From left, Tolland Historical Society members Mary Noonan and Celeste Senechal, with THS president Kathy Bach, standing.

Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring

TOLLAND, CONN. — The Tolland Antiques Show returned to the Tolland Middle School on Sunday, March 17, for its 55th edition, fielding 55 dealers and welcoming a steady stream of visitors. The show supports the Tolland Historical Society (THS) by raising funds that help maintain the Daniel Benton Homestead on Metcalf Road, the Old Tolland County Court House, the Old Tolland County Jail & Museum and the Tolland Military Museum. Several THS members were on hand to make sure it ran smoothly, from taking tickets at the gate to helping staff the concessions stand in the cafeteria or the society’s table.

It was the second year in a row the show has been managed by Goosefare Antiques & Promotions and John and Elizabeth DiSimone, who took it over after the pandemic.

“We had a very good crowd and we were very pleased. It seemed very busy until probably 2 o’clock. I think there were sales throughout the day and across all categories,” John reported to Antiques and The Arts Weekly.

The DiSimones’ booth is at the back of the gymnasium and when we made our way there, we immediately noticed a red sold tag prominently hanging from a Federal tiger maple chest of drawers. John said he’d sold it to a couple from New Jersey who he had never met before. Other standouts in their booth were a diorama of the three-masted schooner Aunt Sally, an oil on canvas sailing scene by Wesley Webber, a Howard Johnson weathervane and a Nineteenth Century yellow painted box.

Show managers John DeSimone, left, and his wife, Elizabeth, center, had a good show, selling a Federal tiger maple chest on the back wall of their booth to new clients, to a couple from New Jersey. Saco, Maine.

Three exhibitors were new to the show, all of them were set up in the school’s cafeteria: Ann Jones Native Arts (Windham Center, Conn.), Elizabeth Di Tomassi Antiques (Charlestown, Mass.) and Life Spring Enterprises (Marblehead, Mass.). Jones had two framed works by Mamie Deschillie (Navajo, 1920-2010) that though she’d had them for more than a year, had never brought them to a show before. One was of a sheep, the other of a goat; both were made out of materials the artist found at Goodwill.

DiTomassi specializes in estate jewelry and was pleased to show off two crown pins. One was a mid-Nineteenth Century French example with rose cut diamonds and emeralds on a silver mount with gold back, the other was an English example made with turquoise, opals, rose cut diamonds, silver and gold. She said she was really happy to be included in the show.

Holliston, Mass., dealer Jim Luskay owns Docengine Antiques and dubbed it “a great show” when we tracked him down afterwards, noting sales of a sign, a table, a cupboard, an eagle and a few gameboards to “a good mix of both retail and trade buyers.”

Docengine, Holliston, Mass.

Seating furniture was in plentiful supply in the booth of East Boothbay Trading Co. East Boothbay, Maine, dealers Tony and Laura de Haas had a Hitchcock bannister back chair in black paint, a Wallace Nutting chair, a stenciled settle, two rush-seat ladderback chairs and an early bamboo turned Windsor side chair that was described as a “weaver’s chair.”

A few dealers shared booth space; this included Karen Alexander Antiques (Somers, Conn.) and Don Broderick Antiques (West Springfield, Mass.). It was not always clear who was selling what but the booth featured painted furniture, portraits, still life paintings, mirrors and other small items. While we were in the booth, Sandy Doig made his first sale, a $15 pestle. Other dealers teaming up in booths were Joyce Haddad, who owns Nathan Hale Antiques (Coventry, Conn.), and Naomi Ayotte, selling under the name of Hidden Treasures (Pomfret, Conn.).

On the inside of the door of the gymnasium, where the majority of dealers were set up in three rows of booths and along the perimeter, Glenn Allard of Patina Art & Antiques had a tiered trestle stand filled with baskets, painted furniture and, along the back wall, a striking hooked rug he dated to the late Nineteenth Century.

Patina Art & Antiques, Roxbury, Conn.

Across from Allard, Derik Pulito had a strong selection of artwork by mostly listed artists. Some of the featured works the Kensington, Conn., dealer brought were landscapes by James MacDougal Hart, Aaron Shattuck, John J. Enneking and Nelson Moore.

Opposite Pulito, Jim and Kathy Twining, Raven’s Way Antiques, showed a large selection of decoys, including a black duck by A. Elmer Crowell, a yellowlegs by Harry V. Shourds and a black-bellied plover by Irving White. For those whose interests run towards textiles instead of decoys, three samplers were available. One dated 1831 had been made in Brookfield, Conn., by Harriet A. Sanford, while one made by Aurelia F. Hartung in Springfield, Mass., was thought to have been made circa 1841. Rounding out the samplers was a New England marking sampler without name of the maker or date it was stitched.

Martha Boynton had a small but choice selection as one would expect from the longtime dealer. A landscape of Squam Lake that she was attributing to Vincent De Grailly (1804-1889) occupied pride of place on her back wall, as did a pair of red-painted tablet-back Windsor side chairs. One of her side walls was decorated with a ship drawing and an oval hooked rug with a fabulous black cat, which she said she’d had for 35 years but was coming out for the first time.

Bettina Krainin Antiques, Woodbury, Conn.

“Smalls and miniatures are selling but furniture is very tough. It’s hard to know what to bring, there’s a lot of price resistance,” said Woodbury, Conn., dealer Bettina Krainin. Standout pieces in her booth that were likely to get attention were a circa 1820 chair table, two black painted ladderback chairs, a bannister back armchair and a red-painted cupboard with early red paint from Rhode Island.

Laura McCarthy, Bayberry Antiques, had a small but artfully stocked booth anchored by a showstopping portrait of a woman wearing wonderfully detailed jewelry that had descended in the family of Dr Reuben Macy.

Hilary Nolan brought several things from Falmouth, including a New England pencil post bed that had been owned by Roger Bacon and a black painted high chest of drawers he’d just acquired. A blanket box was one of his sales at the show.

Nolan’s neighbor at the show — Jim Megura from Brookfield, Conn. — said he sold a $1,400 carnival painting to a new couple from Massachusetts who he’d never worked with before. That and other sales helped him rate the show as “great.”

“It’s been a good show so far,” said Greg Hamilton, Stone Block Antiques. The Vergennes, Vt., dealer had sold a big quilt and a ladderback chair.

Dates for the 56th Annual Tolland Antiques Show have not yet been announced. For additional information, the Tolland Historical Society is at www.tollandhistorical.org, while Goosefare Antiques & Promotions is at www.goosefareantiques.com, 800-641-6908 or goosefare@gwi.net.