: The 1877 stone gristmill with its huge wooden and metal gears is
silent now. Some 20 yards away, the Delaware River no longer
serves as a canal to transport manufactured goods. Instead, it
now transports the spirits of fly fishermen and tourists.
During the weekend of June 19-20, however, the gristmill and the
sawmill, now on the National Register of Historic Places, came to
life with exhibitors, patrons and antique treasures at the
Katona/Lutz Prallsville Mills Spring Antique Show.
The Delaware River Mills Society proclaimed that with regard to
these historical structures, "each of us has a part to play in
saving a segment of our past and in making it a part of the
future." That sentiment could also be applied to the antiques
that filled these buildings on this summer solstice weekend.
Indeed, as one of the show's 32 exhibitors, dealers Raymond and
Nancy Scheffler of N&R Antiques, Alburtis, Penn., did their
part to preserve the past for future generations. As Raymond
Scheffler singled out an American flax wheel in their booth, he
said, "Up until six months ago, when she turned 91 years old, a
Boyerstown, Penn., woman used it." One of several items that the
Schefflers sold during the weekend, the flax wheel's new owner
now shares in the responsibility of keeping this story alive for
future generations.
Other antiques that would not be making the return trip home with
the Schefflers included a Pennsylvania dovetailed blanket chest
with original paint, a farm table, a set of four paint decorated
country chairs, a high chair and a display rack complete with
coin silver spoons.
Blanket chests and a farm table also proved to be ready cash for
first-time participants Keith and Diane Fryling of Green Lane,
Penn. In fact, not one but two paint decorated chests sold during
the weekend along with a ten-drawer spice box in original paint
and a redware vase by Jacob Medinger.
The Frylings' neighbor, dealer Jim Woodruff from Chester, N.J.,
used an early Twentieth Century screened pie safe or milk
cupboard to display an assortment of redware. Juxtaposed to this
collection was an array of spongeware bowls and pitchers, along
with cobalt decorated stoneware. Included in his mix of
yellowware was a rare 81/2-inch brown-and-white-banded pie plate.
Also noted was an unusually small size dough box and a circa 1910
No. 3 Enterprise coffee mill. Several of his sales included a
one-drawer stand with turned legs and a Penbrook-style top, a
Nineteenth Century mortised water bench and a stenciled stoneware
jug.
Bread turned into "dough" for show promoters Ellen Katona and Bob
Lutz from Greenwich, N.J., who sold a large Turog Bread Company
advertising sign from Maine.
Also capturing showgoers' attention was a circa 1800 walnut drop
leaf table with a rare leg form that was from either the eastern
shore of Maryland or Delaware, and a collection of doorstops that
included a dated 1930 Bradley and Hubbard Conestoga wagon. Two
painted firkins included one in gray-green color and the other a
salmon.
Circa 1840 tester bed with a circa 1830 Maryland Star of
Bethlehem quilt - the quilt sold early in the show. Brey
Antiques, York, Pa.
Patrons may have believed they had traveled further south to
Delaware - more specifically, Winterthur - when they visited the
booth of York, Penn., dealer Christopher Brey. Taking center stage
in his booth was a circa 1840 cherry wood tester bed from the
mid-Atlantic area. Making an elegant statement on top of this bed
was a Maryland Star of Bethlehem quilt, circa 1830, that had
appliqués of chintz birds on each corner. Needless to say, with
such attention to detail by the quilt maker, it was a quick sell at
the show.
Filling out the booth was a mahogany Empire period paw foot sofa,
circa 1825, believed to be of New York origin and a mahogany
Sheraton game table, circa 1820, with spiral legs. Artwork
included a signed Thomas Frederick Hoppin (Providence, R.I.,
1816-1872) oil on canvas portrait of a horse and an oil on canvas
landscape by Cullen Yates (1866-1945), who was a student of
William Merritt Chase.
Richard Suydam from Lahaska, Penn., who was on his way to Maine
after this show, commented that it was a good show for him. He
sold a mix of items that included silver, jewelry, a wooden
Mason's sign and an Eighteenth Century cupboard.
Cottage Treasures, Long Valley, N.J., offered a winning
combination of Hungarian and Chinese furnishings that produced
sales, which included an 1880s prayer table, an 1890s altar
table, a pair of Chinese chairs, a cast-iron planter, an ornate
fireback and wooden architectural brackets with lion's heads.
June and Charles Bertini from Ackerson Homestead Antiques, Park
Ridge, N.J., are now working full-time in the antiques business,
and their constant searching for the unique showed in their
exhibit of a Nineteenth Century zinc apothecary sign with
full-form eagle and mortar and pestle. Attributed to the Mott
Ironworks in New York City, it originally stood in the Clayton
& Edwards pharmacy on Lexington Avenue.
"It's rare to have a matched pair," noted June Bertini, referring
to an 8-inch-tall pair of circa 1690 brass Spanish dome based
candlesticks that are referenced in Schiffer's The Brass
Book. Also shown was a tramp art sewing box designed with
multiple hearts, both inside and out. On Saturday, the Bertinis
sold a late 1700s table top, slant front desk and an all-original
oversized bedstep with Hitchcock stenciling.
Included in an artistic wall arrangement of weathervanes seen in
the booth of Antiques at Olcott Square, Basking Ridge, N.J., was
one of a tin cow. Also exhibited was a Silas Hoadley (1786-1870)
tall-case clock, circa 1825, with a 30-hour wood movement. One of
their Saturday sales included an 1850s step back cupboard.
Several items that sold from the booth of Sandbrook Antiques,
Flemington, N.J., included a circa 1860 pumpkin painted pine dry
sink, an early 1910 teddy bear and an 1876 Centennial child's
flag umbrella.
Circa 1920s folk art painting on board which sold the first day
of the show in the booth of Gladys Spare and Barbara Rew,
Baltimore, Md.
Across the room, neighbors H&L Antiques from Princeton,
N.J., sold a flame mahogany tilt-top table, early pine arrow back
chairs, a pine table with two side drawers from Virginia, a
6-foot-long wooden box with its original paint, and a 6-foot-long
rack that still retained its original rosehead nails that the new
owner is planning to hang children's chairs on.
Hex Highway Antiques, Hamburg, Penn., exhibited an 1803 American
mourning picture and, from across the pond, an 1887 advertising
slate marking the Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
"It's only the second one I've ever had," said Lynne Oppenheimer
of Ivy Hill Primitives, Langhorne, Penn., referring to a
Nineteenth Century yellowware basket with an applied twisted
handle that was being offered. A big find for collectors of
miniatures was a rare blue onion pattern rolling pin.
Michael Olsen from Oldwick, N.J., showed a circa 1830 New England
country Sheraton secretary constructed with a variety of woods, a
New England Sheraton chest, circa 1820, made of figured cherry
and bird's-eye maple, a Pennsylvania transitional Sheraton/Empire
chest of drawers, circa 1840, and a country Sheraton dressing
stand.
The next Prallsville Mills Antiques Show will be conducted on
Saturday and Sunday, August 28-29. For information, 846-459-2229.
