: The term "show circuit" takes on a whole new meaning during the
first weekend in October with what is billed as "the greatest
week for antiquing in Vermont." In quick succession, five quality
shows put more than 200 dealers and their merchandise on display.
This year, the fun began in Weston on Thursday evening, September
30, and concluded with slightly fatigued faces on Sunday, October
3, in Manchester Center - and if one could find time to leaf-peep
or enjoy a leisurely morning interlude at a B&B, that was
just syrup on the griddlecakes.
Longest in tooth among the five shows - 46 years - the Weston
event takes place in the Weston Playhouse, Vermont's oldest
professional theater establishment (it was founded in 1936 in
what was once a congregational church), which is nestled between
the Weston town green and a picturesque stream complete with
waterfall.
Featuring 40 exhibitors, Weston packed them in on preview night
with a benefit gala for the town's historic preservation society.
Lectures and booth seminars were added attractions during the
weekend - for example, Barbara Trask Melhado, senior member of
the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), from nearby Dorset,
Vt., talked on Friday about how the appraisers on PBS's
Antiques Roadshow come up with their valuations.
Show chair Patti Prairie reported that both attendance and
dealers sales were very strong, with 25 percent more people
attending the gala preview despite a doubling of cost for a
ticket. "Friday and Saturday were both ahead of last year, with
Saturday especially strong," she said. "There were a lot more
younger people than what I've seen before."
"Weston never disappoints," said David Allan Ramsay, Cape
Porpoise, Maine. "We sold from setup through pack-out, both to
clients we've known for years as well as to trade and retail
customers we met for the first time."
Ramsay credits the show's hard-working volunteers for making the
event as enjoyable as can be for both exhibitors and shoppers.
"Patti Prairie, the show's new chair, invigorated this
traditional show with a new floor plan, a great mix of familiar
exhibitors and new additions, and her tireless efforts to attract
new customers paid off - we sold to many Vermonters who were
taking in their first Weston show, as well as to others from as
far away as California, Maryland and Ohio."
Among Ramsay's sales were a Bavarian barber's drop front desk in
polychrome, which found a new home in Vermont, and a
sophisticated two-drawer worktable in vigorous flame birch and
bird's-eye maple that returned to Maine with its new owner. Other
sales included a still life on canvas, a fan window, a
weathervane, a gear mold convex mirror and a number of smalls.
"Weston has reinvented itself, and we couldn't be happier to have
been asked to take part in one of New England's premier antiques
shows," said Ramsay.
Show chair Prairie met Tim Brennan and Dave Mouilleseaux at the
Hunt Valley show in Timonium, Md., this past February, liked
their look and relentlessly pursued the Norfolk, Conn., antiques
dealers over the next two days. "We finally signed a contract on
the spot, based solely on her amazing enthusiasm and her very
obvious capability," recalled Brennan.
Brennan & Mouilleseuax, Norfolk, Conn.
"Here's a case in point," he continued. "Patti made it clear
that she wanted us to bring some serious high-end American garden
antiques to Weston, and we agreed that we would, with the caveat
that there would have to be some pretty hefty help available to us
both in porterage and delivery. When I sold a pair of cast-iron
urns that took three men to move, and the people we assumed would
be able to deliver them were unable to, Patti didn't rest until a
delivery was worked out. I've never seen anyone attached to a show
committee go those extra ten miles to help a dealer. We now refer
to Patti as a force of nature. And what she did for us she clearly
did for anyone who asked."
Brennan and Mouilleseaux sold a stone carving and a bronze
half-armillary sphere at the preview, as well as a diamond-shaped
Nineteenth Century continental gilt mirror.
Another first-year exhibitor, Wayne Adams, American Decorative
Arts, Canaan, N.H., displayed a rare collection of 51
Stevengraphs, woven in pure silk pictorial art, along with a
complementary group of Arts and Crafts period accessories.
"Weston was well attended by a wide range of participants from
all areas of the country - inquisitive, well versed - that had
never seen a large display like this," recalled Adams. "I had a
fine show; unexpected good sales and a strong follow up at home
after its conclusion. I am looking forward to another year."
Adams added that anyone wishing to learn more about Stevengraphs
and other woven Victorian silk can contact him via email:
stevengraphs@yahoo.com.
Other first-time exhibitors were Alden and Norma Chick, whose
Autumn Pond business based in Woodbury, Conn., deals in
delftware, folk art, paintings, furniture and accessories. "The
Weston show was wonderful for Alden and me. We were extremely
pleased with both the interest and the sales," said Norma Chick.
Two of their most interesting sales were a five-piece cobalt blue
and white signed Delft garniture set, circa 1760, and a pair of
signed and dated horse oil paintings. They sold a set of six
Windsor bow back side chairs at the preview.
Her third year at the show, American paintings specialist Donna
Kmetz of Douglas, Mass., said that with a booth by the show
entrance, she got to see the lines at opening, the gate and the
many things leaving the show throughout the weekend. "Plenty of
furniture and a wide range of antiques found new homes," she
reported. "It's wonderful to see the strong interest in high
quality antiques. Also, the gate was quite strong all weekend -
there was even a line on Sunday morning."
Kmetz sold throughout the weekend, including a Pawlett, Vt.,
landscape by Elwyn Gowen, to a young couple who just closed on a
house in the area. "I also sold a good Nineteenth Century
landscape to buyers from Toronto. My best day actually came on
Sunday with customers returning from earlier in the weekend. This
year's admission included entry to two lectures and four booth
talks, plus show admission throughout the weekend - and customers
did indeed come back. My Sunday sales included a wonderful
painting of cows by National Academy and Litchfield Hills artist
George Glenn Newell. The painting had been exhibited at the
Salmagundi Club. It's new home is a house in Vermont."
Weston was also a very good show for Charles and Barbara Adams,
South Yarmouth, Mass. "We sold well each day, including Sunday,"
said Barbara Adams. "I guess Bennington was our big seller -
well, after all, we were in Vermont where most of the pottery was
made. After the 19 pieces sold at preview night, we sold five
others during the show to make a total of 24 pieces," she said.
And after the show, she got a call from another customer they had
met at the show. "So the show total is now 26. Not quite a
record, as we did sell 30 pieces at the Midweek in Manchester
show a few years ago."
Oil paintings also sold well for the Adamses; they sold six. They
also sold yellowware and blue sponge pottery, wooden gold letters
and several frames.
David Allan Ramsay, Cape Porpoise, Me.
"We also bought very well at the show," said Barbara Adams.
"We are treated so well there, and it is like old home week to see
the same customers come back year after year. It is such a
wonderful weekend. That is why we have been coming back to do the
show every year since 1978."
For her fifth showing at Weston, textiles specialist Marsha
Manchester - Milady's Vintage Linens, Gardiner, Maine - provided
more than sales anecdotes. She keeps a journal at shows to
determine whether the show is worthwhile. "From the head count we
took on Saturday, the attendance was up 23 percent over the past
three years and my sales were up 31 percent. The shoppers chose
only my very best and didn't even consider asking for a
discount," said Manchester.
One exceptional sale she made was to an associate editor from
Traditional Home magazine who has a third home in Weston.
Surprisingly, the editor bought three very colorful, expensive
chenille bedspreads, eight pair of colored embroidered
pillowcases, and dozens of woven linen kitchen towels to use as
placemats and napkins.
For information, 802-824-5307 or www.WestonAntiquesShow.org.
