The Wethersfield Antiques Show went “very well,” according to reports from the Wethersfield Historical Society, the sponsoring group, with attendance up by just over 100 visitors and a nice crowd of 125-plus patrons at the preview party on Friday evening, November 16, at Pitkin Community Center. The show continued through Saturday, with 40 dealers showing in two rooms.
Nine new dealers joined the show this year, replacing some who did not come, and the committee was able to fit more exhibitors into the gym area and eliminate the third room used last year. The show presented a nice mix of country and formal, with some booths highlighting specialties such as tools, copper and brass objects, Staffordshire, Christmas decorations, jewelry and prints.
Just inside the door to the banquet room, Denise Scott Antiques of East Greenwich, R.I., offered a pine stepback, open top cupboard, scrubbed to the original surface of salmon with green panels on the long drawer and two doors, a piece that was found in Kentucky, dating from the Nineteenth Century.
A wooden rooster weathervane, in old white paint with red comb, Pennsylvania origin, was shown in the booth of Paula Patterson, Westfield, Mass., with a basket quilt in the background.
Stuart Magdefrau of Ellington, Conn., offered a selection of daguerreotypes, 15 pieces of stoneware, all with cobalt decoration, including birds and floral designs, and a number of cast iron still banks, mostly of animals.
A collection of small-size splint baskets, some with swing handles, was displayed on a wall shelf in the booth of West Pelham Antiques, Pelham, Mass., and an interesting family record sampler was from Weymouth, Cape Cod, Mass., recording the marriage March 7, 1799, and the lives of Gardner Pool and Polly Pool. It was stitched by Simantha Belcher in 1860.
Furniture filled the booth of Beverly Dutton, West Hartford, Conn., including a Pembroke drop leaf table, a mahogany sideboard with extensive inlay, and a slant lid lady’s desk, inlaid with mother of pearl.
Grist Mill Gallery, Eastham, Mass., had two early Nineteenth Century jack-o’-lanterns in excellent condition and a chest on frame in old surface with two short drawers over four long drawers.
A wood trade sign for “Taft & Rood” ran across the back wall in the booth of Patina Art and Antiques, Roxbury, Conn., gold lettering on black sandpaper ground, and a oil on board depicted a train with red and blue passenger cars, a Nineteenth century work from New Hampshire. Copper and brass pieces filled shelves that ran down the center of the booth, and close to 40 pairs of brass candlesticks ranged in size from miniatures to 15 inches tall.
A large Victorian birdcage, wire and wood construction with dome top and painted deep blue, was shown by Steele & Steele Antiques of Middletown, R.I. Furniture included a country Federal dressing table in pine and a Federal octagonal top cherry and maple tilt top candlestand.
Christmas things, ranging from a tree decorated with many ornaments to an early pair of ice skates and a pair of child’s skis, filled one corner of the booth of Mad River Antiques, North Granby, Conn. An interesting redware crock of unusual form, Nineteenth Century with manganese decoration, most likely Norwalk, Conn., and a large carved wooden eagle with 34-inch wingspan, glass eyes, mounted on a wood block, were shown against the back wall.
Howard Graff of Colt Barn Antiques, Townshend, Vt., again showed a varied selection of iron smalls, as well as a Canada goose of cork with wood carved head and a small eagle weathervane, on arrow with directionals. A wood carved and painted pirate whirligig must have seen battle in his younger days, as he was outfitted with a peg leg.
Jan and John Maggs of Conway, Mass., offered a small gate leg table with single drawer, original feet, English, dating circa 1680, along with an oak bible box with carved face, also English, circa 1650. Tagged in “excellent condition” was a large English oak coffer with carved face, original lock and key, dating from the Seventeenth Century.
Once tool collectors reached the booth of Jamtiques of Windsor, Conn., tools of all manner were available. A rack held a selection of about two dozen wood planes, several Sheffield braces were shown, and various cutting tools and calipers rounded out the collection.
A large fish trade sign, possibly a salmon, in old paint, hung in the corner of the booth of Jane McClafferty, Bloomfield, Conn., away from a table loaded with Jane’s trademark Staffordshire figures and cottages. About six pairs of dogs, both large and small, were sitting there, along with several cows and a gathering of cats. A hanging pipe box with dovetailed drawer dated circa 1780.
“I love chairs,” Ron Chambers of Higganum, Conn., said, as he offered a number of them from his booth, including a pair of Windsor side chairs, bowbacks, in black paint and dating circa 1780. Chairs share his interest in pewter and, as always, pieces of all shapes and sizes dominated the booth. A large plate by Duncomb, London, 1710, in great shape and with strong touch marks, measured 18¼ inches in diameter, and a plate by Jehiel Johnson, Middletown, Conn., circa 1815‱819, measured 11 inches in diameter and is “a very rare piece, the first one I have ever seen,” Ron said. Another important plate, 12¼ inches in diameter, was also by a Middletown craftsman, Joseph Danforth, circa 1780‱788.
Hansje Hill of Old Saybrook, Conn., offered a folk art boat dating from the early Nineteenth Century that was made by a sailor in Mystic, Conn. The boat, about 12 inches long, had a great painted surface and a small carved bear mounted on the roof of the cabin. On the outside wall of the booth she hung a vibrant penny rug, diamond shaped, in bright red and green.
Country Peddler Antiques, Burlington, Conn., showed a mid-Nineteenth Century pine farm table with a 48-by-30-inch top, breadboard ends, and an Eighteenth Century tavern table, red painted base and scrubbed top measuring 33 by 29 inches, with breadboard ends.
Country Seat Antiques, Litchfield, Conn., hung a number of trade signs, including ones reading “Trunks, Suit Cases & Bass,” white lettering on black ground; “Fruits & Vegetables,” white on red ground; and one in the shape of a fish, wood carved, indicating the way to “Moxie Lake Camp.”
A Connecticut slant lid desk in cherry, circa 1700, was against the back wall in the booth of Joseph Collins of Middletown, Conn. Three tall case clocks stood in a row at the side of the booth †an English one with eight-day brass works, a Waterbury clock with wooden works and a Riley Whiting, Winchester, Conn., example with wooden works, circa 1820.
The antiques show is one of the major fundraisers for the historical society, along with other events, including “Taste of Wethersfield,” an event with special foods and wine, plus live music, on April 14, and a house tour scheduled for June 8.
For those who like to plan ahead, the dates for the 2013 antiques show in Wethersfield are Friday and Saturday, November 15‱6.
