Marion Antiques Show 'The Show Was Just Great, Dealers Were In Good Spirits'

MARION, MASS.

:The dust from Antiques Week in New Hampshire barely had time to settle before 70 dealers headed for Marion to take part in the 13th annual antiques show for the benefit of the Sippican Historical and Preservation Society. This show, under the management of Trisha McElroy and her new dog, Ellie, previewed on Friday, August 19, and then ran over the weekend in the Tabor Academy athletic center that is air conditioned for the event.

"The show was just great, dealers were in good spirit, and many of them reported good to excellent shows," Trish said. "I thought retail sales might have been slow, but I guess Ron Bourgeault did not take away all of the money the week before with this $9 million auction," she added with a laugh. According to Trish, the gate for the preview party was down a bit, although more tickets were sold so some did not show up, and more than 1,200 people were on hand for the opening day.

In addition to the display of antiques put on by the exhibitors, a fine garden display is a gracious welcome to the show. Steve Gonsalves and his crew from Eden Landscapes of Marion contribute talent and many hours of labor to the front of the building and the lobby. This year's theme was "Windows on the Past," and views of early Marion were framed in old windows and surrounded by a large number of shrubs and flowering plants. A flagstone patio was laid, stone walls constructed, and various old garden implements added to the setting.

"We like doing it for the show," Steve said, and his work is greatly appreciated. As one of the dealers said, "I can't believe the amount of work he puts into it, but it is great for the show."

Eight new exhibitors were in the show this year and the show really looked interesting, with a good mix of furniture, both formal and country, paintings, fabrics, folk art and cases of interesting smalls.

"Ricky" Goytizolo of Georgian Manor Antiques traveled a few miles up the road from Fairhaven to do the show and filled his booth with a large collection of English furniture, including a George III occasional tripod table with rectangular top, in mahogany, with splayed legs ending in brass cups and casters. It dated circa 1800, as did a Scottish George III serving table with three paneled drawers, also in mahogany. Looking like the odd man out in a sea of formal furniture was an American Sheraton grain painted dry sink from Maine, circa 1830, with a simulated rosewood surface.

Howard and Linda Stein of Solebury, Penn., offered a pair of French club chairs in the original leather, circa 1930, and a French tilt-top wine tasting table with a scrubbed oval top. A rare set of four black-painted cast iron garden armchairs was from the foundry of Wood and Perot of Philadelphia, circa 1850-60. One of the first objects to sell at the preview was a limestone ball cut with a sun face with rays, resting on a cut-stone pedestal.

One of the local dealers in the show, China Trader Antiques, had a large Chinese mahjong table in mahogany, Nineteenth Century, and an interesting dragon roof tile in two pieces dating from the late Seventeenth to early Eighteenth Century. On the ticket was noted "only seen one of these in 12 years of travels in China." Other furniture included a Chinese double cabinet from Shanix, lacquered surface, dating from the mid Nineteenth Century.

A set of four red-painted ladder back side chairs with square legs, splint seats hung on the wall in the booth of Alan Goodrich of Langhorne, Penn. A pair of cast iron snow birds, a much rarer form than the traditional snow eagles, was shown, along with a selection of initialed homespun towels.

A vintage garden gnome, American, rested in the booth of Debra Queen, Dartmouth, Mass., along with a selection of garden objects including an American wire bench with two oval pieces in the backrest, circa 1900. "This piece came right from a house here in Marion," Debra said. She also mentioned that about six layers of paint were removed from two pieces of miniature furniture, an upholstered chair and sofa, now offered with a cast iron finish.

Henry Callan of East Sandwich, Mass., had his usual large collection of samplers, with examples from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Of note was one by Mary Otis Fay of Barnstable, Mass., July 8, 1813, age 12, with the alphabet on top and a design of houses, flowers, birds and trees below.

"I have been doing this show from the start and this is the best one ever," Henry said, with a virtual laundry list of items he had sold. "I got off to a fine start at the preview, and it was so nice to see people who came to the show to buy and not just eat," he added. During that first evening he sold, among other things, a Boston sampler, circa 1820, with the word "Boston" in it; an English Staffordshire platter, dark cobalt, circa 1820; a desert plate by Stubbs, dark cobalt, circa 1820; a circa 1770 tripod stand, and an American Hepplewhite two-drawer stand in birch and maple, circa 1800. He tries to have some Battersea boxes at every show, and this time sold all five he had on display. "Before I went back to the show in Sunday I went to the cellar and got out some more," Henry said. Those did not sell.

