With the Manchester Pickers Market under the belt, the new and the faithful who attend Antiques Week in New Hampshire moved on to spend a pleasant day on the Deerfield Fairgrounds, enjoying Nan Gurley’s Americana Celebration on August 4. The line formed at the crack of dawn for the 8 am early buyers, and when the yellow tape was lowered, the crowd was off and running for the exhibition area.
As usual, Joel Schiff was at the head of the pack, looking unbeatable †until his hat blew off and he had to stop to pick it up. In his search for iron cookware and implements, however, he was not far behind those who had passed him.
“Our gate was just about the same as last year,” Nan Gurley said, “with 396 taking part in the early buying.” The 8 to 10 am ticket costs $20, with the second wave ticket at $10. “I had no real complaints from the dealers,” she said, “but I know it was spotty for some of them, which always happens.”
Holding down its regular spot in one of the buildings was Grantham 1763 Antiques of Denton, Md., offering two step back cupboards, one with a blue-gray surface and cutout base, the other in red with double doors top and bottom. A nice dollhouse, with three dormers, porch, shingled roof and old blue and cream paint, had a red sold ticket on it shortly after the show opened.
Susan Gault of Thetford Center, Vt., another regular at the show, offered a large theorem on velvet in an old frame, showing an urn of fruit with many blue-colored grapes. A wagon seat with old splint seat was signed “Penoyer.” Furniture in the booth of Colleen Nordengren, Groton, Mass., included an Eighteenth Century settle chair with old finish, and a two-board top, breadboard ends, country table of large size. An early Betty lamp was mounted on a wooden stand.
Several pieces of Eighteenth Century country furniture were offered by Falcon’s Roost, Grantham, N.H., including a Vermont tavern table with pegged construction and a Chippendale chest. Ryan’s Antiques, Harwinton, Conn., had several tables loaded with smalls, such as countless cork screws, a row of rolling pins, many trivets and several marble games.
One of the best picks of the show, and a quickly “sold” item, was a large weathervane with a sunburst-like tail and a double arrow at the front. Offered by Willmert-Newell Antiques, Yarmouth, Maine, it retained an old gilt surface and came with a good provenance, once atop the Universalist Church in Oxford, Mass., Clark Barton. A Men’s Toggery Shop trade sign, also of good size, had black lettering on a blue ground, and a folky garden figure in the form of a ram was found in Connecticut.
M.G. Art & Antiques of East Kingston, N.H., offered a school master’s desk, Nineteenth Century, grain painted surface, from Bradford, N.H., and a nice barber’s pole in the original red, white and blue. A horse head, original carnival paint, was originally on a carousel and dated from the Nineteenth Century. Another New Hampshire dealer, Canterbury Corner from Canterbury, showed a cobbler’s box with eight sections and the original red surface, a small sawbuck table and a blue painted blanket chest.
Bob and Tina Mortimer, Falmouth, Maine, had a very nice painted child’s sleigh that came right out of a house in Otisfield, Maine. The sides, front and back were decorated with figures that included a lamb, cat, bird and stag. “It sold very quickly when the show opened,” Tina said.
“It’s a fun thing and I have never had one before,” James Lawrence said of his child’s roller coaster toy that was stamped “The Rocket Coaster.” The Little Compton, R.I., dealer was pleased to note that it was complete, all original paint and consisted of a cart and three rails, each measuring about 6 feet long. The child and cart started the run on a platform about 2 feet high, went down an incline and traveled the length of the three rails. It seemed to be a toy that might quickly wear out a parent. Shown in the same booth was a country drop leaf table in old yellow paint, measuring 60 inches long, 39 inches wide and 29 inches high.
Barbara Rotondo of Methuen, Mass., offered a nice child’s rod back highchair, paint decorated with black surface and yellow striping, and a circa 1800 dry sink in the original red paint with cutouts for the well pump. A small New England sawbuck with one-board scrubbed top was shown by Hart’s Country Antiques of New Oxford, Penn., along with an early New England bucket bench in the original old red surface.
A reclining cat was depicted on a small hooked rug hanging in the booth of Nancy Stronczek, Greenfield, Mass., while a gray prancing horse on a black ground was shown on another. Those seeking large wooden mixing bowls found a nice selection in this booth, all with painted outside surfaces in red, blue and white.
A round New England hutch table with scrubbed top and red base was at the front of the booth of Maxine Craft, Sarasota, Fla., with an early Nineteenth Century large wooden bowl, 20½ inches in diameter, umber pigment surface, displayed on top.
“The show is off to a good start for me with the sale of a Connecticut banister back side chair and several pieces of pewter to a collector who flew in from Texas,” Ron Chambers of Higganum, Conn., said midmorning. In addition to his display of pewter, several other chairs and a tea table, he offered four child’s chairs, including one of Connecticut origin, circa 1720, with curved arms and tall finials. “I didn’t realize that I had accumulated so many small chairs, so decided to bring a few along,” Ron said.
“We have sold a number of small things, but no furniture yet,” Mary de Buhr of Downers Grove, Ill., said shortly after the show opened. Her corner booth was filled with early country things, including a New England corner cupboard, circa 1830, in the original red with a mustard interior. A small sawbuck table with one-board scrubbed top, blue base, was also shown, along with smalls that included treen plates, bowls, chopping boards and a very large handled gathering basket in perfect condition.
“I didn’t bring a canoe this time, as they are hard to handle, but will probably have one at the Adirondack Show in September,” said David Kittredge of Field and Stream Antiques, Mansfield, Conn. And aside from a large-size creel with birchbark lid, and a few other objects, he moved away from his usual rustic look and offered items such a large coffee grinder by the Enterprise Mfg Co., Philadelphia, in perfect condition with the original paint and floral decoration. Furniture included a Pennsylvania grain painted blanket chest, Nineteenth Century, in pine and poplar.
Reflecting on this year’s show and current economic conditions, Nan Gurley said, “Those of us in the antiques business have to remember that we are selling things that people don’t really need, and when the crunch is on, people do cut back. We should all remain positive and things will improve.”
For more information on forthcoming shows, www.nangurley.com or 207-625- 3577.
