New York City - The Winter Antiques Show celebrates its 57th year as America's most prestigious antiques show, providing museums, established collectors, dealers, design professionals and first time buyers with opportunities to see and purchase exceptional pieces showcased by 74 exhibitors.

This year, specialists in 17th to 19th century American furniture and decorative arts, old master drawings and European sculpture, and Southeast Asian art joined this fully vetted show, which runs through January 30. From an Egyptian relief depicting Akhenaten through mid–century furniture by Gerald Summers and Gio Ponti, every object exhibited at the Winter Antiques Show is vetted for quality and authenticity. All net proceeds from sponsors, special events, and ticket sales support East Side House Settlement, a non-profit in the South Bronx providing social services to community residents.

Brandy Culp and Debbie Timmerman pose for a picture at the event.

Dan and Cynthia Lufkin, passionate patrons of the arts, are the Winter Antiques Show's Honorary Co-Chairs for 2011. Sallie Krawcheck, President of Global Wealth and Investment Management, Bank of America, was Chair of the Opening Night Party on January 20, with U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, as sponsor of the event as well.

Young Collectors Night, an exciting evening for new collectors as well as art and design enthusiasts, will be held Thursday, January 27. This year's event includes an exclusive "Meet the Designers" reception with New York based interior designers. Architects and designers also host the "Expert Eye" series, featuring lectures and book signings by Thomas Jayne (The Finest Rooms in America), Pauline C. Metcalf (Syrie Maugham), and Peter Pennoyer (Peter Pennoyer Architects). The 2011 Special Guest Lecturer is Vanessa Remington, Assistant Curator of Paintings at the Royal Collection, on the 19th-century portrait miniature collection of Queen Victoria.

The 2011 loan exhibition, Grandeur Preserved: Masterworks Presented by Historic Charleston Foundation highlights more than fifty objects in an unprecedented collaboration among Charleston's leading cultural institutions as well as private collections. The exhibition has been organized by Historic Charleston Foundation, established in 1947 as an educational non-profit dedicated to the preservation of buildings, landscapes and cultural resources in Charleston and its historic surroundings. Important objects from Historic Charleston Foundation's two museum houses will be complemented with loans from The Charleston Museum, Drayton Hall, Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Association, and Middleton Place Foundation, and include many works that will be on view for the first time. A five-part lecture series related to the loan exhibition will be presented during the Show.

Jeff Daly, formerly senior design advisor to the director at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and now head his own design firm, will design the loan exhibition, sponsored by Chubb Personal Insurance for the 15th consecutive year.