Patricia Fulton, Berwick, Maine.
Lewis Scranton, Killingworth, Conn.
Ester Gilbert Antiques, Southampton, Mass.
Story and photos by
R. Scudder Smith
MARION, MASS. — For the most part, Antiques Week in New Hampshire came and went with little grumbling about the heat, a problem that has plagued the shows in The Granite State for the past couple of years. The slight break in the weather was not lasting, however, and now it was time to “warm up” the .
“It is cooler outside,” Lewis Scranton said, while setting up his booth in the Fish Center for Health and Athletics at Tabor Academy. And he had an advantage, located right in front of four wide open doors with large fans moving the air so fast that not a speck of dust could remain on any one of his Windsor side chairs or a piece of redware.
Seventy dealers moved into the Fish Center on Thursday, August 15, and set-up continued into early evening and again the next day. At 5:30 pm on Friday, people began arriving to enjoy not only the displays of the exhibitors, but a spread of food that was not only tasty, but beautifully presented among special flower arrangements.
You can talk about the cheese, the vegetables, the dips and the plates of salmon, but the main attraction was the raw bar with fresh oysters and clams. Trish McElroy, the show’s manager, noted, “We had a couple of new guys doing the shucking this year, and they were not very fast.” Being a fan of the raw bar, she added, “I could eat them faster than they could open them.” At the end of the evening, two worn-out shuckers had opened 400 oyster and 700 clams, and not a single one was left over.
While Trish did indicate that there might be a slight change in the dealer roster next year. “We are striving for the right mix, a blend of country and formal, with the proper amount of accessories, smalls, paintings, pewter and nautical objects offered,” she said.
Just inside the entrance of the show, Antiques at Springbrook, Marshfield, Mass., displayed a selection of American furniture that included a Chippendale tall chest in cherrywood with seven graduated drawers, old finish, circa 1750; a step back cupboard in black walnut with an old red-painted surface, and a two-drawer work table in mahogany with an unusual side slide drawer, New York City, circa 1810-30. It had a tear or raindrop top.
Warren, Mass., dealer Randall E. Decoteau showed a New England bow front chest of drawers in mahogany, probably Massachusetts, circa 1800, with string inlay, and over it hung a painting, “Sunset on the Bay” by Thomas Alexander Harrison. This oil on canvas, signed lower left, measured 20 by 391/2 inches, and it noted that this artist spent much of his life working in Paris. Equally interesting was a colorful oil on canvas by Edith M. Howes, “Cutting Garden in Bloom,” a Philadelphia painter who signed the work lower left. It measured 17 by 14 inches.
A large round table, late Eighteenth Century, French origin, was at the front of the booth of Ester Gilbert Antiques of Southampton, Mass., and against the back wall was a two-drawer blanket chest, with three fake drawers on top, on bracket base. Over it hung a painting of “Old Salt,” a fisherman by Alfred Howard, oil on canvas, 26 by 20 inches signed lower right.
Heirlooms Unlimited, one of the local shops in the show, offered a slant lid desk in cherrywood, with simple fitted interior, and a kidney form table, French, Louis XV style, circa 1840. Still dealing in heavy stuff, Don Heller of Heller-Washam Antiques, Woodbury, Conn., showed a nice set of four carved marble urns and a garden bench with cast-iron ends depicting pelicans. On the lighter side was a yellow dressing table, decorated with fruit on the drawer front and the backsplash, with brass pulls.
Debra Queen of Dartmouth, Mass., showed a nice pair of porch Windsor armchairs with knuckle arms, green paint, and a French bistro table in iron. A green painted half-round wooden plant stand showed a bit of red, a sold sticker.
William Nickerson of Orleans, Mass., had a good number of pieces of furniture including a school master’s desk, New England, circa 1830, with one drawer of pine and the other of maple; a set of ten Windsor thumb back side chairs, also New England, circa 1830, in natural finish; and a New England Chippendale six-drawer tall chest in maple, circa 1770.
Peter Verheyen of Maynard, Mass., and Christine Crossman Vining of Marblehead, Mass., shared a large corner booth at the show and had it filled with furniture, paintings, and decorative accessories. To beat the heat, three large fans were set up near the top of the booth, providing air movement if not air cooling. Cupboards filled both corners of the booth, one a Nineteenth Century example in cherrywood, probably Connecticut origin, 12-glass door above a panel-fronted cabinet, 83 inches tall and made for a 29-inch corner. A Neo-classical mantelpiece of pine was English, Nineteenth Century, and a fine sideboard was made by Charles Howden’s great-grandfather, James Howden, in Musselborough, Scotland.
“I like to put out candy Twizzlers, generally the red ones, in my booth and at the last show went through 16 pounds of them,” Christine said. Just before the show opened she was again setting out the tasty treats, “towards the back of the booth so people have to come in to have some,” she advised.
Paul Madden, mopping his brow and patches of sweat showing all over his shirt, commented “I don’t know why I keep doing these show, but I guess it is to let people know that I am still out there.” The Sandwich, Mass., dealer filled his booth with all manner of nautical rdf_Descriptions, including Nantucket baskets, scientific instruments, ship paintings, half-models, and a large carved and polychromed eagle clasping banner that read “Live and Let Live.”
