Weston Show Kicks Off
Vermont Antiques Week
Review And Photos by Andrea Valluzzo
WESTON, VT. — The 57th annual Weston Antiques Show, one of the nation’s longest running antiques shows, set the bar high for the four shows that would follow during a whirlwind four days of antiquing better known as Vermont Antiques Week. The show opened at the Weston Playhouse on Thursday, October 1, with a preview and continued through Saturday, October 3.
Robert Perry Antiques, Orchard Park, N.Y.
A good-looking, quirky show tucked into every corner and warren of the Greek Revival-style playhouse, boasting a heavy concentration of fine Americana and a wealth of choice antiques spanning many styles, genres and periods. Silver can be found in closets, rugs are draped across the back of theater chairs and art is hung in the stairway, heading upstairs.
Frandino Antique Oriental Rugs, Walpole, N.H.
Ably run by a hardworking and solicitous cadre of volunteers that knows how to pamper their dealers, the show is one of two major fundraisers for historic preservation here in town, including the playhouse. Alternately called the “grand dame” of Vermont Antiques Week or a “phenomenon,” the one thing that is true is that this show is beloved by both its dealers and customers who come from near and far, year after year.
“The show went very well. It’s always been a good show, sometimes better than others, said Barbara Adams, who, along with her husband, Charles, has set up here for the last 37 years. Selling across the board, the South Yarmouth, Mass., dealers sold a drop leaf table right off the bat, as well as two paintings, a Shaker handled carrier, some stoneware, hooked rugs and wooden bowls.
Bill Schwind of W.M. Schwind, Yarmouth, Maine, has been here a dozen years, and while he did not report a strong showing this year, he remains an ardent fan of the show. “It’s a wonderful diversity of things in all price levels and that’s unusual today. It’s a great small country show. I love it,” he said, praising the venue as well as the volunteerism from what is a very small town that runs the show.
Dover House Antiques, Louisville, Ky.
Bruce Henley of New England Home Antiques, Wethersfield, Mass., also had light sales, writing up a piece of furniture and a fine, early covered basket, painted, very early on. “Weston is a great small show, the anchor of Vermont Antiques Week, and I’m looking forward to returning next year.”
“I thought that this year’s Weston show looked great and I had a very nice time. I was pleased to sell a wonderful large Vermont winter farm scene by Robert Shaw Wesson — it seemed just perfect for Vermont and now has a new home there. Overall, my New England farm landscapes did well. And of course the show committee, all volunteers, did a beautiful job and are most gracious hosts to the exhibitors,” said paintings specialist Donna Kmetz, Douglas, Mass.
Like most shows these days, some dealers do great, some not so well, and most are somewhere in the middle. Among those having a great show here was Frandino Antique Oriental Rugs, Walpole, N.H. “I had a fabulous show! A lot of old rugs found homes. I thought that the gate was strong, from the preview party, where I sold my best and oldest Kazak, as well as a smaller Sarouk, and throughout all day Friday and Saturday,” Lori Frandino said. She wrote up her last sales ten minutes before the show closed Saturday — “a beautiful old Kurdish rug with great color and a ton of folk art, along with a worn but beautiful old Lavar Kirman.”
Among dealer sales reported was Barometer Fair, Sarasota, Fla., which sold a very nice stick barometer from 1820, and a few early brass cased aneroid barometers from the 1870s.
For more information, www.westonantiquesshow.org.
Vibrant Hues, Folky Delights
Fill Okemo Antiques Show
Brooks Antiques, Bedminster, Penn.
Review And Photos By Andrea Valluzzo
LUDLOW, VT. — Here a quilt, there a quilt, everywhere a quilt, quilt. A bit of oversimplification perhaps, but the overall pattern noticed at the Okemo Antiques Show October 2–3 was vibrant color — from painted furniture to folky quilts. Americana aficionados rejoiced in the wealth of country Americana examples, folk art, primitives and painted surfaces that abounded here.
