Compared to previous years, when the line waiting to get into the show stretched down the corridor or out the door and along the building, the group of people waiting for the show to open was comparatively small.
Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring
YORK, PENN. — Approximately 60 dealers from Pennsylvania and farther afield convened in Memorial Hall East at the York Fairgrounds and Convention Center on Friday and Saturday, September 22-23, for the 181st edition of the Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show and Sale. Advertised as featuring Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century American, English, primitive and period furniture and accessories, the show delivered in spades.
The first day of the show had good weather, but wet weather on the second day kept some people away.
Melvin “Butch” Arion, who has been running the show since September 1996, was in good spirits when Antiques and The Arts Weekly walked the floor shortly before the show opened. “You can’t compare September with February, when we had an overwhelming attendance. The storm really affected Saturday, which was ‘off’ for sure.”
Thomas Rawson, who said he was coming off “a phenomenal New Hampshire show,” was doing the York show for the first time, and afterwards he said he was happy. “Butch does an excellent job and his help is very good; I’ve no complaints whatsoever. I did the show because I usually do a show in Illinois in the fall, but I’ll be away. I sold twice as much at York as I probably would have in Illinois. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, dealer reported selling a bench, two whimsy bottles several very good folk carvings, a needlework piece and five pieces of stoneware, including “one expensive one.” The Armitage Herschell carousel horse that was front and center in his booth retained its first coat of paint and got a lot of interest but was still unsold at press time.
Joseph Lodge, Lederach, Penn.
Joe Lodge’s booth is right ahead of the show’s main door, and he got a lot of traffic as soon as the show opened. Several things were of interest, including a circa 1900s large whirligig of a propellor-driven plane, a set of six salmon-painted birdcage Windsors in original paint, “Winter Sunlight” by W.E. Baum that he dated to circa 1935 and a large hooked rug that he liked because the lines were straight, a feature that was hard for rugmakers to do.
Doug Jackman and Stephen Corrigan are Stephen Douglas antiques and, returning to York after a short hiatus, were back at the show and prominently set up next to Lodge. Most of their things were smalls, including expensive ones, but no furniture. “It was a very retail crowd, which was great,” Jackman said.
Despite the inclement weather on the second day, Tom Jewett and Butch Berdan reported a great show. The Newcastle, Maine, dealers sold a Nineteenth Century Pennsylvania stump yarn work rug that was the centerpiece of their booth, an assortment of holiday pieces that included Halloween and Christmas with a rare large open coat Nineteenth Century belsnickle, a folk carving of an owl, an early wooden rooster weathervane in original paint, a New England watercolor and a bunch of smalls.
Ron and Joyce Bassin, A Bird in Hand Antiques of Florham Park, N.J., had made a couple of sales within the first few hours of the show, including a carved man on snowshoes and a soapstone walrus. Ron pointed out several things he was happy to have on offer, including an elegant carved African American lady that dated to the 1930s or 1940s, a set of three carved and painted black and white pigs and a mid-Twentieth Century bronze elephant sculpture that had been made by the Tuareg tribe in the area of Saharan Africa that stretches from southwestern Libya to southern Algeria.
An unusual and interesting addition Ron and Joyce Bassin brought to the show was this carved African elephant. A Bird in Hand Antiques, Florham Park, N.J.
“I sold more than enough to cover my expenses so I’m happy; I had a couple of sales that made the difference. All of my sales were to new buyers, which was fun” reported Ron Bassin. Though he did not sell any decoys, or the Grenfell mats he is known for, he sold several things, including a couple of paintings and a desk. He noted that most people seemed to be buying Pennsylvania-oriented objects.
The booth adjacent to the Bassins belonged to Gene and Nancy Pratt, who brought both New York and New England antiques. After the show, we got Gene on the phone, who said it had been one of their best York shows, with sales throughout the weekend. Several pieces of furniture left their booth, including redware and stoneware, a couple of paintings and other miscellaneous smalls, to a combination of both existing and first-time clients. He also sold one of his best things, an Arabian style Jewell running horse weathervane.
