York County Classic Antiques Show Gate Increases Over Last May

YORK, PENN.

:"Our customers liked it, and our dealers liked it, the idea of one show under one roof and just one admission ticket," Barry Cohen said of the combined York County Classic Antiques Show and Jim Burk's Greater York Antiques Show on May 19 and 20 at the York Expo Center on the York Fairgrounds. "The gate was up from last spring, Jim and I worked well together, and the event went very smoothly," Barry said.

There was no barrier between the shows on the exhibition floor, and visitors moved easily from one show to the next. On the Cohen side, country dominated the look with an abundance of baskets and accessories, painted and unpainted furniture, stoneware and redware, and some folk art.

Campbell House Antiques, Baltimore, Md., showed a country mule chest of Connecticut origin, circa 1780, on high bracket feet and scalloped apron. There were three false drawers over two, 48 1/2 inches high, with William and Mary style brasses. Six whirligigs, mostly soldiers, were stationed about the booth as if standing guard over a collection of mocha including mugs and pitchers.

A blue-eyed boy dressed in brown with hoop and holding an open picture book, an oil on canvas by Joseph Whiting Stock, 51 by 45 inches, dominated the back wall in the booth of Halsey Munson Antiques, Decatur, Ill. "With that large frame the picture is very heavy and it takes a good wall to support it," he said. Other portraits included a pair from the Prior-Hamblin School, oil on canvas, circa 1845, a man and a woman attributed to William Kennedy. Each measured 21 by 26 inches.

Bristol, Maine dealer Colleen Kinloch offered a hutch table, Nineteenth Century, New England, three-board top with drawer in the lower section, original paint, with a 45-inch diameter top. A pie safe, circa 1860-80, has six punched tin panels in two doors under one long drawer. It too was in the original painted surface. Nearby, another pie safe in old worn blue paint, two doors, was shown in the booth of Ziegler Antiques at Autumn Hill Farm, Epping, N.H.

Philip and Kathleen Seibel of Catskill, N.Y., showed an Eighteenth Century Chippendale swing-leg drop leaf table in old green paint, dated February 10, 1770, on the under side, and display on the top of the table was a set of four hog scrapper candlesticks, two painted red, and a large wooden bowl. Another pie safe, Pennsylvania origin, had six pierced tin panels in the two front doors, and three panels on each side.

Chocolate molds in many shapes and forms were offered by Bayberry Antiques, Orleans, Mass., along with a collection of doorstops including Old salty, a football player, sailor, large cat, bellman and pointer.

Miller-Robinson Antiques, Ashfield, Mass., has a nice cant back cupboard of New Hampshire origin, circa 1800, and a bow back Windsor in black paint with knuckle arms. A bride's box, Pennsylvania, circa 1841-50, was in old red and measured 26 inches wide.

Hart's Country Antiques, New Oxford, Penn., showed an early New England two-door cupboard, signed on the back "J. Smith 1839, Bennington, Vt.," in original blue paint, and a Pennsylvania step-back cupboard yellow and blue-green paint, two doors in the top section and two in the lower.

Two large red, white and blue shield hung in the booth of John Sideli, South Egremont, Mass., one with a pair of flags displayed at the top. Furniture included a Hudson Valley blanket chest with shoe feet, elaborate shaped skirt, in the original blue paint and dating from the Eighteenth Century. Three graduated firkins with handles were in wonder paint, yellow with red painted bands.

A number of early signs, including "House Painting," "Danger, Stock Passing, 300 Feet" and "Hilltop Tea Shop - Rooms," were in the booth of Otto and Susan Hart of Arlington, Vt.

A grouping of still and mechanical banks was in the show case, along with some doorstops, the largest in the form of an owl.

From Mount Airy, N.C., M. Sparger Antiques offered four large wooden bowls, three painted in blue, yellow and white, and one filled with small cheese crackers, displayed on a large sawbuck table with green-painted base.

A carved anvil was on a trade sign, 1856, for an iron works firm, and a colorful quilt had 16 squares, each filled with a different building.

Period Antiques, Scottsburg, Ind., had a nice corner cupboard in mustard over the original red, ogee bracket feet, circa 1800 and of Pennsylvania origin, and a shelf filled with mortar and pestles, painted boxes and stoneware.

Nancy Stronczek, Greenfield, Mass., showed a number of toys including a large pull-toy in the form of a painted horse, a rocking horse and a trio of dolls. One of the dolls was a spoon head rag doll, another a black rag doll measuring 25 inches high, and the last a painted face rag doll.

Dee Wilhelm of Grand Blanc, Mich., reported having a good show and among the furniture offered was a transitional William and Mary Queen Anne chest, circa 1730, Connecticut, with double arch moldings. Three American painted tin sconces were of small size measuring only 7 3/4 inches high.

"We are not sure on the arrangement for the fall show on November 3-4 as it depends on the contracts for the various building on the fairgrounds," Barry Cohen said.

"Both Jim and I will be there and we will be announcing soon the locations for the two shows." In the meantime, the two managers will be joining forces again in Philadelphia for the Navy Pier Show, April 13-15. "That building is contracted for and we are looking forward to another great show there," Barry said.