Three wheel barometers, two with inlaid cases, hung in the booth of Ester Gilbert of Southampton, Mass., and a dozen brass candlesticks of various sizes were scattered about on a display shelf. Copper molds with wheat and animal designs were shown, and hanging on the back wall was a circa 1850 naval blunderbuss with carved stock and engraved barrel.

Scarsdale, N.Y., dealers Marilyn and Ron Saland showed a mannequin in the form of a child, about four feet tall, circa 1920 and with unpainted surface. An American Classical card table, crotch mahogany and crossbanded veneer top, dated circa 1830.

Summer, fall and winter were all depicted in paintings in the booth of Palmer LeRoy Fine Art of Dover, Mass. A Vermont landscape in the winter, oil on canvas, 28 by 36 inches, was signed by the artist, William Lester Stevens, and popular artist Emile Albert Gruppe offered a view of Gloucester Bay, a signed oil on canvas measuring 26 by 30 inches. A Berkshire meadow was by Olive Parker Black, American (1868-1948), a signed oil on canvas measuring 14 by 20 inches. As Palmer was covering his table with a green cloth, he noted, "This cloth must have gone through at least 60 shows with us, and it is still good, almost like our trademark."

Patricia Keady of Drake Field Antiques, Longmeadow, Mass., said, "We just came off a show in Chatham where we sold five pieces of furniture, and not much fireplace equipment, and at Marion it was just the opposite." At Marion sales included a pair of figural cast iron andirons depicting a woman, one small table, several pairs of brass andirons including a left and right Boston ball top pair, and a large fireplace fender, brass and wire, that sold during the closing minutes of the show on Sunday.

"We have been in this show since the first, and while it was not the best one we have had in Marion, it was still good for us," Patricia said. Furniture included a side table or small server in hickory, single drawer and tapered lags, circa 1830, and a walnut corner chair with cabriole legs, shaped arms, and pierced splats at the rear. It dated circa 1760.

A good portion of the floor space in the booth of Brian Cullity of Sagamore, Mass., was taken up by two drop leaf tables. One was of curly maple, New England origin, late Eighteenth Century, while the second was of the same period, Chippendale, in cherrywood. A tin and iron candlestand dated 1840-80 and a selection of blown whale oil lamps were offered.

A pair of Queen Anne Spanish foot side chairs, old finish, Eighteenth Century and with rush seats, was in the booth of Candlewick Antiques, Milford, N.H. A red-painted sign with a landscape in the center advertised "Hoosier Drilling Co., Richmond, Indiana," and a circa 1910 locomotive design weathervane in sheet metal, Manchester, N.H., showed a man standing at the controls and smoke coming from the stack.

The Marion Antiques Shop, another one of the local exhibitors, filled a good portion of the booth with a three-part dining table in mahogany, circa 1900. An American Chippendale tall chest, red stained maple, had been found in New Bedford, Mass., and a John Rogers sculpture was titled "The Council of Man," original condition and deaccessioned from Besse House in Wareham.

Bruce Emond, The Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass., said, "This was the best show I have had in Marion, and sold both to the trade and retail." One of his retail sales was a zinc horse, in the form of a carousel outside figure, that sold to a lady right in Marion. Other sales included an Eighteenth Century walnut table, a pair of marble carved putti, a pair of figural andirons in the form of seated labs, a country bench in walnut of French origin, an Italian tole chandelier, and a shadowbox with one large ship, two small ones and a lighthouse in the background.

The origin of objects in the booth of Brennan and Mouilleseaux, Northfield, Conn., were widely scattered, from a Continental copper armillary, circa 1930, mounted on a copper baluster base, circa 1880, to a set of three wood painted candlesticks, about three feet tall, from a lodge in upstate New York. From Bucks County, Penn., came a cast iron gate with the bust of a man mounted in the center, and a Nineteenth Century Asian carving of a man seated in an armchair, about two feet tall, had an unpainted surface. Meadowbrook Antiques, Cumberland, Maine, hung a pair of portraits of a couple from York, Maine, oil on canvas, signed by the artist, Ellen Maria Carpenter (1831-1909), who studied at Lowell Institute of Paris. Furniture included a set of four duckbill birdcage Windsor side chairs in green paint, circa 1790, and a Queen Anne tea table, vase form column on cabriole legs with pad feet.

