Cherry Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine
Review and Photos by R. Scudder Smith
BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE, N.Y. — “Overall, the show went very well with more guests than expected at the Friday preview and perfect weather over the weekend,” Rod Lich, manager for the Adirondack Museum Antiques Show, said while on a speaker phone somewhere in Ohio on his way home. He noted that the tents held up during the heavy rains on Saturday night, with no reports of leaking or wind damage. As far as a report on business, some of the dealers did well, especially on Saturday with a good gate, and there are always those who register few sales. However, even on Sunday, with a sparse attendance, a number of the exhibitors reported some good sales.
Loose Moose Antiques, Nineveh, Ind.
This show, despite the fact that it is on the grounds of the Adirondack Museum and is surrounded by lakes and mountains, has more to offer than just Adirondack material such as baskets, paddles, Old Hickory furniture, mounts and a scattering of boats and canoes. According to Rod, the museum committee would like a balanced antiques show and effort is being made in that direction. The Adirondack material there is abundant, attractive and easy to live with, not requiring a camp to look right. Now there are other interests as well, including some jewelry, books, prints and watercolors, a few early toys, a bit of folk art and this year several racks of furs for the ladies.
Several boxes of postcards were being inspected by a good number of people in the booth of Pastime Antiques and Collectibles of Central Square, N.Y., and out in front of the tent a couple of groups of seven paddles each were displayed in the shape of a teepee. There was no shortage of snowshoes there, with pairs displayed on the grass and leaning against the sides of the tent.
The Adirondack Store & Gallery from Lake Placid occupied a portion of the Carry Pavilion and offered two sets of wicker furniture, a couch and three chairs in each, with one set shown against the small body of water against the building. Not only is it an attractive location to set up, but the water is home to many large trout that are constantly swimming around in search of food. A birch bark canoe was home to five stuffed animals — raccoons, a skunk and a couple of fox. A sign offering canoes for sale was in the shape of a canoe, and a collection of Native American beadwork was in several forms, including stars, shoes and hearts.
Blue Line Antiques, Port Leyden, N.Y.
A large hourglass, measuring about 2 feet high and ticking off one hour per turn, was in the booth of Appleton Manor of New Ipswich, N.H., along with a Victorian game plaque with bronzed copper figures mounted on a piece of oval wood. A cast iron hitching post, log form, retained a coat of old black paint.
Ralph Kylloe Rustic Design from Lake George, N.Y., offered hickory furniture in many forms, including a long settee, a set of six side chairs in a row, a hoop-arm settee and a table surrounded by four chairs.
Early Saturday morning Rod Lich was seen, with wrench in hand, taking apart one of the two beds he had in the Parrett/Lich booth, the result of a sale made the night before at the preview party. Part of the back wall of the tent was hung with four oil on canvas paintings of barns in south Indiana, artist unknown, circa 1940, and an Old Hickory table with cut-corner top measured 30 by 50 inches. An Old Hickory settee had a matching armchair, a hickory drop leaf table was from Indiana, and attracting lots of attention was a wedding cake made from cut and folded magazine pages. “Each layer was made separately and generally this type of things is made out of gum or cigarette wrappers,” Rod said. When not traveling about the country either exhibiting in shows of managing them, he and his wife reside in Georgetown, Ind.
Parret/Lich, Georgetown, Ind.
Among the Southern dealers who do this show is Child’s Play Antiques of Marietta, Ga., run by Terry and Peggy Wright. Always to be found in their booth are old grinders and scales that Terry brings back to life. This year among the offerings were a Dayton candy scale, circa 1910; a Dayton scale and coffee grinder, Model #167, and a Hobart coffee grinder and the same period. “That Hobart grinder is only the second one of its kind that I have seen in 20 years,” Terry said, adding that “a lady saw the one I had last year, but it was sold, and I was able to find this other one and she is taking it.” They indicated that business was good and among the sales were a trio of small paintings and a green-painted, cast iron fence that circles a Christmas tree, while strong interest was shown in Victorian-era wool bathing suits for both a man and a woman.
