is running through Jan. 27 at the Seventh Regiment Armory (also known as the Park Avenue Armory) in Manhattan.

My last posting was devoted to the afternoon press preview.

Now, I’m going to fill you in on the evening’s festivities, since I was invited to cover the opening-night party.

If you read my last entry, I admit to a bit of a tease.

Yes, I said I had a George Clooney “sighting.”

I did… kind of:

Ha!

He was “spotted” in this Japanesque silverplate and copper frame (American, circa 1885), on offer for $2,500 by Associated Artists. (More on them in a bit).

Actually, the only celebrity I spotted was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was touring the show.

I wondered what he might collect, but his security politely told me that he wasn’t “taking questions.”

Oh well.

The party, which draws top collectors and museum representatives from around the world, is a big deal.

One of the publicists told me they were expecting some 2,000 attendees, and it did get pretty crowded:

Aren’t these flowers, which were dotted throughout the show in giant displays, just beautiful?

There was a real sense of excitement throughout the show, with items in many of the booths already sporting red dots (or sold stickers).

Around 6:20 p.m., I asked Guy Bush of G.K.S. Bush from Miami Beach, Fla., how things were going.

“I haven’t stopped talking,” he said.

I had admired one of his pieces earlier in the day:

It’s an electrified Union Pacific Railroad trade sign, circa 1920.

“It’s such a great bit of Americana,” Bush said.

I got to meet Warren Adelson, president of Adelson Galleries and a Scarborough resident, having interviewed him by phone a few times. His booth, of course, was highlighted by works from N.C. Wyeth and Robert Henri.

I asked him how his evening was going.

“It’s terrific,” he said. “It’s been great — great crowd, great enthusiasm.”

I checked in with Katonah’s Barbara Israel, too, where she took a quick picture in the Barbara Israel Garden Antiques booth..

I asked her where she’d like it — “This is just a fabulous pair of carved artichokes,” she said, standing beside one half of a circa 1880 English duo.

She’d had a lot of visitors, “Regulars so far.”

Putting together her booth hadn’t been tough, she said.

“I had a lot to choose from.”

The booth of David A. Schorsch- Eileen M. Smiles noted that a painting by Ammi Phillips was a “masterpiece of American folk art.”

The 1836 portrait is of Augusta Maria Foster at age 16, depicting her in Southeast (near Brewster).

A Putnam gal was making a splash in the city:

Schorsch, when asked if it was the highlight of his display, said it was “certainly one of them.”

And what made him buy it at auction? “The beauty of her.”

Throughout, you saw people really admiring the work, asking questions and seeming to appreciate what they were having the chance to view.

Leigh Keno of Leigh Keno American Antiques, for example, had a booth filled with clients.

I swung back to catch up with him a bit later to hear him describe the treasures in his booth.

First, he told me, was a circa 1710 chest from Massachusetts, which had already sold for $435,000. The piece, as authenticated by the lab at Winterthur in Delaware, still has its original paint:

There was also a weathervane, picked up at Sotheby’s.

and a charming little trinket box by Edward Hicks,

complete, as Keno said, with aardvark detail:

A New York chair from 1720 had also sold already.

“It has just that great look, that great feel,” Keno said.

His evening was moving along quite nicely, it seemed.

“We’ve had a great sale,” he said.

Oh, and the booth where I saw Clooney?

Well, it was Associated Artists, out of Southport, Conn.

I just loved what they were showing:

David Scott Parker of the gallery was saying how the Aesthetic period was all about “lightening the ominous feelings” of the Victorian period. Dark woods gave way to light; new designs were explored.

Parker is also involved in the restoration of the armory itself. He says there is “no more significant and intact” display of the period than the rooms that survive in the armory.

“This place, when it’s done, is going to open eyes,” he says.

For those attending the show, that broadening of awareness has already begun.

So, that’s my report. Hope you enjoyed it.

The show, as I mentioned, continues daily through Jan. 27. It’s open from noon to 8 p.m., closing at 6 p.m. this Sunday, Jan. 24 (“Young Collectors’ Night”) and the final day.

Admission is $20, which includes the show catalog. The armory is on Park Avenue, at 67th Street.

For more details, visit the show Web site.