Susan Oostdyk of Clifton, N.J., offered an inviting porch glider, the comfortable kind that moves on chains and has round arms and soft pillows. It was painted green and all that was missing was a cool drink and breeze. A Capital Bread display rack, once filled with bakery goods, was stuffed with pillows, napkins and linens, and for those in search of a decorative cast-iron bed, she offered both a double size and a set of twins.
A late Sheraton chest of drawers in mahogany, Massachusetts, circa 1830, was among the many pieces of furniture shown by East Dennis Antiques of East Dennis, Mass. A regency breakfast table, English, circa 1825, 29 inches high with a 36- by 51-inch top, was at the front of the booth and at the back was an interesting military campaign chest in mahogany, with desk portion, English, circa 1870.
Richard Suyden of Lahaska, Penn., had an impressive collection of still banks in many different forms, a stack of painted firkins with handles, and a nice pond boat with old red painted surface. In the center of the booth was a hutch table in gray paint, mid-Atlantic states, dating from the mid-Nineteenth Century.
The Marion Antiques Shop, another one of the locals in the show, had an inlaid American secretary with paw feet and tombstone doors, circa 1835, and a Federal sideboard in mahogany with satinwood inlay. A sold tag was attached to a heavily carved American tall-case clock in oak, circa 1900, listed “not working.”
Brian Cullity of Sagamore, Mass., showed a New England candlestand in birch with old finish, snake feet and cutout corners, along with a Rhode Island desk in mahogany with block and shell interior, circa 1750-60. Slip-decorated redware plates were among the accessories in this booth.
Georgian Manor,15 minutes away from Marion in Fairhaven, Mass., had a booth filled to capacity and red tags indicated a good show. Among the furniture was an English George II walnut veneered side table, circa 1730, warm color with cabriole legs and pad feet. A Nineteenth Century cheval mirror in mahogany, English, circa 1830-40, 60 inches high, 29 inches wide and 25 inches deep, had round finials, original caster and two candle arms.
Another booth featuring English furniture was that of K.C. Clark & Associates, Salem, Mass. Among the pieces were an oak joined trestle table with shoe feet, circa 1730-50; a Georgian low dresser in oak, circa 1740-70; and a side table in oak dating from the mid-Eighteenth Century. Case pieces of furniture lined the walls in the booth of China Trader, another local dealer, including an early Nineteenth Century wedding cabinet, heavily carved front with birds, and large brass handles.
Lewis Scranton of Killingworth, Conn., was in one half of a booth, offering a New Hampshire highboy in maple with pad feet, single fan carved in the lower center drawer, circa 1760, and a set of four fan back Windsor side chairs in the natural finish. A piece of stoneware was from Boston, a two-handled jug, incised with a large flower in cobalt. Charles and Barbara Adams of South Yarmouth, Mass., were easily recognized as the dealers in the other half of the booth by the large display of Bennington that has become their trademark. Three large Nantucket baskets, a candlemold with 40 holes, and an early butter churn in old blue were also available.
Whalemen’s Shipping List of New Bedford, Mass., had many rdf_Descriptions to satisfy the nautical appetite including a signed limited print by John Stobart showing Boston Harbor and the celebrated clipper ship Lightning being towed out on her maiden voyage in 1854. Nearby an easel held a framed chart of Buzzard’s Bay by Eldridge.
Drake Field Antiques, Longmeadow, Mass., had an interesting mix of furniture, ranging from a reeded Sheraton game table in mahogany and mahogany veneer, single narrow drawer, North Shore, circa 1820, to a sack back Windsor armchair, Connecticut origin, circa 1820. To gain floor space, and to offer more pieces, a one-drawer stand in tiger maple, New England, circa 1810, was shown on top of a tray-top candlestand in cherrywood, Hepplewhite, with tapered lags, circa 1810.
One of the best looking pieces of furniture in the show was in the booth of Gallagher-Christopher of Boston, a fancy Sheraton hall bench in the original yellow paint with decoration, 74 inches long, eight bamboo-turned legs and cane seat. It dated from the early Nineteenth Century.
Hilary and Paulette Nolan of Falmouth, Mass., were among the first dealers to do the Marion Show, but have missed a few years since the start. They returned this year, or rather he returned this year as Paulette elected to take some time off with the dogs, and the only booth available was an odd shaped one out in the corridor. “It has worked out great here,” Hilary said, after placing a large corner cupboard at the far end of the booth and a set of four bow back Windsor side chairs surrounding a large three-board work or kitchen table towards the front. Other Windsors, early lighting, wall boxes and textiles were also offered. The corridor, the only part of the exhibition area that has air-conditioning, also provided space for Merle Koblenz and Barbara Fine.
In addition to the show, special events included a lecture on “Starting to Collect: Tips for New Collectors” by Lisa Freeman, and an appraisal session on Sunday.
Marion is a very attractive town, Tabor Academy is an asset to the community, and the show is well worth attending. And seafood lovers, remember the raw bar. It is all too good to miss.
