The elegance of the Brandywine River Museum and its picturesque setting was a fitting complement to the antiques being offered inside and outside the museum’s halls during the three-day run of the museum’s antiques show, a perennial favorite, May 23′5.
Collectors and museum patrons flocked to the show starting with the preview party Friday, May 22; some dealers commented on a strong gate that held true most of the weekend.
Heller-Washam Antiques, Portland, Maine, had sales across the board, including a walnut bracket clock, a folky tiger maple and walnut one-drawer stand, a decorative ship carving dating to the Nineteenth Century, a Nineteenth Century American tropical-scene painting depicting a lighthouse and a wonderful early gathering basket in black ash with swing handles.
Proving the enduring popularity of Queen Anne antiques, dealer Don Heller also wrote up tickets for a fine Queen Anne courting mirror and a pair of Queen Anne petal base brass candlesticks.
Heller said he was pleased with the strong interest and attendance the show brought out, and the economy was ripe with buying opportunities for the savvy †”&pportunity never before presented in our lifetime to buy top quality excellent furniture,” he said.
The Hanebergs, East Lyme, Conn., are veterans of the Brandywine show. “We did really well, it’s a nice show, we always like this show. The committee is always great, and you get a knowledgeable crowd,” said Bob Haneberg.
Candlesticks were practically flying out of the dealers’ booth, with many finding new homes, including three pairs of Queen Anne candlesticks. The dealers also sold some porcelain, a painting and a Philadelphia sampler. At 5 pm on Monday, exactly as the show closed, they sold a pair of American knife boxes that were “quite good.”
John Fiske of Fiske & Freeman of Ipswich, Mass., said that while sales were a bit below what they usually are at Brandywine, the show was a success.
The dealer sold three pieces of furniture: a nice George I side table, a George I lowboy and a coffer, as well a number of good smalls, a Nuremberg arms dish and several Seventeenth Century carvings.
Reporting fair results was Roger D. Winter, Solebury, Penn., who did sell a lovely serpentine brass Georgian fireplace fender, circa 1770, as well as a wonderful George II mahogany wine table, circa 1755, and a nice French farm table along with two Canton platters.
Mark and Marjorie Allen, Manchester, N.H., had a solid show, reporting that after a soft spring, this show was a moneymaker. Renowned for their collection of delftware, the dealers mainly wrote up sales for delft at this show. “It went quite well for us, we sold a lot of delftware&nd they were pieces that ranged from just a few hundred dollars up to $25,000,” said Mark Allen. He added, “It was unusual that we sold so much in one shot.”
Other sales included a pair of garden chairs, several pieces of wrought iron and a Westerwald jug.
Ed Weissman, Portsmouth, N.H., also reported strong results at the show. “The gate was very good, the preview was wonderful&⁔here was steady traffic,” Weissman said.
The dealer’s furniture sales included a New England mahogany and tiger maple bowfront chest of drawers with drop panel, a French rosewood satinwood inlaid worktable and an English Hepplewhite card table.
Weissman also wrote up tickets for two paintings: one a Nineteenth Century portrait with provenance to a Swedish royal family and the other a Maine coastal scene with lobsterman. He also sold a set of four pewter chalices by Israel Trask and several pieces of brass.
Doug and Karin Constant of Douglas Constant Inc, Orient, N.Y., had nothing but high praise for the efforts of the show committee. “The committee is absolutely sensational! We saw the chairperson, Jo Lurquin, at virtually every show we exhibited at leading up to the Brandywine River Museum Antiques Show&†The committee leaves no stone unturned &†and they do their job, which is to drive the right types into the show to buy….and they did.”
The dealers reported a variety of sales across the board: furniture, fine art and ceramics and even their booth rug.
The show, produced by Armacost Antiques Shows, will return in 2010 on Memorial Day weekend. For information, 610-388-8318 or www.brandywinemuseum.org .
