After driving down a curving dirt road and parking, the first thing a visitor sees to set the “mood” is Kris Casucci’s circa 1698 farmhouse surrounded by colorful herb gardens.
Review & Photos by Rick Russack
BROOKFIELD, MASS. – If you like country Americana, this was the place to be on June 19. Even more so if you like “primitive” country. In fact, that word was included in the title of the show: “Walker Homestead’s Antiques and Primitive Goods Show.” It’s run by Kris Casucci and is in its 12th year. Driving to the show provides a clue of what’s to come. At the end of the curving dirt road, the first view is of a circa 1698 colonial home surrounded by colorful herb gardens and tents. Dealers’ tents are set up in a field adjacent to the home, among the herb gardens and plantings of shrubbery. It’s a juried show. Casucci insists on being sure that new exhibitors stick to the theme – and they do. Exhibitors who have done the show before understand the theme. The result is a coherent production with a certain look: country. If you believe in such things, Roger Bacon’s ghost may have been floating over the aisles and smiling. In fact, at least one dealer had items with stickers from Skinner’s sale of the Bacon collection in 1983. Several hundred collectors/buyers attended, and sold tags began to appear shortly after they opened. Weather cooperated and, in keeping with the general feeling of the event, a live bluegrass band provided just the right background music.
Most of the items offered for sale were reasonably priced. While talking to exhibitors about their prices, several commented that this was their first show in more than a year, and they priced their things to sell. A comment overheard between two shoppers echoed that thought. “It’s all country and it’s affordable.” As you might expect, there was plenty of woodenware and redware, but part of the interest was the small items that you don’t find at most shows. There were $2 bars of lye soap, there were small bags of dried limes and artichokes, there were inexpensive gourd birdhouses, and a truly wonderful chicken crate. We know those words, “truly wonderful chicken crate,” might make you wonder, but we’ll come back to it.
George Browning III, Swanzey, N.H., had a booth with nothing but stoneware, perhaps about a hundred pieces; jugs, crocks, watercoolers, etc. He said, “I’ve been collecting stoneware for about 45 years and that’s all I deal in – buy, sell or trade. This is my first time doing this show and I’ve met a bunch of people I didn’t know.” One of his rare items was a well-marked jug with an incised bird made by Peter Cross, who started making stoneware in Hartford, Conn., in the early years of the Nineteenth Century. Browning said, “I’ve been collecting a long time, but I’ve never seen another this early with an incised bird.” He priced the jug at $6,500. A 2009 article by Brandt Zipp of Crocker Farms concurred, centering around what little is known about Peter Cross. Browning also had an early 1-gallon jug made by Orcutt and Wait, Whately, Mass. It was made between 1804 and 1810 and was priced $2,600. A large Charlestown 6-gallon water cooler with bright blue birds was priced $3,300. Another interesting piece of stoneware, although of a later vintage, was in the booth of Matt King, Marshfield, Mass. It was a large umbrella stand with a bold, blue, three-dimensional alligator climbing up it. It was made by Whites of Utica, and King priced it $775. Stoneware was available in several other booths.
Warren Broderick was one of the dealers with a sizeable selection of redware. The large, green, two-handled jug was $150, and the tall jar on the left from Norwalk, Conn., was $250.
Several dealers had selections of redware. Warren Broderick, Troy, N.Y., had 15 or 20 pieces, including a large green glazed, two-handled storage jug made in Norwalk, Conn., for which he asked $150, and a small Pennsylvania mug priced $375. Broderick also brought a selection of painted tinware, most of which had been made in Lansingburgh, N.Y., which is now Troy. He said there had been a tin shop in the town, and since he lives in the area, he finds it fairly often.
Now about that chicken crate mentioned earlier. Most chicken crates look alike, and look like just what they were: everyday crates for transporting chickens to market. But the crate that Tommy Thompson, Pembroke, N.H., brought to the show was not your run-of-the-mill chicken crate. It might have looked out-of-place at the New Hampshire Dealers Show, which Thompson does, but it fit perfectly at this show. One of the frequently used definitions of folk art refers to extra, non-utilitarian effort that a craftsman may have put into an object, raising it above the ordinary. This crate was larger than most; the vertical dowels had been squared off with a drawknife or other tool and the surfaces of the corner posts had been whittled, so they were not just plain posts. The handles had been carved from one piece of wood and it had once been painted gray, which has now weathered. When asked about it, Thompson said, “I really don’t know much about it. It looks like the guy who made it probably used it for special chickens that were to be shown at a fair or something. I don’t think someone did all that extra work for ordinary chickens that were being taken to market.” If people still put glass tops on things like this, it would have made an interesting coffee table. Thompson priced it $295.
Also particularly appropriate to this show was a three-piece set of hay wagon sides or gates from Ian McKelvey, South Windham, Conn. With a weathered, old red surface and construction that showed more care than would have been used on an ordinary hay wagon, there were enough pieces to enclose a small garden. The price was $350. Also in keeping with the overall theme of the show was a large selection of birdhouses made from dried gourds. Robin and John Rock, Milltown Primitives, Stonington, Conn., said they were intended mostly for wrens, but other birds might also have called them home. They were all priced around $20-$30 and some included posts for setting them in the garden. During setup, John Rock was filling stone watering bowls with water. When asked why, he said, “When there’s water in them, people know what they’re for.”
This was one of the more elegant birdhouses at the show. Stone and Wares, Princeton, N.J., priced the recycled western-style boot at just $45. It was carefully made, with decorative stitching and tin supports around its entrance, and a tin roof to protect its occupants from the weather.
Primitives, according to the Roger Bacon definition, were all over the show. There were dozens of wooden chopping bowls, many with traces of old paint, old leather shoes and boots, cupboards with old paint, samplers, quilts, homespun coverlets, treen plates, firkins, handmade cloth dolls and “shaved” brooms. These once inexpensive brooms are inexpensive no more. Mary Elliott had three priced between $1,150 and $1,450. Rick Fuller, South Royalton, Vt., had one of the largest bread troughs and it fit right in. More than 5-feet-long, carved from one log, the interior had remnants of the white surface resulting from countless mixings of bread dough. It had rough, carved handles and a rough-hewn exterior. Fuller thought it had come from a commercial bakery, and given its size, he was probably right. The price was $295. He also had a Nineteenth Century tavern table, priced $400, and other country furniture.
Afterwards, Cascucci said she was pleased with the look of show. The crowd was large, and packages were being carried out, and furniture was being wheeled out all day. “Ninety percent of the dealers told me that they had had a good show. That’s what I like to hear.” The next show will be September 25. For additional information, 508-867-4466 or www.walkerhomestead.com.
