For the collectors who have followed the Vermont Antique Dealers’ Show around for 38 years, recent memory has taken them to a ski resort where the show was on various levels of a ski lodge, an ice rink in Manchester Center and now another ice rink, this time in Woodstock. Fifty-six dealers set up booths there over the July 28′9 weekend, offering a large selection of mostly country furniture and accessories, neatly arranged in the Union Arena Community Center on the Woodstock High School campus.
“People are getting used to us being at the Union Arena and we will probably be there again in 2013,” Greg Hamilton, president of the Vermont Antique Dealers’ Association, said. This is the final year of a three-year contract with the school and it will most likely come to a vote to see if the show continues at that location. The show is presently known as Art & Antiques in Woodstock.
The show opened on Saturday at 10 am with about 60 people waiting in line, and by the end of the day, more people had attended than last year. Combined with Sunday’s attendance, the number was a couple of hundred over 2011. People wandered in over the two-day period and spent a good deal of time checking out the booths and completing many sales. All was not good for every dealer, and the number of sales varied as it does show to show. George B. Johnson of Montpelier, Vt., was among those “very pleased” with the show, mentioning, “It must be my turn to do well, as I have made well over 25 sales and it is not even noon yet.”
At the opposite end of the building from the entrance, Michael and Lucinda Seward of Pittsford, Vt., filled a booth with paintings, accessories and several pieces of furniture, including an Eighteenth Century Georgian sideboard with the original brasses and an Eighteenth Century Rhode Island tea table in mahogany, attributed to John Goddard. A pair of cast iron urns, on the original bases, flanked the front of the booth.
A circa 1855 family of folk art portraits, one man and two women, purchased from a collection in Syracuse, N.Y., was shown in the booth of Melissa Bourque Antiques of Garrison, N.Y. Both the previous owners and the dealer believe the family to be from either the New York City area or Philadelphia. Also offered was a circa 1760‱770 Hudson Valley Queen Anne two-drawer mule chest on bracket base with reverse dovetailed feet. The case measured 36 inches wide.
Back Door Antiques, East Middlebury, Vt., offered an interesting tank model of a prospective ship, made to scale, and used in a tank to determine the draft and wake action of the vessel. Displayed on a tabletop, and also in an album, was a large collection of tole decorating stencils dating from the mid-1960s and done by Marion Wakefield of Lyndonville, Vt., an artist and art teacher.
A pair of green-winged teals, together with a pair of blue-winged teals, all carved and signed by James Lapham, were offered from the booth of West Pelham Antiques, Pelham, Mass. Three small scrub boards showed wear from use by children, and a circa 1815 sampler was executed by Roxana W. Smith of Manchester, N.H.
A large, colorful sign, “Indian Trading Post,” possibly from coastal Maine and decorated with the image of an Indian and arrow, hung in the booth of DBR Antiques of Hadley, Mass. Doug Ramsay said that beneath the present painted surface one could read “Ridgefield,” so there is the chance that it might have come from the Ridgefield, Conn., trading post on Route 7, a building still standing but in serious disrepair, which was recently acquired by the Danbury Elks. A running horse on arrow, with good surface, was offered, as was a wing chair in maple, chestnut and pine from Connecticut or Rhode Island.
Gloria Lonergan, with her faithful helper Pat, traveled up from Mendham, N.J., with a selection of antiques that included a tavern table in pine and maple with single drawer, red paint on the legs, breadboard ends on the top, of New England origin and dating from the Eighteenth Century. A set of six rod back-style Windsor side chairs were also New England, painted and dating from the Nineteenth Century, and a bannerette weathervane in mustard paint with scrolled bracket measured 50 inches long and was from the Nineteenth Century.
A large, handsome gathering basket with four small handles and a fine gray/green painted surface was filled with purple flowers and placed at the end of a long worktable in the booth of Stephen-Douglas of Rockingham, Vt. “The basket is one of the several pieces we obtained from the collection of Paul and Margaret Weld,” Stephen Corrigan said. A hooked rug with two urns of flowers in the center, surrounded by a border of flowers, filled most of the end wall, while a colorful oil on canvas by J.D. Sorver of Philadelphia depicted a large rooster standing in a bed of straw. A two-story tin house with attic, arched windows and a porch covering the front door, green painted surface, was of questionable use. “There is no way to get a bird inside, which seemed to be the use, as it has a pull out drawer for flooring, and it does not open up to be a dollhouse,” Stephen said.
