The show benefits the Tolland Historical Society, which was out in force at the show and welcoming to visitors with publications and pamphlets on local history and the four historic properties THS oversees.
Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring
TOLLAND, CONN. — “The show looks just wonderful and it’s great to be back,” enthused Mary-Pat Soucy, director of the Tolland Antiques Show. “The last show we had was in 2019 and even before Covid we had made the decision not to have the show in 2020 so we could focus on raising funds to rebuild the cupola of the Old Tolland County Court House. It was the right decision because the show would have been cancelled because of Covid anyway. We have several new dealers and Goosefare is helping with the promotion.”
“This year, we are reminding and encouraging local residents to share objects or oral histories,” said Kathy Bach, longtime president of Tolland Historical Society (THS), who shared the organization’s current initiative.
The show funds THS’s operating budget, which goes towards running its historic properties and museums: the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum, the Daniel Benton Homestead, the Old Tolland County Court House Museum and the Tolland Military Museum. Several publications are produced and THS also works with local schools to complement the curriculum.
Now in its 54th edition, the show has a new promotor: Goosefare Antiques & Promotions out of Saco, Maine, run by the indefatigable John and Elizabeth DeSimone.
Dealer of Native American artifact, Chip Neschke, had rugs, pottery and jewelry a-plenty, but two particularly noteworthy pieces were these two Los Castillos, Mexico, hand-hammered pitchers. The larger one had an abalone bird handle, the smaller had a malachite handle. Harvard, Mass.
“We did this show as dealers in the past,” said John DeSimone. “Dealers wanted to come back and we thought Connecticut needed more good shows so we approached the historical society about doing it.”
The show was divided into two spaces at the Tolland Middle School with the school’s cafeteria being the first room to greet visitors. Behind THS’s booth was that of Red Shutter Antiques of Great Barrington, Mass. John Spencer was offering a series of miniature landscapes of the Berkshires by local listed artist Larry Zingale that were each priced at $450. Spencer had a few things that he had discovered recently from a house in Albany, N.Y., including a circa 1920 folk art advertising display for “American Beauty” toy wagons and a Classical cherrywood four-drawer chest that he attributed to New York or Vermont, circa 1820-25.
Holliston, Mass., dealer Jim Luskay had several painted signs that were popular with show visitors. Within a few minutes of the show’s opening, he put a red sold tag on a sign that read “Closed Sunday / See You In Church.”
By the time we got a few feet down the aisle to Up Your Attic Antiques, the Framingham, Mass., dealer had marked a large leather suitcase “sold” and was in deep conversation with potential clients about a charming primitive landscape by Evelyn Dubiel.
Salem, N.H., dealer Brett Cabral said he’d been doing the Tolland show “a while,” at least 10 years prior to the pandemic. He had a good collection of stoneware and redware pottery, silhouettes, bentwood boxes, pewter, glasses and baskets. He was particularly happy to characterize a large painted feather basket that survived as in “pretty darn good” condition.
Donald Broderick, Broderick Antiques, West Springfield, Mass., had this painted sawfish bill that had a tropical landscape he had found on Cape Cod.
“The form is just amazing” was also overheard at the show, in the booth of Cabral’s neighbor, Mary Elliott of Pepperell, Mass. The subject of the comment was an early tin candle sconce. Elliott was adjacent to a double booth shared by John Doig of Karen Alexander Antiques and Donald Broderick of Don Broderick Antiques. A highlight with the former was a circa 1720 Essex County, Mass., hard pine chest of drawers, while the latter had a painted sawfish bill that depicted a tropical scene.
Another 31 dealers were waiting to welcome shoppers in the school’s gym, where Kensington, Conn., dealer Derik Pulito was fresh off shows in Hudson, Ohio, and Boxborough, Mass. In his third show in three weeks, he had several nice things on hand, including an oil on canvas landscape by Kensington native, Nelson Augustus Moore (1824-1902) which had been painted later in the artist’s life and came from the artist’s estate, located about half-a-mile from Pulito.
Jane Langol was one of two dealers from Ohio and she was doing the Tolland Antiques Show for the first time. Not knowing what would sell, she brought a variety of things. Within the first hour of the show, she noted selling a jigger dancer and a beaded bird pin cushion.
Hannah Humes Antiques was the other Ohio dealer on the floor and brought a great selection of country Americana as well as a large ship painting, an Adirondack-style child’s highchair, some paper covered boxes and a tortoiseshell quillwork tea caddy.
Laura McCarthy sold a similar heart and crown chair, from Rhode Island, as well as a few other smalls. Bayberry Antiques, Rockland, Mass.
Nothing says “Country Americana” like samplers and decoys; Raven’s Way Antiques had both, as well as a table of old tools. While we were in the booth, the North Kingston, R.I., dealer sold a tool that had been made in New Britain, Conn., to a collector who had been born in New Britain and was making their first antique tool purchase.
