: It was not the icy, foreboding Delaware River that greeted
General Washington. Nor was it a churning, rising Delaware.
Despite eight days of rain of Biblical proportions, and a state
of emergency declared by the governor, the Delaware that met
dealers and patrons at the Prallsville Mills Fall Antiques Show
on the banks of this noble river was serene and inviting.
And inviting were the antique treasures that awaited patrons at
this October 15 and 16 show managed by Ellen Katona and Bob Lutz,
who for the first time changed the date to fall, to avoid
contending with the August heat. "It was a wise decision to move
this show to the October date," noted Lahaska, Penn., exhibitor
Richard Suydam.
Perhaps York, Penn., dealer Chris Brey was subconsciously
thinking about the rainy days preceding this show when he decided
to exhibit one of the highlights in his booth - a signed oil on
canvas ship portrait of the Andrew Adams. By maritime
painter William Pierce Stubbs (1842-1909), it was offered to
patrons for $12,000. Some of his furnishings included a circa
1825 Federal figured maple and cherry, two-part dining table, an
early Nineteenth Century soft wood Dutch cupboard in a red wash
finish, and a New Hampshire, circa 1800, country Chippendale
ribbon back side chair in birch. Early in the show Chris sold a
ship painting by James Gale Tyler and whale oil lamps.
Rub-a-dub-dub - this doll in a tub awaited patrons in the booth
of Ted John, Harmony Barn Antiques, Phillipsburg, N.J.
For neighbors Ron and Sharon Pittenger, who trade under the
name Dark Moon Antiques, Johnsonburg, N.J., it was artwork, in the
form of a quilt, that took center stage. From the time that Sharon
acquired an intricately stitched crazy quilt (with 11 images and
fancy border work), made by Ebbacinna Wieder, she embarked on a
genealogical search more readily associated with the work done on
schoolgirl samplers. Sharon's work paid off. She located the
marriage records for the quiltmaker's daughter Anna (in the
territory of Greenwich, N.J.) and ascertained that the large "A"
and "Good Luck" embroidered in the center clearly identified it as
a circa 1880-1883 wedding gift. This irreplaceable act of love,
from the "Golden Age of the Crazy Quilt," was offered to patrons
for $1,295.
It was apropos that a patron from New Hampshire should purchase a
New Hampshire blanket chest with cutout apron and retaining its
original blue-green paint. Both the blanket chest, and the fine
braided accent rug that it rested on will be returning to their
roots. A slipware plate and a pair of hand forged andirons were
several smalls that also found new owners.
This area is replete with "knowledgeable antique customers" noted
exhibitors Gordon and Normandie Schell. And as dealers for 30
years, no one would dispute them. Commenting on the fact that
this show was taking place on the same weekend as Atlantique
City, the Galloway, N.J., couple said, "We only live 12 miles
from Atlantic City and look where we exhibit." The Schell's sold
a taper leg pine stand and smalls that included an Empire doll
bed. Several items seen in their booth included a late
Eighteenth/early Nineteenth Century Connecticut cherry
candlestand, a late Eighteenth Century Philadelphia nine-spindle
Windsor side chair, $695, and several Drake canvas back decoys.
Stoneware aplenty was featured in the booth of Dark Moon
Antiques, Johnsonburg, N.J.
In the booth of LCS, Inc, Washington Crossing, Penn., there
was a box with its original stencil design and the name "Cordelia"
boldly inscribed on its lid. But it was another Cordelia that came
to mind: the only faithful daughter of Shakespeare's King Lear. It
was fitting that Sharon Huss, who happens to be a "faithfully"
returning exhibitor to this show every year, should display this
circa 1820 treasure in her booth. Some of her other offerings
included "the best" circa 1740 Shenandoah Valley blanket chest,
with dovetail construction and rosehead nails, and retaining its
original paint decoration, $5,400. Other furnishings included a
Nineteenth Century, North Carolina step back cupboard with its
original green paint and a pair of circa 1760 New England slat back
chairs with early woven seats.
"I have always loved to attend this show as a customer," said
first-time exhibitor Malissa K. Davis, Bethlehem, Penn. "I love
the setting and it's a good quality show where you can still buy
affordable items."
River Country Antiques, Piermont, N.Y., reported sales that
included a 6-foot-long farm table, a tin trade sign, shore birds,
and quilts.
Annette Coletti and Richard Fuller, who made the trip from Stowe,
Vt., and trade under the name Hand Picked, sold a set of four,
mid-Nineteenth Century painted chairs with plank seat and a lot
of smalls.
Ken Silveri, Hamburg, Penn., said that he had a good show and
"sold a lot bit of everything," adding, "I'm pleased with my
gross."
Katona and Lutz, Greenwich, N.J., found new homes for a small
hanging cupboard, a painted shelf, a youth chair, and a child's
wagon.
Larry and Helen Bryan, Princeton, N.J., must have been relieved
that their booth was located on the ground floor, given the
number of hefty furniture items that they sold. Leaving their
inventory was a mid-1800s six-board, pine blanket chest, a cherry
and pine one-drawer stand with bread board sides and turned legs,
a mid-1800s pine cupboard with its original finish and original
pulls, and, as Larry said, a "very heavy" large dry sink.
Looking like the notes on a musical scale was this collection
of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century cooking utensils seen in
the booth of Ashaway Antiques, Ashaway, R.I.
Front and center in the booth of Chester, N.J., dealer Jim
Woodruff was a circa 1850 four-drawer Sheraton cherry and mahogany
chest, $1,475. Also noted was a set of four arrow back,
paint-decorated, Windsor chairs, a circa 1870-1880 grain painted
jam cupboard, and several turn-of-the-century paint decorated
children's sleds. Stoneware, redware, yellowware and an Enterprise
No. 2 coffee mill in "exceptionally good paint," completed his
look.
Included in a collection of silhouettes seen in the booth of
Lynne Oppenheimer, Ivy Hill Primitives, Langhorne, Penn., was one
Nineteenth Century example of a full-bodied boy and girl from
Foristell, Mo., that was found in a house built by slaves before
the Civil War. Lynne also exhibited a mid-Nineteenth Century
12-drawer apothecary with dovetailed construction and its
original pulls, $1,250, an early Nineteenth Century worktable
with unusual beaded Chamfered legs North Carolina origin, a rare
mid-Nineteenth Century frame with six ambrotypes of one family
from central Pennsylvania and a Nineteenth Century, New England,
mahogany sewing box with ivory inlays of hearts and diamonds,
$795.
For more information, 856-459-2229.
