Whether you are an antiques purist or you simply like to use antiques as design elements when decorating, the Harwinton Antiques & Design Weekend had something for everyone. The fair was conducted June 9‱0 at the Harwinton Fairgrounds and featured dozens of dealers on the field and in the barn buildings onsite.
The show seemingly featured every manner of antiques, from large case furniture to delicate smalls, jewelry, china and the industrial artifacts that are all the rage. Walled booths in the barn buildings mostly showcased Americana, from colorful textiles and quilts to primitives, weathervanes, game boards and a few blanket chests in great old paint.
Reporting a good show were Dave Mason and Susan Marzan, West Cornwall, Conn. “Susan sold a wide range of fun vintage clothes, particularly 1950s swimsuits, and I was happy with my sales of upscale country Americana, the meat and potatoes of the early Farmington shows,” Mason said. “I would like to see more of the affluent shoppers from the Litchfield Hills and the Berkshires, the show has great potential to grow in that direction.”
Mad River Antiques, LLC, North Granby, Conn., is known for its stoneware inventory, and while it did not sell any here, the choice cobalt-decorated pieces on view drew much attention. The dealers wrote up several sales over the weekend, including furniture and smalls. A standout in its booth seen early Saturday was an early Twentieth Century post office façade from the Adirondacks of New York.
Michele Fox, Weston, Conn., said the show was a bit slower for her than usual, but she had some nice sales and sold several quilts. Nancy Fishelson, Killingworth, Conn., created a study of creams in her booth with a fetching New Hampshire sofa in tow flax linen and original black painted legs, circa 1820s.
Perusing the show early Saturday morning, booths were attractive and the offerings plentiful.
Susan Wechsler of South Road Antiques, New York City, offered a good mix of Twentieth Century in her booth, from an early hand-carved wood sign, “Continentals,” to a sheet tin rooster vane, 50 by 28 inches, and several vintage game boards. Leading fine art was a Modernist oil on board titled “Ghosts and Clowns” by Charles Ramsey.
Among the fine offerings from Otto and Susan Hart, Arlington, Vt., was a cast iron garden settee in red paint and a large wooden sign reading “Locust Creek House.”
Marianne Stikas, New York City, displayed a fetching grouping of five nylon gears of varying large sizes and an etching of Marcel Duchamp playing chess in the bathtub, while one booth over, David Zabriskie, Lake Placid, N.Y., featured an early child’s cart in original paint, a small but lovely Karaja 4-by-6-foot rug and a folky tin figure.
Melissa Bourque, Garrison, N.Y., offered a late Nineteenth Century child’s tumbling block quilt under glass, while Victor Weinblatt, South Hadley, Mass., who is known for “country” signs, prominently featured a charming “Butter & Eggs” sign.
Rounding out the show were a dome top paint-decorated box, probably from Connecticut, seen at Lewis Scranton, Killingworth, Conn.; a painted iron “Anchor Inn” sign aptly shaped as an anchor at Thomas R. Longacre Antiques, Marlborough, N.H.; and a collection of industrial and funky items at Worden Select Objects, Burr Oak, Mich.
The show will return here September 1′. For more information, www.farmingtonantiquesweekend.com or 317-598-0012.
