Bedford Pickers Market 'A Fun Place To Be'

BEDFORD, N.H.

:"This is a fun show, I really like it," said Charles Santore as he made his way from the air-conditioned Wayfarer Convention Center to the large white tent at The Bedford Pickers Market. His interest in this one-day show, which opened with early buying at 9 am and closed at 4 pm on Friday, August 12, was shared by a large group of others who were seeking to "end their week with a great antiques," as the show's slogan puts it.

"We had a long line of people waiting to get into the show and we sold over 400 two-show tickets," Frank Gaglio, show manager and owner of Barn Star Productions said. Both figures were up from last year. "We closed Mid*Week an hour earlier on Thursday this year, and it made a great difference in setting up Pickers," Frank said. As the Mid*Week vendors moved out, most of them fully packed by 7:30 pm, the new wave of dealers moved in and had until midnight. Some of them were completely done that night, while others returned as early as 5:30 am on Friday to complete setup. The hard work paid off and the selection of exhibitors made for a most interesting show. "Better than last year" was an often heard comment, one shared by this reviewer.

"I have only one or two things to do before the show opens," Justin Cobb of The Captain's Quarters, Amherst, Mass., said. With that he hung another China Trade painting on the back wall, the American warship USS Wachusett in Hong Kong Harbor, an oil on canvas. Next to it was shown another oil on canvas, 231/2 by 321/2 inches, of the American clipper Geo. S. Homer out of Bath, Maine. In addition to several ship paintings, Justin sold several carved pieces from his display case and a small model of a four-masted ship in a glass case.

A large folk art rocking horse from Montgomery County, Penn., circa 1845 and with a provenance that included the Pottsgrove Manor Museum, was in the booth of Log Cabin Antiques of Lititz, Penn. Furniture included a tavern table with stretcher base, one drawer and scrubbed two-board top.

Two cupboards were offered from the display of Denise Scott Antiques, East Greenwich, R.I., one from Quebec, three doors with bracket base, green-blue painted surface, and dating from the mid Nineteenth Century. The other was of New England origin, possibly Maine, step back in green paint, Nineteenth Century, and filled with a selection of pewter.

"This is the best set of store tins I have ever owned," Kate Tanning of Pittsburgh said of the 14 lidded tins in two different sizes stacked in her booth. They bore the name of Jas. H. Forbes, a merchant from Chicago. Furniture included a Victorian dog chair and a Pembroke table from Philadelphia.

Rena Goldberg from Orange, Conn., again offered a nice collection of painted wooden clock faces and Victorian round breadboards. Biscuit tins in the shape of buildings, animals and stacks of books were displayed on the shelves at the back of the booth. "I still go to England to find most of the tins, but even there they are becoming very hard to find," Rena said.

The largest boat model in the show belonged to Zollinhoffer Antiques of Medina, Ohio. Measuring close to four feet in length, The Reindeer, a Lake Champlain cruise ship, circa 1900, was complete with lifeboats on the top deck. Four children, three of them girls in red, blue and white dresses, were in an American family portrait attributed to Robert Peckham of Fitchburg, Mass.

A peacock weathervane, wood with tin tail, was shown in the booth of Grantham 1763 Antiques, Denton, Md. It shared a wall with a hooked rug depicting a black cat and several signs advertising Corn on the Cob, French Fries, and Sandwiches.

"It's all fixed and working well," Susan of Otto and Susan Hart, Arlington, Vt., said as she pressed a pedal on the floor and 114 figures came to life in an elaborate folk art musical/mechanical clock that measured six feet tall. A pair of sailor-made penguins from Maine, circa 1930, was shown on the back wall, and in the center of the booth was a large shoe trade sign in bright red paint.

A large carved rooster wind-toy, red and white painted with propeller, was in the center of the booth of Sandy Kempner of Canaan, N.Y. She also offered a large hooked rug depicting a pair of black cats.

A barber shop pole, red and white, was shown next to a barber shop trade sign that offered "First Class Work for Woman and Children" in the booth of Ken and Susan Scott, Malone, N.Y. Among the furniture was a blue-painted step back cupboard and a bird tree had nine yellow-painted carved wooden birds in it, complete with a nest a four babies. "This is our first year in the show and it is good for us," Susan said.

Dunbarton, N.H., dealers Bill and Linda Morse offered an outside jumper horse carousel figure in park paint by Spillman, circa 1900, while a selection of farm signs, including "Wheat Freshly Picked," hung in the booth of Comfort Fish, Springfield, Mass.

Brian Bartizek of Willimantic, Conn., showed a nice selection of furniture including a country tea table, tip top, red surface, New Hampshire or Vermont, Nineteenth Century, and a one-drawer chest in pine, mustard painted surface, circa 1790, of New England origin.

