Peter Sawyer Antiques was the site of lots of traffic early on. Exeter, N.H.
Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring
MANCHESTER, N.H. — There was a tangible sense of joy in the air during the three-day run of the 67th New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association annual show. Taking place August 8-10, the show concluded seven straight days — and five antiques shows — that comprise New Hampshire Antiques Week. Was it the refreshingly cooler weather that provided a welcome relief from weeks of hot temperatures? Optimism stemming from current events? A groundswell of national pride as the US team continued to dominate medal podiums at the Paris Olympics? Whatever the reason, shoppers and dealers alike were in buoyant moods that translated into a fun and lively event, with many dealers reporting strong sales and happy customers.
Richard Thorner, president of the NHADA, shared his thoughts on the show. “If anyone thinks the state of the antiques market is in decline, they have not attended an NHADA show recently. Our society is facing a lot of adversity but you would not have known it the three days the show was open. The gate exceeded last year’s numbers both daily and overall. We believe it’s one of — if not the — best shows in the country, attracting a strong cross-section of dealers who bring both great and affordable material. Having two major shows, as well as three additional shows, attracts a wide audience and gives people a reason to come to the area.”
A half-dozen dealers made their debut at the show: J&G Antiques (Amityville, N.Y.), Alan Katz Americana (Madison, Conn.), Randi Ona Antiques (Wayne, N.J.), Spencer Marks, Ltd (Southampton, Mass.), Robert Burger (Mount Vernon, Ohio) and Ziebarth’s Antiques (Mount Horeb, Wis.).
Allan Katz sold the cast iron bulldog to an existing client, but the horse, a prop used in a photography studio for children to sit during a photo shoot, found a new home with a new customer. The carved figure of a train conductor was not sold. Allan Katz Americana, Madison, Conn.
Alan Katz occupied a prime booth near the front of the show, on the upper level, and he stocked it with several important works, including a trade store figure by Julius Melchers, a carved and polychrome-painted turtle and frog box, a set of Odd Fellows parade staffs in red, white and blue, the only known example of a Highlander whirligig, made circa 1860-80 and a studio photographer’s horse prop that children would sit on to have their photos taken.
“We had a very good show, with some follow-ups since. We’re very pleased,” Katz said, speaking with us from his home in Madison, Conn. He confirmed a few new connections.
Randi Ona also reported having a “great show,” selling in multiple categories with a few sales after the show. She was quick to say she hoped to return in 2025.
Spencer Gordon and Mark McHugh reported great interest in the Gorham mixed metal pieces they had on hand, as well as Arts and Crafts silver. At the front of their booth, they were showing a Tiffany & Co., antique sterling silver yachting trophy, the prize for the Newport Citizens Cup. The statuesque trophy won in 1887 by the schooner yacht Magic, owned by Thornton N. Motley and sailing out of the New York Yacht Club.
“We didn’t know what to expect but were pleasantly surprised,” Mark McHugh commented. “It was very impressive how it attracts people from all around the country. It gets people who vacation there, who have bought homes in the area. We sold every day and have two institutions considering two separate objects. A woman came into our booth and remembered us from a show we did in Providence 30 years ago. She follows us on Instagram and reconnected.”
Zac Ziebarth, left, is president of the Antiques Dealers’ Association of America (ADA) and was showing at the NHADA show for the first time. We saw him chatting it up with Mount Crawford, Va., auctioneers and collectors, Jeffrey S. and Beverly Evans. Ziebarth’s Gallery, Mount Horeb, Wis.
“There’s something about the presence of that show that makes it more exciting and fun to do. It’s not just about what you can buy and sell but about the things you can see. There were a lot of great things there, and it was good to get out there and meet customers I usually don’t see,” said Zac Ziebarth. The Wisconsin dealer commended the show committee and reported some good sales, including a bucket bench, an Iroquois effigy ladle, a ship diorama, a painting and some “higher-end” smalls.”