“I had a very good show and sold an interesting Vermont sampler with a row of buildings on it,” Henry T. Callan of East Sandwich, Mass., said. He also mentioned other sales, including several Dedham plates and pieces of Rose Medallion. He offered a large selection of Canton, displayed on a tiered rack, above which hung a sampler by Hannah Horner, born circa 1833, a Quaker example from Bucks County, Penn. A second Bucks County sampler was executed by Matilda Schultz, born September 5, 1827.
The Norwoods’ Spirit of America, Timonium, Md., showed a large Morant tiger portrait in a cage-type frame, likely a circus promotion piece, and the better part of a side wall was taken by a pair of crescent moon shutters in blue paint. In fact, noted on the tag is “Best of Blues.” John Bourne of Pittsford, Vt., offered an early handmade sailing ship in the original condition, with two masts, and a large wood and wire birdcage with copper shingled roof and three dormers. A large coffee grinder, Enterprise, retained the original painted surface.
A large sign advertising “Locust Crest House” hung on the back wall of the booth of Otto and Susan Hart, Arlington, Vt., with gold lettering on black ground, and fancy woodwork outside the main frame. Another sign, with a picture of a goose, was for The Gray Goose Tea Room, and a very colorful game wheel was decorated with four pots of flowers at the center.
An English dining table with two drawers, cherry, circa 1800, was at the front of the booth of The Red Horse House, Bridgewater, Vt., and a collection of early stone fruit included oranges, apples, lemons, peaches and bananas. An English oak dresser with three drawers and a plate rack on top, circa 1700, excellent condition, held a set of six Wedgwood green majolica plates and four early soft paste plates with floral decoration.
A 6-foot-long drop-leaf harvest table stretched across the front of the booth of Fraser’s Antiques, Chester, Vt., and a large hooked rug depicted a Currier & Ives winter scene with cabin, horse and several figures.
“VADA is one of my favorite shows, I always went to it, but this year I was invited to take part and I was thrilled and did exceptionally well,” Bill Quinn of Alna, Maine, said. His booth was strictly country with pieces such as a green painted rope bed that had been converted into a sofa, a red painted wood box that held several canoe paddles, and an early wall cupboard with green painted surface that was among the items sold. Several Maine fishing rods were also sold, as were three benches, three doors, a game board, several architectural pieces and many smalls.
Kocian DePasqua of Woodbury, Conn., reported having a good show, with his two best sales going to customers who traveled a distance to get to Woodstock. “My Hackney weathervane went to an Iowa collector, and the 1940s industrial worktable and six stools were purchased by a vineyard owner from Switzerland who came to the show while vacationing with his family in Vermont,” Frank DePasqua said. He mentioned that he will be shipping them off to Switzerland and they will be used in the wine tasting room at the vineyard. Furniture offered included a New England Queen Anne tavern table in pine, circa 1750, with single-board top, breadboard ends, with black over red maple base.
Halliday House Antiques of Napa, Calif., traveled the greatest distance to do the show and brought a mix of objects that included a post office cabinet, “Riu A. Champlain, North Adams, Mass.,” with cubbies and drawers and measuring 40 inches wide, 22 inches high and 10 inches deep. A high-footed pie safe with screened interior was of New Hampshire origin and had a light yellow painted surface, and an interesting folk art biplane, complete with pilot, was made from a table leg.
Captain’s Quarters, Amherst, Mass., showed several nautical paintings, including a signed watercolor by Tomase De Simone (Italian, 1851‱907) of the “S 4 Narda .'” It measured 18 by 24 inches and was signed lower right. Several Nantucket baskets were available, as was a circa 1740 straw work “POW” box with a star inlaid lid, drawer on the bottom and compartments inside.
A number of picture frames, mostly with gilt surface, hung on the wall in the booth of Antiques At 30B, Cambridge, N.Y., and a variety of lawn sprinklers included a frog, turtle, duck and alligator. A pair of three-shelf corner shelves, with white painted surfaces, flanked the back wall of the booth.
