: Barry Cohen began his second decade of running an antiques show
in York on November 5 when his York Classic Antiques Show opened
for early buying at 7 am. "The gate for early buying was off some
from last fall, but attendance was up from the May show," Barry
said. He added, "We ended up well, with many of our exhibitors
reporting good to excellent sales."
For various reasons, a number of exhibitors choose not to do the
show this fall and Barry sought new dealers to fill his 97-booth
show. He picked well, filling Memorial Hall with some new faces
and an interesting mix of offerings.
Old Stream Antiques of Mt Vernon, Ohio, offered a large baker's
table in pine and a two-board Hepplewhite one-drawer drop leaf
table, also in pine. The collection shown by Prints From The
Past, located just up the road in Doylestown, Penn., included
Prideaux, John Selby, a hand colored copper plate etching/
engraving, 1841, London, from Illustrations of British
Ornithology collection, second edition.
Mary Carden Quinn of Floral Park, N.Y., a regular at the Cohen
shows, always has a number of hooked rugs and this time offered
an example with horseshoes in each corner, surrounding a large
one in the center. Flying geese crossed another finely hooked rug
measuring 181/2 by 351/4 inches. "We had a good show with sales
on both days," Neil Quinn said. Among the sales was a child's
sled, South Paris, Maine, with a stamp on it for the distributor
in Hartford, along with the date of 1916 and the owner's name.
"It sold four times before the show even opened," Neil said. He
also mention sales of a six-board chest from Connecticut with
bootjack ends, old blue painted surface, circa 1840, with the
maker's name in pencil on the bottom. Also sold were a set of six
Pennsylvania painted plank-seat chairs, a golfer doorstop in the
original paint and a folk art bird tree.
Hanes and Ruskin of Old Lyme, Conn., offered a more formal look
with several case pieces of furniture, brass items and some
porcelain. A refinished country dining table, 5 feet 5 inches
long with two drop leaves, dated from the mid Nineteenth Century,
and among the chairs in the booth was a Connecticut bow back
Windsor armchair, late Eighteenth Century, in vibrant blue paint
over the old original red. A note, written by the previous owner
and attached to the chair, read, "I always remember this chair as
being blue."
Log Cabin Antiques from Lititz, Penn., showed two New England
chair tables, both in old red, and a nice dry sink, circa 1800,
among the furniture offerings. A New England one-board tap table
in bittersweet paint, 301/2 inches long, Eighteenth Century,
tapered lags, was in the front of the booth of Bobbie Pries of
Westfield Center, Ohio. A nice stenciled canvas covered dome top
trunk, 311/2 by 12 by 12 inches, circa 1820-40, was also shown.
Swala's Antique Warehouse, Washington, Penn., offered a
collection of stoneware numbering about 30 pieces, mostly of
Pennsylvania origin. Of special note was a large 20-gallon crock
by R.T. Williams, New Geneva, Penn., with an extra tag on it
reading, "Best we've ever seen." From Stafford Springs, Conn.,
Blue Dog Antiques offered a circa 1760 slat back armchair of
Massachusetts origin, black painted rush seat, and a Pennsylvania
paint decorated cupboard with one paneled door, circa 1820, of
pine.
Sheppheard's Antiques of Bedford, Penn., offered several medicine
cabinets with advertising on the front door. Among them were Dr
Daniel's Veterinary Medicine and Pratt's Veterinary Remedies. A
clothing store display rack held a selection of a dozen hats,
while a portion of the side wall was taken by two large posters,
September 1911, advertising The Great Newark Fair.
A white-painted primitive wood carving of a horse stood out in
the booth of Manchester Antiques, Londonderry, N.H. This piece
dated from the late Eighteenth century and was of Swedish origin.
A round table with green painted and decorated top was from the
Nineteenth Century, American, which when not in use had
fold-under legs.
Brian Cullity, Sagamore, Mass.
Cranberry Corners came from Travelers Rest, S.C., bringing a
large collection of country smalls including over a dozen pantry
boxes in various colors, slatted berry baskets, a selection of
butte stamps with interesting carvings, and a grouping of hog
scrapper candlesticks, including some with wedding bands.
More country things filled the booth of Mary de Buhr Antiques of
Downers Grove, Ill. Here a tall set of shelves, possibly from a
buttery, 521/2 inches wide, was filled with wooden bowls, plates,
cutting boards and breadboards. A well-worn knife sharpening box
showed years of wear.
A hooked rug, dating from the early Twentieth Century, 31 inches
tall, in the shape of a drum and in patriotic colors, hung
against the back wall in the booth of David and Sue Roe,
Springfield, Ill. "We brought many country things and are doing
quite well," Sue said. Offered was a Pennsylvania grain-painted
blanket chest on bracket base, inside drawer, dating from the
Nineteenth Century, and a large wood-turned bowl, New England, 22
inches in diameter, salmon paint, was displayed on a Pennsylvania
dry sink with two paneled doors enclosing the bottom mustard
painted surface.
