The 24th showing of Antiques in Vermont filled Riley Rink with select merchandise and prospective customers for a one-day show Sunday, October 5. Phyllis Carlson, co-manager of the annual affair and working together with her partner Tim Stevenson, filled the venue with predominantly early American antiques, such as furniture, country accessories and folk art.
Primitives in Vermont could very well have been the theme for this show, something dealers would have considered a compliment. Mary Elliott works all year to find early furniture that has never had paint. Her inventory included a small tap table in original finish, probably an early stain or shellac, which now was very black, two chairs showing only 200 to 300 years of hand rubbing from everyday use, and a settle bench in similar finish. This Pepperell, Mass., dealer used numerous early kitchen tools as accessories to her exhibit, including two wooden mortars.
Other dealers at the show collect things that have an appeal to them, and they know from experience that Antiques in Vermont is a prime location to offer them. Judith and James Milne, New York City, typically offer an extensive variety of styles and periods of antiques. Their inventory for this show, however, places an emphasis on early and primitive pieces. Among the antiques was an early pine dry sink showing years of wear to the finish, but with strong color from the red milk painted surface. A full-bodied rooster weathervane was displayed on top.
Adjoining them was an impressive display mounted by Holden Antiques, Sherman, Conn., featuring a good selection of early glasswares and a handsome full-bodied running horse weathervane. Centered in the display was a drop leaf table with black painted stretcher base surrounded by four Queen Anne chairs.
Painted furniture was popular in Vermont in its early days and it also proved to be popular at this show. A faux grain painted chest, Sheraton style with four graduated drawers, was the centerpiece for Jeff and Cathy Amon. The Jamestown, N.Y., dealers were also showing a collection of small painted accessories and toys.
Limington, Maine, dealer Bill Kelly offered a red milk painted jelly cupboard with a score of painted pantry boxes stacked upon it. And not to be left out of the paint decoration, the show’s promoters, Tim Stevenson and Phyllis Carlson, offered a paint decorated dome top box.
Vermont fall foliage is an attraction for visitors, a part of the customer draw for the shows of the week and it also attracts some dealers from out of the area. Toni and James Stoma, Latcham House Antiques, Waterville, Ohio, displayed an early red and white quilt on the rear wall of their booth. Stoneware, earthenware dishes, weathervanes and a selection of furniture were also offered to the visitors.
Sport & Spool Antiques, Goldsboro, N.C., attended with a varied assortment of vintage sporting gear. Snow shoes and college pennants, footballs and rugby gear, baseballs and bats were available, as were a card table and chairs and some other items for decorating the family room or a pub.
John Gould is very well known for his lemon gold frames, and for this show his collection included several dozen of the early pieces and also some fine hardwood furniture. Nancy Hagen, Dorset, Vt., shops a couple times each year in England for the early porcelain and earthenware dishes she specializes in collecting and trading.
Susan Voake, Norwich, Vt., displayed antique and vintage valentines and greeting cards. There were also some small boxes and keepsakes that might have been gifts between sweethearts several generations ago, and it is appropriate, as her business name is Forget Me Not Antiques.
Tom Weskorp, Millerton, N.Y., displayed two tobacco advertising pieces, a Dutchman and a young black man, each about 2 feet tall, which he said were used to call attention to the cigars and other tobacco products sold in stores in the Nineteenth Century.
