Fredericksburg Big Flea Antiques &Collectibles Market Fills Expo

Published: November 4, 2016

FREDERICKSBURG, VA. — D’Amore Promotions was near capacity with approximately 150 exhibitors at the Fredericksburg Expo on October 22–23. Promoter Joan Sides said, “While this is one of our smaller shows, it has had a steady crowd in the past during the winter, with loyal dealers offering great antiques and early collectibles, and shoppers eager to find the great buys offered.” This date was an experiment and Sides suggested the show will return to its winter dates in the future.

It has been a draw for dealers with Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century antiques and also early Twentieth Century home décor, fine art and vintage collectibles.

David Smernoff of From Here to Antiquity, Cheshire, Conn., and Buenos Aires, Argentina, deals in fine art from the Twentieth Century with many styles and artists. His prices are usually very accommodating for the average collector with, for example, an Impressionist painting by a talented but little-known Pennsylvania artist Glenn Stuart Pearce for a reasonable fee.

Millwood, Va., exhibitor Peter Nee has a family history in the furniture business as there were furniture stores in his family when he was young, and today he deals in antiques from early America. This weekend Nee was offering several English and American hardwood pieces, including a Chippendale two-over-three chest in walnut veneer and a French paint-decorated bowfront chest from the Nineteenth Century.

Hummel figurines are Steve Cordes’s only merchandise, but he has probably the largest collection and inventory anywhere. At any given show he has about 1,000 or more from which collectors can choose.

Many antiques dealers have eclectic tastes, their merchandise crossing over many of the past designers and periods. Toby Chittum is one such dealer. She collects her inventory based upon what appeals to her, then is able to show how it works for the customers who enter into her space in a show. This weekend, Chittum brought from her Lake Anna, Va., home a Biedermeier kas, Asian porcelain, American textiles and a mixed selection of accessories.

Carol Paulsen, Suffolk, Va., is the consummate collector, offering ordinary household goods for sale that her customers use as part of their décor. For example, she had various containers of household cleaners from the 1930s and 1940s as a part of her display and selling inventory along with early Twentieth Century children’s bedroom textiles.

Toad Hall Antiques, Chester, Va., trades in oil lamps from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Dollhouse furniture was available from Nanette Johnson of Wintergreen Farm, Fort Mills, S.C. Dannette Darrow, Binghamton, N.Y., specializes in Chinese export porcelain, especially Rose Medallion and Rose Mandarin dishes. And a Touch of Glass brought a countless number of elegantly decorated Victorian-era hatpins from the dealer’s collection in Verona, N.J.

Father and son team Richard and Kevin Timme from Middletown, Conn., reported that they were rather pleased with their results for the weekend. Dick said that sales included no fewer than five pieces of furniture — a 200-year-old American mahogany drop leaf table, a small stand, a chest and more. He said they also sold some silver hollowware and porcelain and several sterling Christmas decorations.

G&S Antiques, Lynbrook, N.Y., is a clock dealer, collector and repair service exhibiting timepieces from the last 200 years, but most from the last 75 years as advertising clocks.

Jim Nagy has been a collector of Colonial period American antiques most of his adult life. Since moving to Waterford, Va., however, he has also been dealing in them as his business, with this show as one of his outlets. Here he was offering a collection of Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century country American furniture and accessories.

Owners of Avatar, Cape Porpoise, Maine, were doing this show while traveling from their summer home in New England to their winter home in Florida. Their collection was dominated by Shaker finds from the North, including a collection of very small baskets.

Hollowware and flatware in sterling is the specialty of Paul Severino, a Washington, D.C., dealer.

Many of these dealers frequently exhibit for D’Amore at the promoter’s other shows, including the DC Big Flea Antiques and Collectibles Market in Chantilly, Va.

For additional information, www.thebigfleamarket.com or 757-430-4735.