“We have a committee of ten, we worked hard and came up with some changes, and the results paid off. The show went very well,” Jim Dunn, show chairman for the Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association, said. This annual event celebrated its 33rd year over the September 29″0 weekend at the Hunter Park Pavilion, with a substantial growth in attendance.
This year the setup for the show was reduced to one day, Friday, with a 10 am opening on Saturday. Closing was at 5 pm the first day and at 4 pm on Sunday. Last year a total of 75 dealers took part in the show and this year the committee reduced the number of exhibitors to 61, of which 31 were from Vermont.
“Based on our attendance over the past few years we wanted to improve the customer-to-vendor ratio,” Dunn said, “and it really did pay off.” A written dealer survey at the end of the show indicated that more than half of the dealers had good to great shows, with only six reporting poor sales.
The show had a fine look, splashed with color through quilts, painted furniture and accessories such as game boards and signs. Attention to display was positive in most cases, making the booths inviting and worth more than a glance. Cheryl and Paul Scott of Hillsborough, N.H., said that many of the people they talked to had come from a greater distance than last year and felt the show had “turned around.”
Cheryl said, “People came and stayed, such as the couple we sold an item to early Saturday morning, and at closing time they were still here at the show. We had a great show and sold two pieces of furniture 15 minutes before we closed on Sunday.” Among other sales were four weathervanes, an eagle, a banner and two horses, a two-door cupboard, a settee and a cast iron fountain head in the form of a lion. Unsold was a colorful hooked rug of flowers in a red pot and a New England two-board-top sawbuck table, circa 1900, with yellow base and salmon top.
Marie Miller of Dorset, Vt., was in her usual spot to the right of the entrance and quickly had a “sold” tag attached to a tiger maple and cherrywood Sheraton chest, two short drawers over four long drawers, circa 1820 and of New England origin. Also from the Sheraton period was a four-drawer bonnet chest in cherrywood, New England, circa 1820. A New England dry sink was also sold, as were a number of quilts, and a nice selection of decorated stoneware was offered.
Eye-catching in the booth of Joseph Martin Art & Antiques, Brownington, Vt., was a hooked rug with a black prancing horse in the center, surrounded by a colorful border. A trade sign was in the form of a painted wood-carved boot, and a green painted child’s Windsor high chair, step down, had four spindles.
Paintings covered the walls in the booth of David Weiss of Sheffield, Mass., including an oil on canvas by John Bungan Bristol, a landscape with house and barn near a marsh. The Hudson River School was represented by an unsigned oil on canvas, Nineteenth Century, depicting cows by a riverbank.
A brown dog in an oval was centered in a hooked rug hanging in the booth of Lana Smith of Louisville, Ky., and an interesting cellaret, paint decorated, circa 1840, was of Maine origin. Furniture offered by New England Home Antiques of Wethersfield, Conn., included a New England hutch table in pine, circa 1800, in the original red with scrubbed top and shoe feet, and a Queen Anne splay leg tavern table with a single board top, breadboard ends, dating from the mid-Eighteenth century.
Clint and Pat Bigelow American Antiques of East Berlin, Conn., offered a Nineteenth Century workbench with trestle base with two vises, excellent condition, that came from the Darrow School Shakers, in 1960. An Enterprise coffee mill with eagle on top, #9 size, was in the original paint, and a National cash register, chromed, dated 1906.
A pair of portraits, artist unknown, possibly of a Vermont couple, on pine panel, hung on the back wall in the booth of Don Olson Early Antiques & Art of Rochester, N.Y. Each portrait measured 23 by 28 inches, circa 1825‱830, and each sitter held a book. A yellow painted and decorated dressing table was of Maine origin, circa 1830, with a scroll backsplash and measuring 31½ inches.
The first booth visitors saw as they came into the show was that of Gloria Lonergan, Mendham, N.J., and centered at the back of the booth was a large rooster weathervane, full-bodied copper with weathered surface, that came from a farm in the Hudson Valley, N.Y. Across the front of the booth was a large sawbuck table in old blue paint, New England, measuring 71½ inches long, 32½ inches high and 28¾ inches high. Sold shortly after the show opened was a large trade sign for “P&O Light Draft Plows” with strong lettering and a picture of a plow.
Another trade sign was in the adjoining booth, the display of Jane Workman of Stuart, Fla. This advertisement showed the many colors offered by Kimm Paint Company. An early bed, with acorn finials on both the head and foot boards, was black painted with large red swirl decoration. An apothecary with 12 drawers, cherrywood and pine, was offered by Gronning’s Antiques & Appraisals of Shaftsbury, Vt. It was of New England origin, original paint with labeled drawers, and retained wooden knobs. On top of it was an early Nineteenth Century rotating candle drying rack, Maine origin, in the original blue painted surface.
Marc Witus, Gladstone, N.J., offered a Sheraton fancy rocker with rush seat, and among the paintings shown was a still life with birds and cherries spilling from a basket, oil on canvas, Continental, dating from the mid-Nineteenth Century. Howard Graff of Colt Barn Antiques, Townshend, Vt., sold a small table, a covered wood box and a number of things from his table laden with iron objects. Several breadboards hung on the back wall, a butter churn was in blue paint and copper tea pots were available in various sizes.