Several vendors were returning to the show for the second year: Bittner Antiques (Shelburne, Vt.), William R. & Teresa F. Kurau (Lampeter, Penn.); Matt Ehresman (Wadsworth, Ohio), Oliver Garland (Falmouth, Mass.), Gemini Antiques (Whitehouse Station, N.J.), John Hunt Marshall (Westampton, Mass.) and Period to Mod /Brennan & Mouilleseaux Antiques & Design (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.).
An Eighteenth Century tiger maple tavern table and a portrait of a pharmacy student were two of many sales Oliver Garland tallied.
Nine was a lucky number for Tim Brennan & Dave Mouilleseaux, who had several nine-piece sets of artwork in their booth. A set of circa 1950s-80s images of historic toleware patterns, hand-painted enamel on acetate by Mrs Doris F. Fry in Albany, N.Y., was one of their successful sales. Fry was a member of the Albany Chapter of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration (HSEAD) and is known to have made dozens of the renderings, most of which were historically correct.
This set of circa 1950s-80s images of historic toleware patterns, hand-painted enamel on acetate by Mrs Doris F. Fry in Albany, N.Y., was one of the successful deals closed by Tim Brennan and David Mouilleseaux, Brennan & Mouilleseaux / Period to Mod, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
Sales of furniture — both small and large forms — were plentiful with Wadsworth, Ohio, dealer Matt Ehresman. Going out the door after the first-day rush were a wall shelf, painted table, sawbuck table and two wall apothecary cupboards; candlesticks, candlestands and a turned and footed wooden platter were among his smaller-sized sales.
Olde Hope was one of the first booths showgoers encountered upon entering the venue. On hand were pieces from the Dittmar collection, which the New York City and New Hope, Penn., gallery began selling in January, alongside other more recently acquired pieces. A Rhode Island tea table, hooked rug with a dog and diorama were among some of the pieces Pat Bell and Ed Hild found buyers for.
Folk art seems to be seeing a resurgence of interest from interior decorators and designers, as Hild observed. “New York City designers Mark Cunningham and Anthony Baratta came and bought multiple things from many dealers, including some things from us. We’ve seen that in our New York City gallery as well, it’s very encouraging.”
“We could have sold that four times,” said Ed Hild. An undeniable showstopper was this hall stand, possibly made in Canada in the first quarter of the Twentieth Century, that incorporated pine, foil, glass and a mirror plate. It received a lot of interest and attention, including from Freeman’s Andrew Taggert. It sold during the show. Olde Hope, New Hope, Penn., & New York City.
Peter Sawyer was across the aisle from Olde Hope. He told us he’d had a great first day, selling lots of furniture and smalls. A client from Oregon bought a clock he had by Elnathan Taber; a Texas client purchased his Joshua Wilder dwarf tall case clock; and a chest on frame, made by the cabinetmakers of the Dunlap school, will be going to New Jersey. At least two pieces in his show inventory had been previously published and copies of those references were on hand for clients to read: A New England mahogany candlestand described as a “best” example in Albert Sack’s Fine Points of Furniture: Early American (Crown Publishers, New York, 1950) and a tripod birch stand that had provenance to the Salisbury family and was illustrated in The Dunlaps & Their Furniture (Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, N.H., 1970).
New Oxford, Penn., dealer Kelly Kinzle was showing in a new spot on the exhibition floor and he made several sales, including a blockfront chest of drawers, a cherrywood secretary, a rooster weathervane and a stoneware jug.
Kitty-corner from Kinzle, Arthur Liverant and his colleague, Kevin Tulimieri, were swamped with shoppers. When Tulimieri had a quick moment, he confirmed they were “selling good smalls and the interest in furniture seems strong!” A sold tag on a continuous-arm brace-back Windsor chair stamped “E. Tracy” proved his point.
One of numerous sales Chris and Bernadette Evans made was this carved and painted Federal eagle finial that dated to the early Twentieth Century. Waynesboro, Va.