Thirty-one dealers filled the base lodge at the Okemo Mountain Resort with formal and country furniture, textiles, wooden- and metalware, stoneware and more.
Especially vivid was a wonderful New England dressing table in chrome yellow in the booth of Lisa McAllister, Clear Spring, Md., a pieced and appliqué Carolina Tulip quilt from a New Jersey maker, 1850, hung on the wall by Melissa Bourque Antiques, Garrison, N.Y., and a red, white and blue painted, wooden barbershop pole at Bud Hughes Americana & Folk art, Stratham, N.H. There were several choice examples of painted furniture, including an early to mid-Nineteenth Century dry sink in early sage green paint over the original gray paint, from Baker & Company Antiques, Delmar, N.Y.
Lisa S. McAllister, Clear Spring, Md.
“Overall, we were certainly pleased with the show in terms of appearance and attendance. We felt the dealers did an outstanding job and most indicated they were happy with their sales,” said show managers Pat and Don Clegg.
Folky signs were offered throughout the show. Ripe for the picking in Wallingford, Conn., dealer Jane F. Wargo’s booth was a “Green Mountain Potatoes For Sale” example, while Jewett-Berdan, Newcastle, Maine displayed “Queen of Spades Meat & Drink,” which was in the form of a playing card. The catch of the day though, was a full-bodied fish trade sign with original hangers and weathered green paint from H&L Antiques, Princeton, N.J.
Folky hooked rugs were equally plentiful, including an example with two horses in the booth of Pat & Rich Garthoeffner Antiques, Lititz, Penn, and two recumbent lions on offer from Michael & Lucinda Seward, Pittsford, Vt. Alabama dealer B. Hannah Daniel Antiques showed a rug with a moose and several Native American figures, one paddling a canoe, and another taking aim with his bow and arrow at the moose.
Nancy & Gene Pratt, Victor, N.Y.
Thomas R. Longacre and Beverly Weir Longacre, Marlborough, N.H., shared their booth, with Bev focusing her attention on diminutive and charming Christmas ornaments, while Tom set up a row of seven Nineteenth Century mortar and pestle sets in off-white marble made by the T.M.S. Co., Trenton, N.J.
Maine dealer Hope Springs Eternal had nautical antique collectors in mind when designing its booth here. Featured was a ship diorama of the Red Jacket out of Rockland, Maine. Latcham House Antiques may be landlocked in Ohio, but that did not prevent the dealers from showing a similar ship diorama in fine old surface.
Rounding out the offerings were a Cheesequake, N.J., stoneware pot with watchspring decoration, 1780, by Captain James Morgan, on offer at Jeff & Holly Noordsy Art & Antiques Cornwall, Vt., and over at Jane Langol Antiques, Medina, Ohio, was a quartet of standout examples of Fulper and Weller pottery.
For additional information, www.cleggantiques.com or 717-259-9480.
Short And Sweet But Hearty:
Ludlow Is Akin To Comfort Food
Janet and Charles Taylor, Bittersweet Antiques, Waverly, Penn.
Review And Photos by Andrea Valluzzo
LUDLOW, VT. — Each of the five shows of Vermont Antiques Week has its own flavor and the 51st annual Ludlow Antiques Show and Sale is the antique equivalent of comfort food — no frills but hearty and satisfying. The show opened for preview Friday evening, October 2, and ran through Saturday at the Ludlow Community Center. No fancy room settings were necessary at this show, just lots of good stuff on tables, floors and hung on simple walls — exactly what you might expect from a country show in Vermont. And speaking of food, the homemade buffet dinner that the show puts on is renowned. Dealers are served first, near the end of Friday’s set-up, and then show visitors coming to preview get to fill their plates.
Filling buyers’ appetites for all manner of furniture were Bittersweet Antiques, Waverly, Penn., which offered a lovely two-drawer tiger maple stand and a four-drawer chest with elaborately turned legs, while Linda Perkins, Williamson, N.Y., had several country-style chests. Robin Stephens, Richmond, Mass., showed a nice blanket chest with interesting grain and George B. Johnson, Montpelier, Vt., had two nice painted children’s chairs.