True to form, Meryl Weiss of American Classic, Canaan, N.H., filled her booth with color, from the bright blue background star quilt at the back of the booth to a stack of three graduated barrels with bold, colorful stripes and black bands in the left corner. An abstract design hooked rug dating from the mid-Twentieth Century added more color, as did two painted tom-toms in the right corner.
Mary Gronning of Gronning’s Antiques & Appraisals, Shaftsbury, Vt., said, “We had a good show with sales of paintings, early iron and glass, many smalls and our large harvest table.” The table, on pedestal base, measures 6 feet long and 44 inches wide with both leaves open, and came from the Boston area. Dating from the Federal period, the table was of mahogany, cast lion paw feet, and two drawers at each end. “I have never seen another one like it and it seats ten people comfortably,” Norman Gronning said. Other furniture in the booth included a William and Mary slant front desk with the original veneer and dating from the Eighteenth Century, and a set of early Nineteenth Century freestanding shelves in the original red surface, ex-Susan Parish Collection.
A circa 1840 two-door cupboard in bittersweet paint, the interior blue over bittersweet, small size and of New York State origin, was in the booth of Pewter & Wood, Enfield, N.H. A rocking horse fragment, attributed to the Crendell family, retained the original folk art painted surface, and a colorful hooked rug showed a red house and barn with a large black rooster on the left side against a brown ground.
Missouri Plain Folk, Sikeston, Mo., was a second-year exhibitor at VADA and brought a mixture that included a large harvest table with square legs and two-board top, salmon paint, and a gathering box with large loop handle and gray painted. Several game boards brought color into the booth, and a child’s rocking toy was in the form of a chicken.
Dating circa 1750 was a banister back armchair with rush seat and the original brown paint, Stratford/Milford area of Connecticut, in the booth of Derik Pulito, Kensington, Conn. A painting depicted two horses pulling a buggy with driver and passenger, a work by Scott Leighton, Auburn, Maine. Leighton was one of the artists who worked for Currier & Ives.
A large sign covered the side wall of the booth of Colt Barn Antiques, Howard Graff, Townsend, Vt., reading “Scream Tonight At Wampsville.” Howard also filled a tabletop with his collection of interesting iron smalls, and other objects included a Stetson hat with the original hat box and a tri-footed cast iron pot with swing handle and the foundry maker’s touch.
Hanes & Ruskin of Old Lyme, Conn., offered a collection of furniture, including a circa 1690‱710 chair table, maple with pine seat, two-board top, 34 inches square, of New England origin, and a six-drawer Queen Anne chest on frame with cabriole legs, Massachusetts origin, circa 1740‱765, measuring 61 inches high, 35½ inches wide and 20 inches deep. “The chest on frame sold, as did a paint decorated server, fabulous pair of American portraits, early English pottery and vintage Mexican jewelry, all retail,” Lee Hanes said.
Brian Cullity Antiques, Sagamore, Mass., offered a pair of cast iron figural andirons of a black woman and black man, a spoon rack held 11 table/serving spoons, both coin silver and sterling and all but two of American origin, and a coin silver serving spoon by Wilson with an eagle design at the end of the handle. “The initials on the spoon are LHD, identical to the initials on a tea spoon that I have owned for 30 years,” Brian said.
A pair of Windsor side chairs in the original black paint with a cream-colored decoration on the back splat, circa 1890, was shown by Lana Smith of Louisville, Ky. A two-tier wire plant stand was painted white, and a selection of various size brushes included some used by house painters and others used by artists. “Most of those brushes are still usable,” Lana said, pointing out the collection that was strewn about on a white painted platform.
A sign read “Hats of All Kinds Cleaned and Reblocked” in the booth of Mario Pollo of Bearsville, N.Y., and a long butcher’s chopping block table showed signs of lots of use, but still looking for more. And one had to ask the use of a wood carved black head with bright red top hat, round holes for eyes and mouth and in the hat. “It’s a Martin house,” Mario said, “and you will never see another one like it.”
But you will see another VADA antiques show, so plan to attend. We will tell you when and where just as soon as the show committee makes the announcement.
