Charlie and Barbara Adams, South Yarmouth, Mass.

With temperatures registering in the high 90s all across Cape Cod throughout the week of August 1, it appeared that the Cape Cod Antiques Antique Dealers Association Antiques Show, held over the weekend of August 5 and 6, would once again earn its nickname as the “Cape Cod’s Hottest Show.” The heat wave broke on Thursday night, however, and the thermometer was revealing temperatures almost 20 degrees cooler as the dealers prepared to open the show for the preview party on Friday evening.

While the atmospheric heat had dissipated, the association’s slogan held true in the respect that the “dealer’s show” is the most anticipated antiques show on the Cape, widely considered “hot” in more ways than one.

A seemingly refreshed crowd of people flocked to the opening and sales were reported by many of the dealers participating. The crowd was one of the largest recorded at the Cape Cod show and attendance remained steady throughout the weekend with sales registered from start to finish.

“Overall it was an excellent show and I think most of the dealers did well,” stated Betty Davidian of Davidian-Americana. “We had an excellent show with good little smalls selling the best.”

The dealers had a long laundry list of items that had sold, including a wonderful early wooden chalkboard that covered one entire side wall of their booth. “It sold within minutes of the preview opening on Friday night and practically everyone that came through the show that night and on Saturday wanted it,” said Davidian.

Betsey Hewlett, Yarmouth Port, Mass.

“We also sold a nice portrait of Thomas Jefferson that had been done after the Gilbert Stuart painting at Bowdoin College,” she said, “and a nice early oil on board of a child.” The dealer also listed hooked rugs and a toy horse on heels as having sold.

Right next door to Davidian’s booth was East Greenwich dealer Denise Scott, who had a booth filled with quality country furnishings including an attractive cupboard with open top that retained a wonderful old blue paint. The cupboard was filled with a nice selection of pewter and was surrounded by stoneware jugs and crocks. Other items in the booth included a nice round-top hutch table that was flanked by a set of country Queen Anne chairs and a two-drawer blanket chest in old red.

Charles and Barbara Adams are mainstays at the show and the crowd always seeks them out. Their usual selection of Bennington and Rochester wares were highlighted by two “Departed Spirits” book flasks, including one in a flint enamel glaze, Toby jugs, creamers, pitchers and an unusual oval frame.

Mad River Antiques, North Granby, Conn.

The dealers also offered a good selection of country merchandise, including an attractive grain painted blanket box, an early mantel and a large carved wooden swan. While Barbara maintains the selection of Bennington, Charles sees to it that a selection of decorative bird carvings is always in the booth. Local decorative carvings by Lapham are a favorite, along with Crowells, Kings, Blackstones and an assortment of other makers.

Barbara Adams commented that the show is always “surprisingly good for a little show. We really did quite well overall,” she said, listing a fan window, stoneware, Bennington, hooked rugs and doorstops among the items that sold.

Henry Callan was on hand at the show with his usual fare – samplers and quality porcelains. One item in the booth that was particularly attracting attention was a sampler from the Philadelphia area that featured a house in the center surrounded by trees, potted flowers, flying birds and a row of ducks parading across the front of the yard. Executed in 1822, the dealer commented that it was one of his favorite pieces. Other samplers displayed included a rare Nantucket piece that the dealer felt had been created in a Quaker School. “There weren’t many of them made on the island,” stated Callan, “and most are in private collections.”

Windsong Antiques, Harwich Port, Mass.

Other items seen in the booth included some nice air twist stem goblets, a selection of Battersea boxes, Staffordshire figures, Whieldon and an assortment of Oriental porcelains including Canton and Rose Medallion.

Allen Hansen, Early Spring Farm, Vineyard Haven, Mass., was busy putting the finishing touches on her booth just before opening on Friday evening. The dealer offered a good mix of country materials with a nicely grained painted carpenter’s style chest catching the eye of patrons. The dealer also offered a folky carved wooden trade sign in the form of a half-open pocket knife. One item that the dealer pointed out was a large pair of star lanterns that had the unusual feature of having additional tin frames with colored glass inserts applied all over. The lanterns had recently come out of a local home, commented the dealer.

Stoneware was featured in the booth of Steve and Lorraine German, Mad River Antiques, North Granby, Conn., with an early bench stretching across the back of the booth topped with interesting examples. A rare small-sized churn with a stoneware lid was thought to have been made by Frank Norton due to the telltale cobalt sprig on the front. At no more than a gallon-and-a-half size, it was among the smallest functional churns that the dealers have ever seen.

Another unusual piece was a large cake crock with blue decoration that had the lug handles modified as they ended in a chicken-feet decoration. Another of the crocks attracting attention was a three-gallon Ballard straight-sided crock with a large and ornate bunch of grapes decorated in cobalt across the front.

Bradford Trust Fine Art, Harwich Port, Mass.

Bradford Trust had a large assortment of local themed paintings, many by local artists such as Charles Cahoon. When queried as to how the show went for the dealer, Roy Mennel responded, “In a word, best yet! The opening was strong and we did lots of business, the Saturday morning turnout was good as well,” he said. The dealer reported a slow afternoon surmising that patrons “went to the beach.” Among the crowd on hand, however, “selling was brisk. Sunday saw a much smaller turnout, but those who came bought right up to the end,” he said.

The dealer reported his “personal best with four paintings in each session” selling, along with an assortment of smalls. “The buyers, both dealers and collectors were upbeat. Such a change from some other shows this year and at least four of us sold directly from The Bee’s Show Section.”

Among the other paintings sold by the dealer, a Charles D. Cahoon oil depicting an oak tree; a Helen A Sawyer, oil of a Truro farm; as well as works by William H.S. Pearce; Sanders Bernath; and a James K Bonnar historic painting of the “Thee Sisters Lighthouses on National Seashore.”