One of the best garden objects shown during antiques week was a cast iron tree urn in the booth of Diana M. Higgins Antiques, Hampton, Conn. The open work bowl of large size sat neatly on a tree trunk base that was signed "Miller, Providence, R.I." It dated 1870-1880. Displayed on the wall was a large hooked rug showing two lions, one reclining in the foreground and one standing in the background.

Two stacks of six board chests, in various colors and sizes, were in the booth of Robert Gifford Antiques, Centerport, N.Y., and David Weiss of Sheffield, Mass., another first-time exhibitor at Pickers, hung a large oil on canvas by R. Vening in the center of his booth. This work depicted two Indians on a rock in a landscape setting of woods and lake.

"It's nice to see some modern, Twentieth Century pieces come into the show," Frank Gaglio said, referring in particular to the set of six stacking fiberglass side chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller in the booth of Mark Moody, Shohla, Penn. Each chair retained an original label.

Field and Stream Antiques of Mansfield, Conn., offered a flame birch, drop leaf Sheraton table with delicate legs, surrounded by a set of four pillow back, plank seat side chairs in yellow paint with decoration. In like-new condition was an Evinrude outboard motor, circa 1920, well-known as the "Knucklebuster." A selection of sporting pictures featured anglers in streams and with fish.

A Chippendale blanket chest with ship painting on the front, green painted and of Connecticut origin, was in the booth of Paula Patterson of Westfield, Mass. She also offered a Nineteenth Century slant lid desk in pine, with gallery, red surface, and large wooden pulls on the single long drawer.

"I come with art pottery and mix it in with other material, such as paintings, that's what I always do at shows," Jane Langol of Medina, Ohio, said. At Pickers she also offered a large pod boat painted white. A large model of a whale, on wheels, was in the booth of Bill Powell/American Arts, of Franklin, Tenn. Other large objects included a painting of a reclining nude, the "Copper Queen," with the view of an industrial factory out a window.

Martha Caverly of Portsmouth, N.H., said her pair of large Leeds serving platters, circa 1780-1805, were "very rare," and against the back wall of the booth she showed a large portrait of the Kirby family, father and two daughters, in a garden setting. A Nineteenth Century three-board top hutch table in old paint was in the booth of Jeff and Kathy Amon Antiques, Jamestown, Penn., along with a set of six plank seat, decorated side chairs from the Hanover, Penn., area. Each chair is marked and initialed.

The largest chair in the show was in the booth of H&L Antiques of Tabernacle, N.J. This Nineteenth Century rocker, with caned back and seat, measured 52 inches high, 40 inches wide and had a seat depth of 30 inches. It was painted black with mustard trim and came from the Rhinebeck, N.Y., area where it had been in the same family since 1880. A turn-of-the-century sign in the shape of a hot dog in a roll, 20 cents, was displayed near a stationary store sign in the form of a large yellow pencil.

Offered for sale for the first time was a large metal and glass building model of the Capital of USA, six feet tall, fully lighted, with five flags flying and eight street lamps mounted on the display platform. Shown by Spotted Horse Antiques of Brownsville, Vt., it was possibly made to celebrate the entry of the 48th state, Arizona.

A large pair of weathered barn doors from Upstate New York took up the major portion of the wall in the booth of Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass. "We have been doing very well, it's been a good show," Bruce Emond said, listing among his sale a large quill weathervane in copper, a room-size braided rug, a set of 18 heart-shaped markers from a miniature golf game and 20 watercolors by Jacob Way dated 1854.

Colleen Kinloch of Bristol, Maine, offered a hutch table, Nineteenth Century, and an open top New England cupboard of the same period, 6 feet 8 inches tall, while SAJE Antiques of Short Hills, N.J., had an interesting two-over-two stand and a large Indian burl bowl. A pair of portraits, found in a barn in Vermont, oil on canvas, was signed and dated by Hannah Marie Hudson, 1833.

A large molded copper face of an Indian chief from the façade of the former Commodore Hotel in New York hung in the booth of David Allan Ramsay Antiques of Cape Porpoise, Maine. "That building was converted to the Grand Hyatt in the 1970s by Donald Trump," David said, "and some of the architectural elements were saved." Also offered was a six-panel pie safe in old dark paint and a number of figural cast iron andirons including dogs and pine trees.

"I think this show gave lots of dealers a real shot in the arm as they head into the fall season," Frank Gaglio said, "and I am pleased with the quality and look of the show this year." After a few days rest, Barn Star will be gearing up for its Antiques in a Cow Pasture, September 10 in Salisbury, Conn. The fall York Show, planned for October 21-22, has been cancelled. "The dates conflicted with too many other shows and it was impossible to put together a show of the quality I wanted. However, we will be back in York in the spring with a real fine show," Frank said.