Among the small paintings in the booth of David and Donna Kmetz was a view of Gloucester Harbor by Paul Strisik, NA, (1918-1998), along with Jean Beauduin's (Belgian, 1851-1916) "Vestales au Bain," dated 1900.

It was impossible to miss the large pond boat, about 51/2 feet from rudder to top of mast, brass fittings, in the booth of Essex Antiquarians, Essex, Mass. Also of interest was a rare blue and white transfer ware supper set, 11 pieces fitted on tray, with an oval covered dish in the center surrounded by four other covered dishes. It was English and dated from the early Nineteenth Century.

"We have not had a clock dealers in the show for a couple of years," Trish McElroy said, "and it was nice to have Pat Barger here this year." The Fairfield exhibitor sold two of her four tall case clocks, and among the pieces of furniture in the booth was a mahoganized maple Chippendale slant front desk that was sold for $700 to the Axieril family, Massachusetts, by Israel Sack. It was now priced at $12,500. From Chester County, Penn., came an Eighteenth Century tilt-top birdcage tea table with dish top, circa 1760.

David Beauchamp of Walpole, N.H., had many accessories mixed into his large display of furniture including an English silver plated tea set, circa 1720, of six pieces; a Victorian oval gold mirror with deep repousse borders, circa 1870; and a portrait of a sea captain by Chester Harding, circa 1820, 37 by 32 inches and in the original frame.

Zane Moss of New York City filled a large booth with almost wall to wall furniture including a George III sideboard in figured mahogany, turned legs ending in casters, 721/2 inches long, circa 1800, and an English burled walnut library table, Nineteenth Century, top with curved ends, carved double stretcher, brass casters and dating 1875.

An étagère by Peter Hunt, decorated with hearts, plates and glasses, was in the display of Acme Antiques, Providence, R.I., and for the garden or patio, a wonderful cast iron base table with paw feet and a delicate four-inch foliage decorated drop around the table. All that was missing was a round marble top to cover the cast iron. Also for the garden was a set of Four Seasons, about 31/2 feet tall, in Italian carved limestone.

Langenbach's Fine Art and Antiques, Kingston, Mass., offered a nice boat model, the Venus, a tuglike vessel with black hull and yellow cabin. Art included a view of Boston Garden by John Castano (1896-1978), a large oil on canvas. A circa 1895 8-inch globe had a J.L. Hamon label over the original Joslin label, and two pairs of hog scraper candlesticks, all with hangers, were offered. The largest pair was signed Jargand and Dowler, the smaller just signed Dowler.

Hillary and Paulette Nolan of Falmouth, Mass., were back in the show after a year's absence with a varied collection that included a New England Hepplewhite rocker with rust seat, Eighteenth Century, a blue-painted hoop back Windsor side chair, a large white-painted splint basket in excellent condition, and a splay leg table with breadboard ends top, turned legs, and in green paint. Three pairs of shutters were shown against the side wall, all green painted with cutout of moon and star. "These shutter doors came from the home of Kathryn Graham on the Cape," Paulette said of the provenance.

A Queen Anne highboy in figured maple, molded cornice, cabriole legs and pad feet was in the corner of the booth of Birchknoll Antiques Ltd, Millis, Mass. Against the back wall was a Federal inlaid sideboard in cherrywood, crossbanded border, the center door flanked by bottle drawers, from Vermont and dating circa 1800.

The walls in the booth of Ingeborg Gallery, Northfield, Mass., were covered with works of art and artist represented included Nat Lowell, Reginald Marsh, Don Swann, Frank Benson, Rockwell Kent and John Sloan, giving patrons a large selection of fine prints, drawings and oil paintings.

This year's preview was not only delicious, with a well-stocked raw bar, ample drinks and lots of cheese, etc, but it was also productive for many of the dealers. "People come here to support the society, but also to have a look and very often buy," one dealer said.

And by the way, due to his height Lou Scranton generally stands out in a crowd. He was even more evident at the preview when he came with coat and tie, and his working shorts. "I went back to the room to dress, pulled on my long pants, and suddenly realized that I had grabbed a pair of Janet's pants out of the closet and not mine," he said. "And it's not like I can go to just any store to get another pair," he added. His attire drew a few comments, best left unsaid. Check him out in a photo in the review.