: The original 143rd semiannual York Antiques Show & Sale was
again conducted at the York Fairgrounds Convention & Expo
Center, September 3-5. The show, owned and managed by Melvin
Arlon, had 96 exhibitors featuring Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Century American, English, primitive and period furniture and
accessories. It is considered a collectors and dealers show, due
to the very high quality of antiques brought by these selected
dealers from more than ten Eastern Seaboard states.
David Pownall Willis, Plainfield, N.J., offered the largest
selection of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century American and
English silver for the serious collector seen amongst the
dealers. Willis also featured a fine grouping of high-end Meissen
that included very rare German porcelain Meissen teapot with a
bird spout, baroque period handle with Deutsche blumen
decoration, signed by the artists, circa 1740-1750.
Anne Arundel House Antiques, Linthicum Heights, Md., display a
34-star American flag, a Civil War pattern, issue of 1861-63.
Also featured were several letters and other memorabilia of the
period, including a letter from Brigadier General John H.
Winters, CSA, from Maryland, plus an American game table, circa
1760-80, and a worktable, circa 1800.
The Salt Box from Sugarloaf, Penn., offered Eighteenth and early
Nineteenth Century American antiques, including early pewter,
wrought iron and cast iron. A two-piece Cumberland County corner
cupboard with its original paint decoration, made of poplar and
pine was an exceptional item. Andrea Hollenbaugh Antiques, East
Berlin, Penn., displayed a fine over-under Kentucky rifle, circa
1860.
Fryling's Antiques, Green Lane, Pa.
Colonial Antiques brought from Arcanum, Ohio, a walnut bonnet
top secretary desk with white pine used as the secondary wood. On
the wall were two framed, Nineteenth Century oil on canvas
portraits of two gentlemen by the same artist, S. Chwerdt. Standing
alone in the corner was a fine painted and decorated tall case
clock with eight-day brass work, London, plus a cherry two-piece
country step back cupboard in as-found condition.
The featured items in the booth of Temora Farms, Newtown, Penn.,
comprised a large grouping of Nineteenth Century brass double
lemon top andirons, circa 1810, and a smaller group of iron
andirons. In wood was a Pennsylvania Lancaster County two-piece
paint decorated desk, along with a painted decorated blanket
chest, as well as a two-piece corner cupboard.
For 30 years a purveyor of antiques, "Skip" Harold of
Sheppheard's Antiques, Aiken, S.C., offered a very rare paint
decorated Soap Hollow, Penn., miniature blanket chest dated 1867
and initialed SPM. A walnut tinned pie safe with star designed
tins plus a rare pantry box were also on display. Probably dating
to about 1830, a whale oil lamp made of tin and iron had its
original patina and was offered by Cedar House Antiques,
Strasburg, Penn. Robert and Doris Haug deal in country furniture,
hooked rugs, toys and Gaudy Welsh. On the wall was a large oil on
canvas painting of a little girl with a gaggle of ducks in a
period frame, plus a good New England small table with its
original red finish.
Arlon took time during Friday afternoon to discuss the background
of this long-running show. "I purchased this show in 1996 from
Paul and Dorothy Attline, York, Penn.," said Arlon. "[Attline]
wanted to retire because of health reasons. We had been friends
for 40 years, and I had been an exhibitor. It was organized in
1934 by Mable Renner, and Paul bought it from her in 1958.
"When we moved to the fairgrounds, we were in the old main
building with 55 exhibitors. When this building was completed -
the same year that I purchased the show - they convinced me to
move down here. I had the walls built; we made it a walled show,
which increased the exhibitors to 96. And all of us, including
the dealers, have been working very hard. People look forward to
coming to the York Antiques Show."
Salt Box Antiques, Sugarloaf, Pa.
Arlon said he is a dealer at heart. "I have been a dealer for
40 years, so I know what they expect. We didn't change the date. We
have been Labor Day weekends since 1934. We changed the times. I
compromised, I now close at seven. But the dealers didn't think I
would open at 10 am so I gave the public the same amount of hours
to shop."
Chuck White, Mercer, Penn., displayed a rare and fine Civil War
painted drum found in Bedford County, Penn., and a large gilded
copper metal rooster weathervane by J.W. Fiske, circa 1890, plus
a two-part paint decorated corner cupboard, circa 1830.
"I have never seen one before, nor has anybody else," commented
first-time exhibitor Jo Calame, Rutabaga Pie Antiques, about the
unique "folk art doll" that resembled George Washington.
From Alexandra, Va., came this comment, as a patron was leaving
the show Friday afternoon, "Fabulous! I love the early starting
time. It is a much nicer starting time." Asked if she had been to
this show before she replied, "Absolutely, come to them all the
time."