John H. Rogers of Elkins, N.H., had some Chinese furniture. including a medicine chest with 49 drawers, each with four compartments, labeled on the front, elm wood, and from Shanxi Province. A set of four carved and painted panels, probably from an early door, were in cypress or elm and dated circa 1900.
The Farm Antiques, located just down the road in Arlington, Vt., had a fine show and offered a good number of pieces of furniture. A set of six step down Windsor side chairs were in yellow paint with decoration, circa 1820, ex collection of Doris Stauble, Wiscasset, Maine, and a William and Mary two-drawer blanket chest, circa 1730, was in the original red paint, grained, cutout ends and in mint condition. Otto and Susan Hart, also from Arlington, showed a pair of wood carved and painted Dalmatians dating from the mid-Twentieth Century. Measuring 32 inches tall, these carvings were made as mascots for a firehouse in Hopkinton, N.H.
Jeff and Holly Noordsy, Cornwall, Vt., showed a nice oil on canvas of a mother cat and white kitten on a red floor, mid-Nineteenth Century, and a pair of Hudson River School landscapes, oil on canvas, showed cows in a stream with people on the bank, and in the second one †a stream running through a forest †a man was fishing and a woman was on the bank with a basket. A selection of glass, including several early flasks, was displayed neatly in a backlit corner cupboard.
A wooden trade sign, neatly lettered, read “Clocks, Watches, Jewelry Repaired, E. Spencer” and hung in the booth of Michael and Lucinda Seward, Pittsford, Vt. It was fresh to the market, dated from the mid-Nineteenth Century and was from New York State. “We had a great show,” Michael said, and among the pieces of furniture sold were a large step back cupboard and a chair table in old surface and paint. “The table measured 53½ inches in diameter and was the largest round one we have ever owned,” he said.
A carved wooden fruit compote, two samplers, a valley painting of a local scene, a pair of foo dogs and a large tureen were among the other objects that made for a successful show.
A selection of early furniture was shown by Conway, Mass., dealers Jan and John Maggs, including a maple six-board chest from Connecticut, circa 1750, with dry surface and cutout ends. A Connecticut River Valley pine six-board chest, circa 1790, retained the original old blue painted surface.
A pine serving table with traces of the original gray paint was across the front of the booth of Red Horse, Bridgewater, Vt. It dated circa 1850 and measured 28 inches high with a 26-by-92-inch top. A nautical scene with three ships, oil on canvas, circa 1790, was of Dutch origin.
A linen press of wonderful small size, two arched doors in the top section over three long drawers in the lower section, bracket base, was against the back wall in the booth of Chesterfield Antiques, Chesterfield, Mass. A small Chippendale mirror hung nearby, circa 1770, with a carved and gilded eagle in the center arch.
Joyce and Herb Windle of Wilmington, Del., offered many opportunities to enhance collections of hearth equipment or early lighting. A double candle and rush lamp dating from the late 1700s, with adjustable trammel, was of French origin, and a rare circa 1800 spring-driven rush holder in iron rested on penny feet. Of interest was a rare Punch and Judy large door latch, mounted for display. “These were made in both Lancaster County, Penn., and in the Hudson River Valley area,” Herb said.
“We have had a great show,” Tom Longacre of Marlborough, N.H., said as he was leaving to deliver an Eighteenth Century tavern table of New Hampshire origin and a portrait of a young boy. A paint decorated dressing table, oversized chopper, and many smalls were also on the “sold” list. Still available at the end of the first day was a small size cobbler’s bench, New Hampshire and possibly from the Eighteenth Century, and a nice farm scene, oil on canvas, of a Cape Cod home and barn that was dated 1884 near the well in the foreground of the picture.
A pair of New England portraits, artist unknown, circa 1840, with the sitters dressed in black and white against a red drape, hung in the booth of Dover House Antiques, Louisville, Ky. A three-board-top sawbuck table, circa 1800, was 28¾ inches high with a 34-by-75-inch top.
A deacon’s bench in old paint, mid-Nineteenth Century, was shown by Drake Field Antiques, Longmeadow, Mass., along with a “high country” game table, circa 1815, from either New Hampshire or Vermont. A server or side table in mahogany dated 1820 had Ben Franklin drawer pulls. Brass fireplace equipment was selling well from this booth, possibly due to the well-polished appearance of the pieces.
“I have had a good show and sold my large English pewter punch bowl,” Ron Chambers of Higganum, Conn., said. He mentioned that he has only seen two of them, with no touchmark but with coat of arms and date, and he had both this year. “I sold the other one at the Americana Show in Deerfield, N.H., this summer,” he said. Among his other Vermont sales was an oil on canvas by Hillard, who is known for New Hampshire scenes.
Also having a good show was Robin Fernsell of Art & Antiques, Walpole, N.H., who had sold hooked rugs, small painted boxes, pieces of sterling and a painted chest of drawers.
“We are having a committee meeting in the very near future to talk over the show this year and set the dates for 2008,” Jim Dunn said. For those who mark their calendars well in advance, and don’t want to miss the VADA show, next year’s dates will be announced shortly.
