The large green two-handled iron garden urn (center) sold, for $950, by Bruce Emond, Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass. The smaller pair of urns was the same price. Hanging on the back wall to the left was an 1873 F.W. Beers wall map of Hingham; it sold, as did several other items from the same Hingham home.
Review & Onsite Photos by Rick Russack
HINGHAM, MASS. — How refreshing, and nostalgic, to attend an antique show where you could only navigate the aisles slowly. But, that was necessary at John and Liz DeSimone’s Hingham show, which ran March 29-30. It was the 36th iteration of the show and all have been run by the DeSimone’s Goosefare Promotions. This time, it had 43 dealers (there were two last minute cancellations) and was held at the Hingham Middle School. There were exhibitors from six states, including Maryland. Two large parking lots were full, with more cars parked along the roads. Some attendees wondered if the current economic situation would affect the antiques business but it didn’t seem to slow shoppers down. Hingham is an upscale South Shore community within easy commuting distance of Boston, and several dealers reported strong sales of items with local connections.
There were two takeaways from this show: one being the size of the crowd — that augurs well for the future. The second would be the strength of the items with local interest. Jane and David Thompson of South Dennis, Mass., who are Thompson Antiques, commented, “We thought the opening crowd was huge, and the attendance was amazing, all day long. We were very busy, talking to lots of customers. While many of the show-goers were familiar to us, we met customers we had never seen before, including young families with children; one, a young mother carrying her new baby, who was only five weeks old. The attendees were interested in all kinds of things, asked good questions and bought at all price levels. All very encouraging.”
Jeffrey Cobb of Captain’s Quarters, Milford, N.H., was also enthusiastic: “It was a very good show for me. I was lucky to see some strong sales. I sold a wonderful oil painting by Victor Adam, and I sold a fantastic watercolor by Edmund Lewis, as well as a sailor’s valentine and a number of pink lusterware items. I thought the crowds were pretty good, and I thought people, particularly on Saturday, came ready to buy, so it was a good show for me.”
The Salon Badger portrait of the schooner Young Blood was just one of the marine paintings in the booth of Captain’s Quarters, Amherst, Mass. Badger studied with William Stubbs and is known for his ship portraits. Badger’s works are in several museums, and Jeff Cobb had this one priced $6,200. The large carved and painted half-hull model under the painting was priced $1,200.
Robert Markowitz, Groveland, Mass., added to the sentiment: “Traffic was good both days. Saturday was quite good for me. There were multiple sales.” Greg Hamilton, Stone Block Antiques, Vergennes, Vt., also commented on the crowd: “Very good show for me. I sold a variety of things — furniture, art, jewelry, lamps, etc. We had good crowds both days (somewhat smaller on Sunday).”
We noticed multiple items of local interest, especially in two booths. Bruce Emond, Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass., brought some material that he had just bought from a Hingham estate. It was fresh to the market and Emond said that the home was being sold “for the first time in generations.” One of the items from that estate was a large hanging wall map of Hingham, published by F.W. Beers in 1873. Making the map of historical and genealogical importance was the fact that, in addition to roads and natural features, the map located each home and commercial enterprise in the town along with the name of the current owner or occupant. Beers and other mapmakers produced numerous maps of this type in that time period. Emond sold the map, as well as a pair of portraits of the Loring girls, along with photographs of the house and other items from the house.
David and Jane Thompson also had, and sold, several items of local interest including a marked Wilder firkin, early historic house photographs and a rare wooden mold for bending pantry box sides marked by J. Burr, a Hingham maker.
The small bird’s-eye maple two-over-three chest of drawers was priced $675 in the booth of Goosefare Antiques, Saco, Maine. The clockmaker’s trade sign was $375.
Goosefare runs a number of shows in the New England states, and their dealer roster offers a wide variety of antiques, primarily from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: furniture and accessories, folk art and Americana, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century glass and pottery, Oriental rugs and more. There were specialist dealers in paintings and fine art, antique and estate jewelry and silver, along with eclectic decorative accessories, rugs and garden furnishings.
Sandy Jacobs of Scott Bassoff -Sandy Jacobs, Swampscott, Mass., combines fine gold and gemstone jewelry with folk art and portrait miniatures. At this show, she had a selection of scarce ambrotypes of earlier folk paintings. To find one is not easy — to have a selection of more than a half dozen is harder still. She said, “I just opened a drawer and there they were, so here they are.” One she was especially pleased with was a sixth-plate photograph of Justus DaLee’s (1793-1878) painting of an elderly woman, Sarah Dodge, wearing a bonnet; the image was priced $650. Jacobs was also offering a well-carved bust of a young woman. At first glance it appeared to be marble, but was, in fact, wood. She also had a Nineteenth Century painting of a Boston street scene with a galloping white horse, a wagon of police and a man and a woman among several well-dressed pedestrians on the sidewalks. After the show, Jacobs commented “I had a great show across the board. I sold a good pair of painted fire buckets, two good portrait miniatures, miniature carved birds, paintings and jewelry.”
Sandy Jacobs, Scott Bassoff -Sandy Jacobs, Swampscott, Mass., had a large showcase of fine jewelry — and much more.
Folk art was available in several booths. Phyllis Sommer, Pumpkin Patch Antiques, Searsport, Maine, was inviting people to the April 12 celebration of her 50 years in business in the same location. With her husband, Dennis Raleigh, their booth included a patinated copper weathervane of a lighthouse, perched on a base, with the keeper’s cottage nearby. Raleigh said, “it’s not very old but it has a great surface.” They were asking $1,450 for it. The couple has also been going out of their way to acquire the folky display pieces constructed by the late Doris Stauble of Wiscasset, Maine — they had two very colorful examples at this show, one of which had several varieties of fruit and was priced $525. They also had a selection of pewter, early lighting and woodenware.
Paintings and furniture, both American and European, were available in several booths. Village Braider sold a camphor wood chest as well as a 12 drawer English chest. Goosefare sold a good table to a couple who “had to think it over” but ultimately decided to go ahead with the purchase. Martin Ferrick, Lincolnville, Maine, had a maple, circa 1810 Hepplewhite slant-front desk that was attributed to the Randolph, Mass., workshop of John Adams, a nephew of the president of the same name. According to Harbor & Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850 (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2009), Adams sometimes bartered furniture with another local cabinetmaker, Abiel White. There was an old inscription on the back of the desk, establishing that it had been made for the Clark(e) family, also of Randolph. The price for the desk was $2,200.
After the show, John DeSimone was quite pleased with the results. “We had a really good crowd and there were a lot of younger buyers, some with small children. The crowd was good both days.” In addition to managing the show, the DeSimones are dealers and set up their own booth. “We sold our best smalls — a very good early watercolor, some early lighting, some paintings and more. So, it was good all around. We’re managing the Duxbury (Mass.) show for the first time, and we have about 45 dealers lined up. Then comes the Wells, Maine, show in late June.”
Goosefare’s next show will be April 26-27, at the Duxbury High School in Duxbury, Mass.
For information, 800-641-6908 or www.goosefareantiques.com.