The booth of W.S. Korzick Antiques was bustling with activity, notably around a painted Shaker armless bench and trade signs, of which the New Haven, Conn., dealer had sold at least one of. Korzick also had a collection of more than a dozen advertising paperweights, which he had recently acquired.
Two full-bodied copper running horse weathervanes were among the standouts in the booth of Rhinebeck, N.Y., dealers Dennis and Valerie Bakoledis, who were also selling a lowboy, rush-seat chairs, hooked rugs, landscapes and quilts.
When we called a mounted and framed collection of shells and sand dollars “simply astonishing,” Greg Hamilton of Stone Block Antiques concurred. Featuring 91 sea scallop shells in seven rows of 13 on a shiplap backing, within borders of uniformly sized small sand dollars and conch shells, the corners mounted with large sea scallop shells. Hamilton said he had found it a month or two before the show, in Killington, Vt.
Sharing a booth in the gym were Joyce Haddad of Nathan Hale Antiques, Coventry, Conn., and Naomi Ayotte of Hidden Treasures, Pomfret, Conn; both were doing the Tolland Antiques Show for the first time. Ayotte ticked off a number of sales, including two bowls, a pull-toy horse and several smalls and said, “People love the primitive things. It’s so nice to get into this show.”
It’s hard to say which caught the eye first: the Hudson River School landscape that had provenance to the Newburgh, N.Y., collection of Mr and Mrs Robert Pugsley or the ebonized Aesthetic Movement stand it was sitting on. Both — as well as the Evelyn Dubiel landscape on the wall behind them — were with Up Your Attic Antiques, Framingham, Mass.
Also sharing a booth were Randi Ona and Hollis Brodrick. Ona said she had sold a pair of Eighteenth Century tin sconces and a Black doll.
“This is my first time doing Tolland. It’s a nice high country show and draws an appreciative crowd,” said Nancy Douglass, Willow Spring Perennial Antiques. She had interest in a Halley’s Comet weathervane, an apothecary cabinet and an early Rhode Island chest of drawers.
Martin J. Ferrick has been doing the show for 15 or 20 years before the pandemic. He had sold a landscape before noon and was offering a Connecticut Chippendale four-drawer cherrywood chest of drawers that had provenance to Connecticut furniture scholars, Tom and Alice Kugelman.
“We were pleased with the crowd, and it was good to see previous customers and friends,” said Karen Olsen who, with her husband, Daniel, had been busy all morning. When we stopped at their booth, Karen rattled off sales of two tape looms, baskets, a table, a shelf and a checkerboard. By the time the show wrapped, additional sales included two Eighteenth Century ladder back side chairs, some sewing items, a swing-handled basket, early painted fireplace bellows, a pair of knife blade andirons and three early butter stamps.
Hilary Nolan also reported several sales, including a good early blue cupboard, a Windsor chair, a Nantucket basket and “plenty of Canton.” The Falmouth, Mass., dealer had an exceptionally nice and large set of 10 matched Windsor bowback side chairs that were branded “TC Hayward” of Charlestown, Mass; he had found them in an old Pennsylvania collection a few months before the show.
Dan Olsen was busy writing receipts for one of several customers he and wife Karen sold to during the show. Newburgh, N.Y.
Hyde Park, Mass., dealer Gregory Lovell shared his thoughts with Antiques and The Arts Weekly by email after the show. “I thought that the crowd at the Tolland Show was very good considering that the last show was held four years ago. Obviously, many regular attendees never forgot about Tolland. As usual, the staff from the historic society made every effort to have things run smoothly and the co-promoters, Goosefare Antiques Shows did a great job of placing dealers and organizing the logistics of the show.
“One of the best things I noticed is that there was a steady stream of attendees for most of the duration of the show rather than a large convergence of people right at the beginning, and then not a lot of activity after the first hour and a half. I sold a good number of items, none of them higher priced, throughout the show which shows that these buyers will see an item that speaks to them and buy it but are price conscious at this time. Overall, I was happy with the way the Tolland Show went.”
John and Elizabeth DeSimone’s booth had both country and formal Americana, the latter of which included a late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century seven-drawer tall chest. In the first half of the show, the promoters sold the largest breadboard and had interest in a small painted box.
“The show went very well and had lots of people. It was busy until about 2 pm and we still had people here at 3. We’re very pleased, as is the historical society, who said it went better than it had the last time,” said John DeSimone after the show. Rather than relying on a local mailing list, DeSimone said he mailed out show announcements to anyone within a few hours drive of the show and was happy to see so many familiar customers and dealers who come to buy.
The dates of the 2024 Tolland Antiques Show have not been announced. For information, www.goosefareantiques.com or www.tollandhistorical.org.
