Burl veneer chest in
original condition. Frank Parker of North Carolina.
By Tom O'Hara
ATLANTA, GA. - The second weekend of every month Atlanta hosts
the "World's Largest Monthly Indoor Antique Show," a gathering of
more than 1,000 dealers in 2,400 booths in two heated and
air-conditioned buildings.
More than 20 years ago Don Scott, from Ohio, began his Atlanta
career working with another show promoter to develop a large
reoccurring antique show. After several years he went out on his
own, buying a former retail outlet now called the Atlanta Expo
Center, which he quickly filled on the second weekend of every
month with antiques dealers and their inventories.
His format was to have dealers drive into the building to unload
in their space while allowing buyers to shop at the unloading
time for a low admission fee. Very simple and successful, so much
so that a few years later Don bought another building across the
interstate highway. Now known as North Building for the original
site and South Building for the later addition, they are combined
as one monthly event, connected by air-conditioned buses running
back and forth all day.
Setup is Thursday 6 am to 6 pm with shopping all day. Regular
show hours are Friday and Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm, and Sunday, 10
am to 4 pm.
This reporter was there at the April 10-13 market as an
exhibiting dealer, shopper and writer.
Thursday at 7:30 am the joint was jumping. About a third of the
dealers were in the building already, unloading and in many
cases, beginning their setup. While that was happening people
were wandering about carefully weaving around antique furniture,
boxes, booth props and walls, carefully examining the antiques...
"Do you have a base for this corner cupboard?"... "Yeah, its not
off the truck yet, there is one on that Sheraton table."
Other comments included, "What do you have on those shield back
chairs...are they period?" "They are so much each and I've got
eight, the other three are over here." "Do you have any more Rose
Medallion?" "Yeah, these eight boxes are all Rose Medallion and
some Rose Mandarin, too."
It is really very exciting, so long as buyers watch their step,
and do not walk in front of a moving truck or van. By late
morning the two buildings look a little less like a loading dock
and more like an antique show. And the sold tags are usually
springing up all over the place. The PA system is requesting that
porters come to the office for buyers needing help with their
purchases and asking individual dealers to return to their booth
for a waiting buyer ready to negotiate.
Friday through Sunday is a normal antiques show, which due to its
enormous size offers great selection and competition favoring the
buyers. It is not by any means sold out of the good stuff by the
early buying. As an exhibiting dealer on three occasions in the
last eight months, we found a variety of items to buy for resale
on Sundays each time we have been there.
The offerings are a very wide variety but the emphasis or perhaps
we should say that which is in the greatest quantity would be
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century dark hardwood furniture,
usually nicknamed "Brown" and "Continental."
Among the furniture was a server attributed to a North Carolina
maker of mahogany plank and veneer (on yellow pine) with lion's
paws feet. The piece was in excellent condition, circa 1830, and
priced at $2,475. Around the corner was a parlor settee and
companion chair, East Lake style, newly upholstered but there was
no dealer and no price tag for additional information.
A sample of some of the country items offered.
Matt Zakreski of Woodstock, Ga., which is within an hour's drive,
has been a regular for years. His booth in the South Building is
American country, especially painted wood furniture and
accessories. The centerpiece of his exhibit was a yellow grain
painted six-board blanket chest from Eastern Pennsylvania. Priced
at $1,150, it looked like a basic piece for Mahantango style
paint decoration, but with the boy-girl hearts and distelfink.
His background was a hanging whirligig pattern quilt and a small
collection of Windsor chairs in various styles.
Each month Jim O'Kelley brings a variety of furniture and usually
a selection of tall-case clocks, i.e., grandfather clocks, all
made in England we presume, as he shops there often. This month
he offered a clock with brass works made by Green of Prescott,
England, circa 1819-1832. The face had a moon phase top, the case
was mahogany and it was priced at $4,800.
Several pond boats were found this month. Bluenose was
sold by the time we saw it but was a pleasure to see. At five
feet long and with a mast of six feet, Stuart Little could have
lived on board.
Richmond dealer Vernon Creekmore is among those who setup every
month. He had many early American-made pieces including a North
Carolina chest. His most interesting offering was a pair of
Charles II English-made chairs. The legs and back were framed by
rope turned columns and the seats and back were handwoven cane.
The price was $2,250, which for their excellent condition and age
(circa 1680) did not seem to be off the mark.
Everything there is not strictly American or European. Rita
McNair, Foley, Ala., had several pieces of Asian furniture
including a Nineteenth Century Japanese settee recently imported
to the United States. Intricately carved in the lightweight
mahogany found in the Pacific, it was priced at $1,975.
Englishman Colin Strong, now living in Florida, had showcases
filled with small curiosities, handguns and scrimshaw. One of the
most interesting pieces was a thread winder in ivory for $1,250.
From the Nineteenth Century, it was made of more than a dozen
separate pieces, each carefully carved and decorated. Another
dealer offered a tapered stack of green Leeds featheredge
platters for about $1,200.
Gene Best, Mocksville, N.C., is another dealer setting up nearly
every month. He brought a hand-carved slightly larger than
life-size pintail decoy. Made in North Carolina, decoy carvers
used to make these models slightly larger than real so the duck
and geese could see them from a longer range.
Charles Upchurch offered an oak Victorian dining set including a
pedestal table and six pressed back chairs for $4,500. He is from
Mableton, Ga., and had refinished the complete set.
A Georgia dealer brought an authentic bearskin rug to the show
that he believed was from about 1925. On Friday morning a state
game warden confiscated it and charged the dealer with criminal
possession of animal parts, something he claimed was a jailable
offense. The dealer was not arrested but he has to go to court
and he is out the bearskin. The warden said "it would probably be
burned." We suggest dealers check with the local authorities
before bringing animal skins, heads, etc, to any antique shows.
Red Montgomery lived at one time in the Connecticut Valley but
after World War II, he began trading in antiques... it was more
fun than engineering. At age 83, he is still doing it at Scott's
each month with early American furniture he finds mostly near his
current home in Florida.
Red Montgomery of Daytona, Fla., brought this inlaid card
table.
People get into antiques as a business in many different ways.
Belinda Walker is a full-time flight attendant with frequent
flights to England and France. On her layovers there she manages
to get in some shopping, mostly for small objects, which she can
then carry home for her shows.
Some booths are a jumble of odds and ends that require careful
review to find good stuff. One such setup was filled with several
oil and kerosene lamps, early candlesticks, several carved decoys
and more. A few booths were early sporting goods and fishing
tackle. Another was entirely tables, lamps made from old things
such as coffee and tea tins, tin milk pails, ginger jars and
more. There are even a few booths with textiles and fabrics.
In wrapping up our visit and this review, Scott Antique Market is
a very big, well-run, monthly offering of antiques and decorating
items. Well managed by Don Scott, with help from several family
members and staff, it is a smooth, successful business and a good
source for buying. The second weekend of every month you can call
740-569-4112 for information or visit the website,
www.scottantique market.com. Even though most space is booked by
regular monthly dealers, there are enough skipping a month now
and then for occasional visitors to find space.
Scott Antique Markets are also in Columbus, Ohio, monthly, from
November to April, and in Tampa, Fla., in January only.
See you there soon.