Michael Caden Gallery, Cody, Wyo.,, combined the York show with
Barry Cohen's new Indian show in Washington, D.C., and Michael
noted, "We have had lots of interest, people come into the booth
and look our collection of early photographs over, but are
hesitant to buy." He offered some very high-end pieces from a
large booth at the end of Memorial Hall, including a work by
Edward Sheriff Curtis, "Chief Garfield, Jicarilla Apache," a 12
by 16 platinum photograph and one of several by Curtis.
One of the most time-consuming booths to set up in the show
belonged to Lost & Found from Baltimore. Here eight wide
shelves of chocolate molds, taking all manner of shapes, were
against the outside wall of the booth, while cases were filled
with hundreds of soldiers and other lead figures. One entire case
was devoted to sewing related items, and of course Christmas
decorations were offered, including a large stand of Santa
figures.
An interesting set of eight one-dimensional metal crow decoys was
just being taken down and packed for a customer by Etcetera, Etc,
Cambridge, N.Y., as this reporter rounded the corner at the far
end of the show. Among other pieces in the booth were two early
painted birdhouses, both of goods size and mounted on cupolas.
One had to be moving fast to miss the vibrant painted game wheel
in the booth of Plum Lucky Antiques, Annapolis, Md. It had a
bright yellow and orange painted surface, with black numbers, and
dated from the early Twentieth Century. And for those looking for
folk art from the same period, an eight-foot-long painted snake,
North Carolina origin, was available.
An Empire server with bird's-eye drawer fronts, found in Aiken,
S.C., but reportedly made in New York State, was in the display
of Warren and Carol Ellis of Elizabeth City, N.C. A Maryland
chest of drawers with backsplash, old red surface, was among
other pieces of furniture, and a colorful nine-patch quilt of
Pennsylvania origin hung on the back wall.
Kensington, Conn., dealer Derik Pulito showed a very colorful
red, white and blue star pattern quilt hung near an oil on canvas
landscape depicting cows in a pasture. This work was by Nelson D.
Wilson (1880-1950), Leopold, Ind. Furniture included a circa 1830
Massachusetts jelly cupboard with cutout base, sage coloring.
More formal furniture was shown in the booth of Lit Kirkpatrick,
Kirtland, Ohio, including a tiger maple drop leaf extension table
with the original brass cup caters, 12 feet 2 inches long, New
York State, circa 1860. An Empire tiger maple six-drawer chest
retained an old surface, and a Chippendale five-drawer chest in
walnut, with ogee feet, circa 1770, was 34 inches wide and
figured with two short drawers over three long drawers. This
piece was from Philadelphia.
Swala's Antiques Warehouse, Washington, Penn.
Jim Hohnwald, along with partner Bob Jesses, came to York
from Fitzwilliam, N.H., with a van loaded with country furniture
and accessories. "People are shopping carefully, but buying when
they see something they want. So far we have had a very good show,"
Jim said the end of the first day of the show. They had sold a
ladder back armchair in old green paint, along with some very good
smalls. "The early buying time slot worked out well for this show,
but it is difficult to hold the public when another show is opening
only two hours later," he said. This is an opinion expressed by
many of the exhibitors who would like to see more than two hours
between the opening of the three shows at the fairgrounds.
Among the pie safes offered at the show was a nice one in the
booth of The Mersky's of Paradise, Penn. This one, Pennsylvania
origin, had a nice salmon painted surface over the old red. An
early cupboard, once in a railroad station, showed a red-painted
surface.
Indians, clowns, soldiers and children were among the many forms
of chocolate molds shown in the booth of Bayberry Antiques,
Orleans, Mass. Two stacks of multicolored firkins were offered,
along with a nice selection of doorstops depicting rabbits,
ducks, penguin, Old Salt and an messenger from Fiske.
Among the Eighteenth Century furniture in the booth of Antiques
at Hillwood Farms, Pecatonica, Ill, were a gate leg table in oak
and yew, original surface, and a Chippendale slant front desk in
birch, Connecticut origin. A set of New Hampshire storage
shelves, Nineteenth Century, untouched condition, were probably
originally used for foodstuffs, but served as a display for a
large collection of leather-bound books shown at York.
A large black-painted sheet iron horse weathervane stood out from
a distance on the back wall of the booth of Brian Cullity,
Sagamore, Mass. This Nineteenth Century figures was shown over a
New York slant front desk on stand with paint decorated interior.
A Queen Anne drop leaf table in walnut, tiger maple secondary,
was from the Philadelphia region and dated circa 1740-60. And as
usual, a nice selection of redware pieces was available.
"The May show will again offer a wide variety of antiques and we
already have a strong dealer list for May," Cohen said.
