Goosefare Antiques, Wells, Maine
Review and Photos by Tom O’Hara
HINGHAM, MASS. – Goosefare Antiques brought together about 50 antiques dealers on the March 25-26 weekend at Hingham High School on the South Shore of Massachusetts for the 30th Annual Antiques Show and Sale. A benefit for that school’s Class of 2017, the event saw a large, eager crowd waiting for the 11 am opening Saturday that quickly filled the aisles to make purchasing decisions about the antiques and fine art available.
William Nickerson, Orleans, Mass.
Tradewinds Fine Art, Narragansett, R.I., was among the beneficiaries of those quick decisions. Within the first half hour, owners Steve and Doris McKell were showing no fewer than three sold tags on oil paintings. Two were Twentieth Century and the third may have been late Victorian; and all happened to be landscapes. And that was just the start.
John Prunier, a dealer from Warren, Mass., was showing his silver collection, which included flatware and hollowware from the Eighteenth through the early Twentieth Centuries, but also some exceptional earthenware. In one case there was an English delft platter from the Eighteenth Century in chinoiserie pattern, another was true Chinese export made for the Nicholson family of Maryland, circa 1790, with the family crest.
Selling fine art in wall hangings and other forms of art was Richard Lawrence Greene, a Providence, R.I., dealer who seemed to have just the right combination of articles to pull out a good weekend. He sold a Nineteenth Century map of Ireland, a drawing of Taos Indians by Joseph A. Imhoff (1871-1955) from the 1930s, a Connecticut litho and some small handheld pieces, including an ancient dagger.
Whaling Days Antiques, New Bedford, Mass,. offered a pair of English tavern signs, which drew great interest. They were matched paintings of schooners, on heavy stock, probably meant to hang outside the tavern.
W.F. Healey & Co., Lynn, Mass., showed a collection of restored hardwood furniture. Sales were good, according to the dealer, including several pieces of furniture, small accessories and a painting.
Knollwood Antiques,Thorndike, Mass.
William Nickerson, Orleans, Mass., assembled a room setting of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture and related accessories. Across the aisle, Martin Ferrick, Lincolnville, Maine, offered several Georgian period chests of drawers and a fall front desk.
From Upton, Mass., exhibitor David Rose presented a collection of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture and accessories that was priced to sell.
Stone Block Antiques, Vergennes Vt., sold with good variety over the weekend. One of the first sales was an Eighteenth Century map of Virginia made in England. Later, dealer Greg Hamilton sold a tall case clock and a waterfall painting, an oil on canvas from the Nineteenth Century, along with a variety a lesser accessories over the two days.
John and Elizabeth DeSimone of Goosefare Antiques manage the show. They reported that not only was the attendance up over last year, but they noticed it was definitely a young crowd. Liz said, “We saw a great many young couples pushing strollers with young children who came to the show, and when they were leaving were carrying purchases with them. That was a great sign!”
For additional information, www.goosefareantiques.com or 800-641-6908.
