William Wyman was an award-winning midcentury studio potter working in Boston and on Cape Cod. He died in 1980 and his work is seldom seen. Chris and Robin Berg, Swampscott, Mass., had more than a dozen examples of his work in differing glazes and forms, all priced at under $300.
Photos & Review by Rick Russack
HINGHAM, MASS. – Goosefare’s last two shows scheduled at the Hingham Middle School had been cancelled due to Covid restrictions. But it was time for the show’s return, and John and Liz DeSimone, the show’s promoters, were ready. Buyers, too, were ready and so were the dealers, several of whom had not done the show before. They brought a wide selection of material in all price ranges: marine paintings, early and midcentury furniture, art pottery, studio pottery, Mexican and other jewelry, early English ceramics, Oriental rugs, a wide selection of paintings, decoys, folk art, painted woodenware and much more.
Perhaps due to the cancellation of the Hartford show, this event included several dealers with quality merchandise who had not done the show before, including the Village Braider, Paul and Karen Wendhiser, Dennis Raleigh and Phyliss Sommer, Donna Kmetz and others. Reports from dealers indicated that the March 26-27 show went well.
Perhaps the most expensive item in the show at $23,000 was a portrait of the medium clipper ship, “The Ocean Express Approaching San Francisco,” circa 1856, by Joseph B. Smith and Son (1798-1876.) Medium clipper ships, first designed in 1851, were expressly designed for cargo carrying capacity and speed. The Ocean Express was a major participant in the Pacific Coast trade, making at least ten westbound trips from North Atlantic ports between 1855 and 1871, and also served as a troop carrier during the Civil War. The ship changed hands several times and was finally abandoned in the North Atlantic in 1890. The painting was in the booth of the Captain’s Quarter, Amherst, Mass. Many show attendees will remember the late Justin Cobb, the founder of the Captain’s Quarter, who died a few years ago. The business carries on, now run by his son Jeffrey and Jeffrey’s wife, Anne. The booth also had a selection of other marine paintings, nautical artifacts and a selection of Inuit items. Several other dealers at the show brought marine paintings, including Goosefare Antiques, Saco, Maine; Dennis Raleigh and Phyliss Sommer, Searsport, Maine.
Windy Hill Antiques, Topsfield, Mass., brought a large selection of Nineteenth Century majolica with prices as low as $45 for a small corn pattern pitcher. They were asking $225 for each of the Palissy plates with three-dimensional lobsters.
The selection of paintings extended well beyond marine art. Goosefare had a circa 1820 oil on panel portrait of William Lovejoy, Esq., a New Hampshire resident, attributed to Zedekiah Belknap. It was priced $3,200. From a different time period was a landscape seen through a window. It was done by Melbourne E. Brindle (1904-95). The painting was titled “Block Island, Monhegan Bluffs Through Window.” Brindle did World War II posters, designed postage stamps and was known for his paintings of automobiles. P.D. Murphy, Bath, Maine, was asking $3,500 for the painting. Susan Baker, Uniquities, Essex, Mass., had a pair of Midcentury Modern enamels on copper by Judith Daner. Each was mounted on a walnut panel and they were reasonably priced at $195 each. Her helper in the booth was the very friendly Sparky, a Yorkshire terrier, who was wandering around before the show opened, making friends.
Chris and Robin Berg, Good Vintage Collectibles, Swampscott, Mass., filled their booth with pottery, most of which had been made in Massachusetts. They had several pieces of Marblehead pottery priced between $100 and $600 and several pieces of Dedham pottery, priced between $100 and $500. They also had several pieces by one of Massachusetts’ skilled and well-known midcentury studio potters, William Wyman (1902-1980), whose work is not often seen and not in the quantity they displayed. Wyman worked in the Boston area, where he was also a ceramics professor at the Museum of Fine Arts, and he later moved to Cape Cod. In 1962, he and fellow potter Michael Cohen formed Herring Run pottery in East Weymouth, Mass. Both Wyman and Cohen competed in, and won prizes, at the highly competitive juried Ceramics National exhibitions. Wyman’s work is in several museums, including the Everson Museum of Arts in Syracuse (home of the Ceramics Nationals), the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The Bergs have collected Wyman pottery for some time and had 12 to 15 pieces at the show, almost all priced under $300.
In addition to the pottery selection mentioned above, there was a wide variety of other ceramics. Windy Hill Antiques, Topsfield, Mass., had numerous pieces of majolica, with prices as low as $45, and they were asking $225 for a Palissy plate with three-dimensional lobsters. Both Oliver Garland, Falmouth, Mass., and Brian Cullity Antiques, Sagamore, Mass., were among those with offerings of Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century delft. Garland priced a small plate at $250 and a charger at $525. Cullity’s offerings included a circa 1755-65 pair of bianco-sopra-bianco (an uncommon type of decoration with near-white designs on near-white pale blue or pale gray backgrounds) plates, along with other early examples. There were additional delft offerings on the show floor. Dennis Raleigh and Phyllis Sommer had an unusual French earthenware planter with well-modeled rooster heads and feathers, which they priced at $850.
Brian Cullity, Sagamore, Mass., identified the Federal period inlaid dropleaf table as having originated either in Baltimore or the New York area. The price was $2,200. His booth included Liverpool jugs and delft. The two circa 1755-65 bianco-sopra-bianco plates were being sold as a pair, since the design of each was identical, although one was larger than the other.
John Marshall’s booth demonstrated an example of the range of material at the show. He had a pair of circa 1770-80 Chippendale side chairs priced at $4,500. Marshall, from Westhampton, Mass., also had a desk about 200 years younger than the chairs. It was a circa 1970 rosewood midcentury desk by Milo Baughman (1923-2003) and priced at $2,850. It was displayed with a rosewood desk chair by Arne Jacobsen priced at $375 and a chrome desk lamp by Lux, priced at $250 along with enamel bowls by Cathrinholm, priced from $145 to $175.
Other early furniture included a tiger maple drop leaf table for which David Rose, West Upton, Mass., was asking $1,250. He also had a four-drawer Sheraton chest, circa 1820, priced $795 and an Eighteenth Century country Chippendale maple drop front desk. Brian Cullity had an inlaid New York or Baltimore Federal period mahogany drop leaf priced at $2,200, and there was more.
After the show, John DeSimone said he was pleased. “We had a large turnout. I had to open the show a few minutes early because there were so many people on line. I saw some large pieces of furniture going out, and one dealer said to me, ‘It was my best show ever.’ We had a lot of dealers new to the show, and most of them said they’d be back. We’re going to have to find a way to accommodate everyone, but that’s a good problem. It was interesting to me that Midcentury Modern items did well. Maybe that’s a reflection of the crowd – there were quite a few people who had not attended past shows. We’re looking forward to our next good-sized show, which will be Wells, Maine, in June.”
For information, 800-641-6908 or www.goosefareantiques.com.
