Rockport Antiques Show Rocks

ROCKPORT, MAINE

:Paul Davis continues to build his repertoire of successful summer shows in Maine. His Rockport Antiques Show is in its third year.

Customers are now finding the show as a regular feature of their vacationing on the Mid-Coast, as the area from about Wiscasset to Camden and Searsport is known. With more than 40 dealers exhibiting in room settings at the Mid-Coast Recreation Center on easily accessible and visible Route 90, the show, which was conducted on July 8-9, offers high quality antiques and folk art in an area known for its appreciation of both.

Davis began the show when the facility became available, for there were only two other shows in the area all summer. One was his Maine Antiques Festival at nearby Union in August; the other took place in late July in a school facility. He said, "When I began this show, I believed it would take a while for it to catch on with the dealers and the public alike, and I can say that this year proved it has done that. The show filled with dealers quickly - nearly all of them were returning from last year - and the gate was good. Frankly, the morning rain probably helped keep the people indoors."

Davis's dealer list, while including many from Maine, had many from outside the area. Period Antiques is Tom Cheap and Rose Reynolds from Scottsburg, Ind., who came with a mixed collection of folk art, early country style furniture and some early advertising. Cheap has been offering folk art for many years, and here he had several painted game boards as decorations on his booth's back wall. Mimi's Antiques is from Columbia, Md., and the firm specializes in Georgian furniture and Chinese Export porcelain, specifically the Rose Medallion pattern.

Fire House Antiques in Galena, Md., is a multidealer shop that is open every day, but owner Paul Theim likes to do shows for the exposure, the sales and, in many cases, the added opportunity to find more of the folk art he collects and trades. Easter Hill Antiques from Sharon, Conn., came with Georgian furniture, some of which stayed in Maine, and Akin Antiques and Lighting brought some of the firm's collection from Canton, Mass.

An early Nineteenth Century three-candle chandelier was tagged at $625, offered by Colleen Kniloch from Bristol, Maine, and it sold very early in the show. Dealers get attached to their inventory many times. In Kniloch's case, when she sold that one, she knew about another, which she promptly bought to replace the sold piece.

Vera Gardiner and her husband recently moved from Memphis, Tenn., to Rockland, where she now keeps an antiques shop. They are collectors of Nineteenth Century Americana and furniture, which they offered in their show space. Of particular interest was a sign more than 100 years old advertising an exhibit of butterflies and other tropical flora and fauna. Nickerson Antiques is another of the nearby dealers, Swanville, Maine, to be exact, and with a shop in Searsport. William Nickerson recently found an eagle carved from wood, probably by Aaron Mountz of Carlisle, Penn., about 1890, which he is offering at $17,500.

Among the many dealers from Maine at this gathering, Portland Antiques and Fine Art had an attractive paint decorated chair, likely from Pennsylvania from about the middle of the Nineteenth Century. The Boat House, Wiscasset, brought a large inventory of boats - all transportable, as they are pond boats, those models about 2 to 4 feet long made to sail in lakes and ponds while their owners stand on shore and watch. Day's Antiques offered a collection of furniture and accessories from the firm's Brunswick shop. Addison is some four hours east of the show, but still in Maine and home to Martin Ferrick, who had a mixture of English and American furniture.

Two new dealers to the show were also new residents of Maine. Pioneer Folk moved upon its owners' retirement recently and has begun offering a mixture of small country objects. Indian Pipe Antiques moved from Florida to Cape Elizabeth with a mix of furniture, including American, English and Continental styles.

Clearly, by the end of the show at 5 pm on Saturday, it was judged a success by dealers, the promoter and customers, for there was good sales activity.

The next gathering for many of these dealers will be at Bar Harbor, Maine, on July 26-27 when Davis conducts the show at Mount Desert High School.

For information, 207-563-1013 or www.pauldavisshows.com.