Keeping watch over the booth of Blue Line Antiques, Port Leyden, N.Y., was a wonderful and large carving of an eagle fashioned from a single block of wood. Finely detailed, the circa Twentieth Century piece was found in Virginia.
John Bourne Antiques, Pittsford, Vt.
Catchpenny Antiques, Rochester, N.Y., featured stoneware, hooked rugs, a pair of andirons and several nice gameboards, while Unique Fabrique, Belchertown, Mass., featured several nice wooden bowls having clean surfaces and baskets.
Tom Pirozzoli and Kathy Phelan, Goshen, N.H.
Sandmark Antiques, Sudbury, Vt., had a whole section on tools, including circa 1890s Stanley tools; an early brace in cherry, circa 1840–70; more than a dozen hammers; and several chunky mallets.
“The preview Friday night was well attended and we were pleased. I shared the booth with a dealer friend, Vesta Urband from Cornwall, Vt.,” said Janice Goodwin, Hinesburg, Vt. “We did very well during the preview selling textiles and primitives, such as quilts, a Shaker rug, a sugar mold and a painted pantry box. Saturday was a slower pace with some sales.”
Martha Perkins, Ashby, Mass., said the show was good with early textiles among her main sales, along with some country smalls.
The show will return here next fall on Friday of Vermont Antiques Week under the able management of longtime show managers Ann Firkey and Carol Baranowski. For information, 802-226-7574 or 802-226-7842.
Antiques At Magic Mountain:
Two Days Of Fine Americana
Review And Photos by Andrea Valluzzo
LONDONDERRY, VT. — By the morning of Saturday, October 3, Hurricane Joaquin was no longer a threat to the upper Eastern seaboard and buyers had eagerly left their homes in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere to head here to Antiques at Magic Mountain, which drew good crowds, with many dealers recording strong sales.
Butter prints were eye-catching at Nancy Cummings, Swanzey, N.H.
Like Weston, the Magic Mountain show runs two full days (most of the other shows this week are one-day affairs, not counting a short preview the night before), so buyers have time to study objects, measure and consider purchases. Likely they did, but judging by the size of the crowd that filled the ski lodge’s stairway lobby long before the 8 am breakfast preview opening on the show’s first day, buyers knew to race to their favorite booths and decide quickly lest an item would disappear before their eyes.
Susan Gault Antiques, Chichester, N.H.
Managed this year by Greg Hamilton of Stone Block Antiques, Vergennes, Vt., the show, like most of the Vermont shows, was filled with primitives and Americana. Striking geometric and vividly colored quilts hung from booth walls, while surface was king in furniture from scrubbed top tables to wonderfully distressed, painted blanket chests. The show reportedly lived up to its name.
“Magic Mountain was magic. I had an extremely good show, selling across the board,” Tommy Thompson, Pembroke, N.H., said. “It was an extremely busy at opening and continued throughout the morning. It did slow down as the day progressed, and Sunday was relatively slow, but some exhibitors had good sales on Sunday. It’s always been a great fall show ever since I first started exhibiting when it was in Wallingford, Vt., before moving to Bromley Mountain. It’s one of my favorite shows of the year.”
Also having a good show was a veteran of many Vermont shows, Gail Piatt of Gail and Don Piatt Antiques, Contoocook, N.H. “I sold a lot of smalls, such as a Eighteenth Century tankard, a dated 1732 flame-stitch purse, several oval Shaker boxes, toys, samplers, wallpaper boxes and lots more, but no furniture,” she said.
Shirley D. Quinn Antiques, Contoocook, N.H.