When we cruised through Bob and Claudia Haneberg’s booth, Bob couldn’t resist showing us a Chippendale tiger maple tall chest from New England, probably Massachusetts or New Hampshire, that not only boasted a 36-inch-wide case but came with an unusually large number of drawers — eight in total. It was the first one the East Lyme, Conn., dealer had ever had. He had topped it with a Harris & Son running horse weathervane that was unusual in that both of the horse’s sides had been stamped.
Bob Haneberg waxed very enthusiastic about this running horse weathervane and tiger maple tall chest. Noteworthy aspects of both was the presence of a maker’s mark – “Harris & Son / Boston” on both sides of the horse, and the presence of eight drawers. The Hanebergs Antiques, East Lyme, Conn.
Towards the back of the show, Dan and Karen Olson were having a brisk show, selling, in Dan’s words, “quite a bit of furniture: a Queen Anne slant front desk, a Queen Anne highboy with shell carving, an Eighteenth Century Philadelphia chest of drawers with quarter columns, a small two-drawer cupboard in dry red paint and an Eighteenth Century bowback Windsor armchair in old red paint” Additional sales also included a portrait of children, a big sampler dated 1845, an Eighteenth Century bell metal posnet and other fireplace things, and some baskets.
“[It was] good enough” is how I like to say it,” reported Joy Hanes. “My most fun sale was to a nice man who had driven from about four hours away to look for a small chest of drawers. It turned out I had exactly what he was looking for: a 31-inch English mahogany bachelor’s chest. Another woman from DC asked me to give her a lesson on Staffordshire dogs, so I showed her the pair I had and told her why I thought they were exceptional, and she bought them. They weren’t a ton of money, but it was a very fun sale because we had a great conversation. I had other sales as well, but nothing momentous. I always seem to do okay at York. We’ve been doing it for so many years that it seems like old home week because of the number of friends and customers who come through.”
“It’s a long way to go but it was definitely worth it!” said Zac Ziebarth, who first started doing the York Show last fall. “We had a really good show; it seemed like neat folk art, or what was catching people’s eye,” was selling. The Madison, Wis., dealer reported selling among several things a painted Milwaukee door to a woman from New York, two frakturs that had geographic connections to the York area, and an escutcheon painting to a Pennsylvania Civil War collector. He said other dealers brought a lot of great stuff, so he bought well too and is looking forward to returning to the next York show.
Three map samplers, all with Bill Subjack, Neverbird Antiques, Surry, Va.
Bill Subjack, Neverbird Antiques from Surry, Va., brought his usual selection of historical documents and ephemera, but what stood out in this show was the number of samplers he’d brought — about a half dozen, mostly American ones but also a 1789 English map sampler. One of the ones he had was worked by Catharine Maria Sedgwick, who was not only the daughter of a prominent abolitionist but also a well-known author in her own right.
Rarity was on offer with Randi Ona, who had not only a New England paisley dress with several distinctive features, including lining, ruffled cuffs and collar and gathering ties that was in excellent condition, but she also had a Bergen County painted cupboard with applied reeded molding.
More early sales were abundant, varied and covered a variety of periods, styles media and forms. Valerie and Dennis Bakoledis had closed the deal on a redware vessel and a candle mold. A painted easel in the booth of John Forster, Barometer Fair, quickly donned a red sold tag, as did a set of 12 late Eighteenth Century Continental lithographs of hot air balloons that covered the entire left-hand wall of Marc Calciano’s booth. Yeagertown, Penn., dealer Robert Conrad found a new home for a stone bird. Keith and Diane Fryling sold a carved black bird that was whisked away by its new owner as soon as the money had been handed over to the Green Lane, Penn., dealers. Lisa McAllister looped a red sold tag through one of the two handles of a cobalt-decorated stoneware vessel. A fruit still life and a tripod stand were among early transactions closed by Randi Ona, while across the aisle, a small cat painting went from Perkins & Menson Antiques to a new home. A Montgomery County, Penn., painted jelly cupboard and small band box were among Steve Smoot’s sales.
The 182nd Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show and Sale will take place February 2-3. For more information, www.theoriginalyorkantiquesshow.com.
