The Farmington Antiques Weekend at the polo grounds here enjoyed sunny weather September 4-5, with several dealers reporting good buying.
Less than an hour into the show, Cathy Consentino of Timber River Farm, New Brunswick, Canada, was already pleased with her sales, which included early painted furniture and painted baskets. In a follow-up conversation in another town at another show a week later, she said her sales continued throughout the weekend.
Also showing fine country-style pieces was Tom Nagy of Chelsea Hill Antiques, Hampton, Conn., who had a sublime Pennsylvania cupboard dating to the 1830s with blown glass lights on each side, dovetailing across the top and on the chamfered drawers, and with a built-in spoon rack.
Also featuring fine American furniture was Richard Fuller Antiques, South Royalton, Vt., whose booth featured several fine pieces in good paint along with country-style accessories.
Show promoter Steve Jenkins said after the show that it was “a very successful weekend” and management was upbeat about the crowds there, as well as the “perfect weather.” Most of the dealers were also pretty happy, he reported. “By today’s standards, it was a very good show,” he said.
Tressa Antiques, Westhampton Beach, Fla., which specializes in American and English furniture as well as maritime paintings, hung an assortment of maritime paintings on its booth walls at the show. A lone and massive colorful abstract work by Philip Wofford, set up against a pole, offered a pleasing contrast to the fine offerings.
Dee’s Antiques, Meriden, Conn., offered a varied booth, and by early morning, several buyers were checking out the offerings of firearms, smalls and a man’s collection of riding apparel, including saddles, boots and tack.
The frontispiece in the booth of Hartmann House Antiques, East Bridgewater, Mass., was a beautifully carved Victorian bed, Eighteenth Century, that came out of a Rhode Island home ten years ago. A pair of weathered blue shutters was also eye candy here.
Noble Peddler Antiques, Torrington, Conn., featured a pleasing collection of ceramics in its booth, including Quimper, a Toby jug, and majolica, while Clifford and Barbara Skoog, Schoolhouse Antiques, Bolton, Conn., offered a folky, framed map of Hartford, Conn., that was charming both for its colored illustrations and descriptions like “Ye Great River” and “Ye South Meadow.”
J&T’s Antiques, Berlin, Conn., offered a circa 1880‹0s oval wooden sign for Atlantic Lines for its North and South America route. The sign listed stops at Montreal, New York and Buenos Aires and in the middle of the sign was a three-dimensional depiction of the ship, still in good paint with only a small crack in the wood. Dealers John and Tina Bradbury also offered a collection of stoneware jugs and crocks in cobalt decoration, along with early tools and large bowls milled from a single piece of wood each.
A standout at Stuart E. Magdefrau Antiques, Ellington, Conn., was a New Mail bicycle with a 52-inch front wheel, dating to 1884, while a hand hooked rug in floral decoration commanded attention as it dominated the outer side wall of the booth of Seymour Fine Arts, Seymour, Conn.
Diana M. Higgins Antiques, Hampton, Conn., offered a reverse shell box in the style of sailor’s Valentines, probably early Nineteenth Century; a great iron and stone console table that had decoration of grapes in relief on the ironwork. A small grouping of colorful ice fishing decoys and a hooked rug of two lions were other highlights.
Neil Blodgett of Higganum (Conn.) House Antiques showed a pair of trade signs, obviously for a barber shop or a beauty salon. The black and silver painted signs were in the form of a pair of scissors and a comb. For smalls collectors, there was plenty here to choose from including door knockers, corkscrews and more.
