Showrunner Klia Ververidis Crisafulli presents a sterling silver loving cup that sold for $4,200 during Friday’s auction of the Brimfield Live Kick-Off the New Year Show.
Review & Onsite Photos by Z.G. Burnett
STURBRIDGE, MASS. — Brimfield Antique Shows’ Brimfield Live Kick-Off the New Year Show & Live Auction on January 2-3, hosted about 150 vendors, mostly from the Northeast. Their booths were bursting with goods in almost every one of the Sturbridge Host Hotel’s function rooms.
“For a first show, we knocked it out of the park for both vendors and shoppers,” said Brimfield Antique Shows owner and showrunner Klia Ververidis Crisafulli, who added that around 3,000 customers came through the doors over the two-day event. Friday’s 29th annual auction highlights included a sterling silver loving cup that brought $4,200, and a Tiffany & Company 18K gold rolling five-band ring that achieved $3,450. With the weekend’s success, Brimfield Antique Shows is planning to repeat its New Year’s event next year.
Discovery is the fuel that drives antiques as a business, and few feelings are sweeter than when a find turns out to be even more special than originally assumed. Mabel McKinnon, proprietor of Hermit Thrush Antiques & Vintage, won at auction what was described as a resin figure of Guanyin, the Chinese Buddhist goddess of mercy and compassion. When it arrived, McKinnon found that one detail had been misassessed: the statue was carved of solid amber. It shows Guanyin in a meditative pose atop a lotus blossom, surrounded by a halo of fire, and had no breaks or cracks. McKinnon displayed the statue with an artificial candle, making it glow as brightly as she did when telling Guanyin’s story.
Fortunately for Kate McKinnon, this carved amber statue of the goddess Guanyin was miscataloged as “resin” at auction. Hermit Thrush Antiques & Vintage, Thetford Center, Vt.
The “whatsit” tradition is alive and well in New England, and local dealer Eric Schwartz gave customers a chance to guess at his with a $1 prize for the correct answer. Propped up on his booth’s side table was a carved wood plaque with two hooks at the bottom, framing a metal panel of numbered badges that revealed vacant holes when lifted up. Do you give up? Because we don’t want to spoil the fun, here are some hints: it’s part of a communication device, was used in schools and ships and was made in the second half of the Nineteenth Century. Let us know if you have any ideas.
Another unusual gadget of yesteryear was more self-explanatory, a “deluxe pocket model” of an Autobridge panel with its original box from Casey Clark of Heath, Mass. Made in the 1950s, this version was made for “advanced” bridge players to practice their skills when a gaming partner was unavailable, and its patent dates back to the 1930s. Though the Autobridge is still in stock at the time of this coverage, Clark reported a pleasant experience with customers and was pleased to be in the ballroom.
Children’s games and toys were also popular at the show. One cheery example was a 1950s Steiff turtle, found in Connecticut and brought by Justine Chamberlain Antiques, Manchester, N.H. Rolling along on rubberized wheels with a handlebar, the turtle was in good condition despite giving rides to at least two generations of children. Nearby, a pair of folk art marionettes from India or Burma hung in the booth of G&S Antiques, Lynbrook, N.Y., but their condition was better suited for display than play. Relics of Saugus, Mass., presented two pieces of children’s furniture from an estate sale in neighboring Marblehead that put Fisher-Price to shame. Greeting customers entering the booth was a small chair made from bent birch branches and decorated with white painted dots, likely Twentieth Century. An earlier, brightly polished diminutive drop-leaf table stood in the center, showing only some scuffing on the top surface but otherwise ready for its next tea party.
These Twentieth Century marionettes were likely made in India or Burma, and offered separately or together by G&S Antiques, Lynbrook, N.Y.
Many dealers have been doing the Brimfield circuit for decades and the expanded show schedule is making room for newcomers. Odd Frog Antiques, Worcester, Mass., is one such vendor. From their impressive selection of folk and tramp art on display, we were surprised to learn that this was only Odd Frog’s third in-person show. One of these objects sold during the weekend was a polychrome wooded eagle in the style of Wilhelm Schimmel (American, 1865-90) by master decoy carver James “Jim” Nelson (American, 1926-2013). From Cadillac, Mich., Nelson grew up near Lake Mitchell where spearfishing is a dominant sport, and he began carving decoys at age 12. It is estimated that he made more than 6,000 decoys during his lifetime, many of which were unsigned in his early career. Nelson specialized in fish and amphibians, so an eagle modeled after Schimmel is a rare discovery.
Despite the growing number of customers and dealers under 45, the tired refrain of “kids just aren’t interested in this stuff” was especially disproved by Kristen McQuade of McQuade’s Vintage, Longmeadow, Mass. “It’s just not true,” she maintained. “I sell mostly middle-of-the-road goods, especially plate sets and serving ware.” McQuade shared that with rising prices and lessening quality in mainstream production, young people with buying power are discovering that buying vintage and antique pieces for their adult lives is not only economical but brings unique style and a story to their homeware. Punch bowls and matching glasses are making a particular comeback for bridal showers. “My [30-year-old] daughter and her friends just had ‘Thriftmas,’ a kind of Yankee swap but with thrifted goods only,” McQuade continued. “They had a blast!” All we can say is, cheers to that.
Brimfield Antique Shows will resume markets in Brimfield, Mass., May 12 to 17. For information, www.brimfieldlive.com or 781-324-4400.