Chris and Bernadette Evans’ affable teenage son Liam usually stands guard over the front door on opening morning, but he was away this year and his absence was noticeable. Hoping to return next year, he missed helping his parents. Now in a different booth on the upper level, they made so many sales on their first day, they had to dip into reserve inventory to replenish their booth. Stoneware, redware, boxes, tramp art, signs, weathervanes and a blanket chest were among the first out the door.
“We had our best show ever, anywhere,” Chris reported. About half of their sales were split nearly evenly between new and existing clients, to buyers throughout the country, even to Gen X and millennial showgoers. “The show does a great job of getting people in and has a great social media presence.” To emphasize that point, he noted he’d seen actress Uma Thurman at the show.
Jeff and Holly Noordsy were neighbors to the Evans and were featuring, among other things, pieces of rare glass from the Barry D. Hogan collection, a massive collection the Cornwall, Vt., dealers are dispersing slowly. More than a dozen sales were tallied early, notably a watercolor portrait of a girl and dog, a New York state landscape, a hooked rug, stoneware, a buttocks basket, a pair of cast iron penguins, a squeak toy, a late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century glass tumbler and a late Eighteenth Century chestnut bottle from New England.
A plethora of sold dots punctuated the booth of Cornwall, Vt., dealers, Jeff and Holly Noordsy.
“In 2023, we had our best show; we nearly doubled it this year,” Jeff Noordsy said. “We sold not only more glass than we’ve ever sold but also more folk art than before.” For people who don’t want to compete with the hundreds that come through in the first hours on opening day, he is in the habit of encouraging shoppers to come on the second day, when, as he put it, “I guarantee half the booths will have merchandise.”
Folk art dealers Tom Jewett and Butch Berdan have a large booth on the lower level and they reported many sales, including a Prior Hamblin School portrait of a girl in a blue dress and a pair of carved oxen, both of which were advertised before the show. Other sales included a carved figure, a ship painting, a folky bust of a woman wearing a bonnet, a green two-light lamp, a cast iron shield with eagle decoration, a pair of carved wooden lions, a witch weathervane, a pair of painted sleds and several holiday decorations.
David Schorsch and Eileen Smiles brought a typically strong selection of objects from Woodbury, Conn., a good number of which sold on the first day. A Shaker slide-lid box, a small painting of a parrot on a branch, a Shaker side chair attributed to George O’Donnell of New Lebanon, N.Y., a melon-shaped egg basket by Mary and Eliza Shelton, a demilune tavern sign and a green-painted sewing basket were among the items that found new homes on the first day.
One of David Schorsch’s favorite things was a round box made in Hingham, Mass., by Abner or Adna Sprague, circa 1850, that depicted on its lid the 1851 launch of the clipper ship Staffordshire. Schorsch confirmed it sold to a private collector. Photo courtesy David A. Schorsch – Eileen M. Smiles American Antiques, Woodbury, Conn.
Steven Sherhag is Early American Antiques, in Canfield, Ohio. He wrote several receipts on opening day, including ones for a lantern, a folk art shelf clock, a sign for cigars and cigarettes, a yellow-painted cupboard, a circular X-base stand and a set of four painted Windsor chairs.
Across from Sherhag, Jeff Tillou was having a good show with multiple sales slips to prove it. Money traded hands for a carved stone seated child, a pastel on paper portrait of a girl with a cat, a folk portrait of horses and a dog, a diminutive horse weathervane, a set of 13 graduated chestnut bottles, a Schoharie blanket chest and a carved box made in a prison.
Scott DeWolfe has been selling Shaker books, ephemera, photographs and manuscripts since 1989; he and partner Frank Wood both worked for the Sabbathday Shaker community in Sabbathday Lake in Maine. So, it was not surprising that a good portion of their show inventory was devoted to Shaker material. Within a few hours of the show opening, they had sold Shaker seed boxes, baskets and bottles. A collection of 84 leather-bound miniature books was among their early non-Shaker sales.
The 68th New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association show will take place August 7-9. For information, www.nhada.org.