New to the show this year was Cathy Consentino, Timber River Farm, New Brunswick, Canada, who was pleased with her weekend and will be back next year. “This was such an easy show to do; fabulous porters, a great, helpful and laid back promoter, and total cooperation and friendship between the dealers… Almost too good to be true, I was thinking, but the icing on the cake were the sales,” she said. “I saw customers from Washington state, Iowa, Virginia, all over the Northeast, and some I had not seen for years. They bought good quality at fair prices, and bought and bought!”
Shirley D. Quinn, Contoocook, also did well, selling a scrubbed top table, a graphic sunburst quilt and two fragments of linsey-woolsey. “I thought we had a very good and enthusiastic crowd for early buying,” she said.
Blue Dog Antiques, Stafford Springs, Conn., mostly sold smalls from inexpensive, painted treen, early lighting, stone fruit but also sold a 37-drawer apothecary chest that dealer Judi Stellmach said she could have sold ten times over.
For additional information, www.antiquesatmagicmountain.com or 802-989-1158.
Antiques In Vermont Show
Closes Week With Big Crowds
Review by Tom O’Hara, Photos by Andrea Valluzzo and Tom O’Hara
MANCHESTER CENTER, VT. — Riley Rink was filled to maximum capacity October 4 as Phyllis Carlson Stevenson and Timothy Stevenson hosted 70 exhibitors for the popular last show of Vermont Antiques Week. In its 31st year, the Antiques in Vermont show concentrates on early American country styles shoppers would expect to find in historic Vermont.
As the last show of the week to open with all but one of the others closed, shoppers include many of the other Vermont show dealers coming here to replenish their inventories.
With three of the four other antiques shows of Antiques Week already closed, this event enjoys a unique position: it attracts many dealers from the other shows who come for the 8 am opening to replenish their own inventories, after days of selling. Collectors, homeowners and decorators also know this is the largest show of the week. With the easiest setup for furniture, the venue attracts many dealers with big antiques who can easily exhibit and sell in their exhibit space and so it works!
Old Farm Antiques, Reading, Penn.
Denise Scott, Denise Scott Antiques, East Greenwich, R.I., quickly sold one of the largest pieces in her display, a tall New England setback cupboard in red milk paint, circa 1800. Her husband and assistant in the business, Sam Scott, was busy arranging the details for shipping the piece to Texas for the purchaser.
Joseph M. Moffitt, Scarsdale, N.Y., was especially pleased with his day. Primarily a textile dealer, he had a very good time selling several quilts from his collection of late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century pieces. He also wrote up several Stevengraphs, a Native American rug and a century-old rag rug from the Northeast.
West Branch Antiques, Delhi, N.Y., was showing an extensive collection of early Nineteenth Century painted furniture. Martin Webster has been diligent in his pursuit for this popular line, and he was offering a tall cupboard in white paint with two doors at the top and bottom and drawers in the middle; another low cupboard in a deep red shade with two doors, a pair of red painted ladder back chairs, an early worktable in faded blue and more.
And there was still more. Tim Stevenson reported that a Gray, Maine, dealer sold most of his furniture, along with several Nineteenth Century paintings, and another from Pike, N.H., sold so much furniture that his booth looked empty by lunch. Both dealers specialize in Eighteenth Century American furniture with a preference toward the painted country look.
Stephen Burkhardt Antiques, Felton, Penn.
Latcham House, Waterville, Ohio, was busy all morning selling early American folk art. Jim Stoma reported that sales included a portrait in oil from about 1800, a pastoral watercolor, another landscape, a paint decorated box and some pewter from the Eighteenth Century.
Variety in early Americana has been the hallmark of this show since its founding. Gloria Lonergan, Mendham, N.J., brought an 1870s Fiske Ethan Allan running horse weathervane. John Gould, Yorktown Heights, N.Y., had a fresh collection of gold leaf frames from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, along with some furniture of the same time period.
Carlson and Stevenson have been producing this show for the last 31 years, always as the closing event of Vermont Antiques Week, with Sunday, October 2 as the date for next year. For more information, contact Phyllis or Tim at 802-236-2342.
