Ed Lambert, St Albans, Vt.

Review and Photos By Tom O’Hara

MILFORD, N.H. — Jack Donigian filled the tennis courts at Hampshire Hills Sports & Fitness Club on March 6, as he does all throughout the fall and winter months, with about 80 exhibiting antiques dealers.

Sales began quickly. The show is short — 8:30 am until noon — with most of the action in the first two hours.

Bud Hughes said he was pleased with his start, a large collection of Boy Scout patches from the mid-1950s and 1960s worth making the show into a good day for him. In addition, he sold an early piece of pearl ware, a small pitcher used for syrup or cream with polychrome decoration and dating to about 1775 from Leeds, England.

Justine Demetrick, a Wakefield, R.I., dealer, presented a collection of primarily small Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century personal items, such as jewelry, perfume chatelaines, Vesta cases and snuff boxes. One of her best sales that morning was an Art Deco necklace.

Another Rhode Island exhibitor, Mike Westman said he was very pleased with his day. His sales included a miniature painting along with several pieces of American pottery, an early bronze piece, an antique Persian rug and some jewelry.

Mark Longual has long been trading as Mountain Rugs, but he just renamed his business Cornish Trading Company to reflect where he is now headquartered in Maine. His exhibit was mostly antique Persian and Caucasian rugs but also a few showcases with Asian jewelry.

From Pepperell, Mass., Michael T. Coffey sold a collection of 100-year-old Nantucket baskets early in the show. The rest of his collection, comprising primarily fine art, was drawing attention and generating “think-about-its,” he said.

Cornish Trading Company, Cornish, Maine, with rugs from Mark Longual.

There was an attractive Chinese cabinet, which the seller, Richard DiFillipo, believed to have been from the first half of the Twentieth Century. The piece was drawing a great many comments and much attention. In black lacquer with gold and mother-of-pearl decoration, it was considered by many as very beautiful and priced reasonably by the Peabody, Mass., dealer.

Nearby, Ed Lambert, St Albans, Vt., was offering a matched pair of English barber’s cabinets with marble shelves and glass tops.

In another exhibit, Paul Scott offered a pair of Palladian-style church windows he had had restored with new leading and with some pieces replaced. They were waiting for just the right person and place.

The exhibitors and shoppers alike come to this show for the opportunity to make quick changes in their collections, buying and selling, without much fanfare — bring the antiques in, show what you have and make decisions. The 80 dealers and a few hundred shoppers on any given Sunday make fast work out of the business of trading the goods.

Jack Donigian has been managing this every Sunday market from early October to late March for 41 years. Since moving to Hampshire Hills, he does a show on the Sunday prior to May Brimfield, May 8, and also Sunday of New Hampshire Antiques Week, August 7. For information, www.milfordantiqueshow.com or 781-329-1192.