A Hickory dining table with a 10-foot-long top with breadboard ends, circa 1940, supported on three centered legs, was just outside the large tent and the booth of Cherry Gallery of Damariscotta, Maine. Other pieces included a Hickory chaise lounge, circa 1930, a Hickory porch glider and a desk with yellow birch trim. An Adirondack mosaic twig lodge model was interesting and complete with windows, doors, porches and many angles to the roof.
Holding down one of the front booths in the large tent was Linda Davidson Antiques of Landrum, S.C. Linda had some rapid sales on Saturday, resulting in a pile of objects including three Hickory foot stools, a small cabinet, a Hickory plant stand, a pottery pitcher and a canoe paddle with a duck on the blade. Furniture in the booth included a folk art twig and burl fall front desk, a pair of circa 1930 arm-chairs and an early burl and chip-carved desk.
Ralph Kylloe Rustic Design, Lake George, N.Y.
A selection of 13 creels hung on one of the walls in the booth of White & White of Skaneateles, N.Y., and a row of pack baskets was against another partition. “That is the best pair of ceremonial paddles I have ever offered for sale,” Steve White said, pointing out the paddles hanging together against the wall. Listed in good condition was a birchbark toy/souvenir canoe, circa 1930, from either eastern US or Canada, and a large picture of a steam sailer, fabric on watercolor, was by Thomas Willis, Danish-American, circa 1890. “I sold this picture a number of years ago and was just now able to buy it back. It is one of several works by Willis that I have had,” Steve said.
An Old Hickory double-seat bench was offered by Loose Moose Antiques, Nineveh, Ind., along with a lift-lid desk in walnut, with chair, and a couple of cases of both silver and jade jewelry. Hanging on the wall was a pair of large Black Forest carvings of a deer and birds.
A cast iron garden bench was shown in the booth of Bonnie and Dave Ferriss of Lake Luzerne, N.Y., along with a triangular-shaped barn end in old white painted surface. Cast iron lawn sprinklers can always be found in their booth and this year, in addition to their “animal kingdom” including a large and small frog, a turtle, a duck and an alligator, they offered a large one in the original paint that traveled on three wheels.
Blue Line Antiques of Port Leyden, N.Y., was having a good show and among the early sales were three mounts, a buck, doe and elk, all papier mache and about half life-size. These pieces dated from the late Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century and came out of a Connecticut estate. A hand painted fraternal wooden axe with decorated head to Foresters of America, dated 1901, was on the back wall of the booth, a large and painted wood-carved penguin stood on the table a few feet away, and a large wood-carved turtle boasted a surface that came only from spending many years in someone’s garden.
Linda Davidson Antiques, Landrum, S.C.
A large moose mount was wearing a red sold ticket in the booth of David A. Zabriskie, Lake Placid, shortly after the show opened on Saturday, and a seldom-seen Westport chair in old red paint was offered from the front of the booth. David also had the largest burl bowl in the show, a handled example dating from the Eighteenth Century.
Books, postcards, maps and posters were all available at the booth of Comstock Books & Antiques, Saranac Lake, N.Y., along with interesting objects such as Indian mats and rugs and a pair of brass carriage lamps with the original glass.
Two outboard motors, but no boats, were in the booth of Black Bass Antiques, Bolton Landing, N.Y. One, with a polished surface, was by the Detroit Caille Perfection Motor Co., and the other was a product of the Indian Motorcycle Co., Springfield, Mass. Two large, cast iron bear traps were at the front of the booth, and the tables were loaded with fishing gear, including rod, reels, lures and many bobbins.
For those who mark calendars well in advance, the 2017 Adirondack Museum Antiques Show will be on Saturday and Sunday, September 16–17, with a preview opening on Friday. And next year’s show attendees will be able to view a new, 18,000-square-foot exhibition, “The Adirondack Experience,” an exploration of the Adirondack Park, its history and its people. You can learn how you can help support the most exciting project the museum has undertaken in a generation by emailing Email: slewin@adkmuseum.org.
“Our goal for the show is to increase the number of exhibitors to about 50 and add other interests, not just the Adirondack theme,” Rod Lich said. For more information, call him at 812-989-8289.
