The grand finale of five separate antiques shows in the Vermont Antiques Week schedule, Antiques in Vermont did itself proud on the show’s 25th anniversary. The spacious Riley Rink at Hunter Park easily accommodated the 80 dealers. It is the largest and broadest show of the bunch, but still remains true to its Americana focus.
Show managers Phyllis Carlson and Tim Stevenson get an early start on the one-day show, opening for early admission at 8 am. The show ended at 4 pm. With a vast array of dealers to see and sales being written at a fast pace, the show is a lively way to finish up an exciting week of antiquing.
As preview customers peered into the ice rink before the doors opened, the first thing that caught their attention was the very large cow weathervane with its gleaming gold surface at the display of Raccoon Creek Antiques at Oley Forge, Oley, Penn. Around the corner in the same booth was an even more valuable game cock weathervane of magnificent size in a more modest patina of muted barnyard brown.
Dennis Holzman Antiques of Albany, N.Y., is a seller of old books, memorabilia and autographs, and was filling in for a dealer who could not be there. Holzman had a framed photograph and autograph of Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, dated October 17, 1906. There were similar offerings for Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Robert E. Lee and Robert Frost, among others.
Buzz Eichel, Owl’s Head Antiques, Manchester Center, Vt., was entertaining passersby with juggling and bonhomie. Quite a sight in a black silk top hat, Eichel was enjoying the day. His interesting assortment of antiques included a pair of 1902 vellum “Gossima” paddles. The precursor to ping pong, Gossima was invented by John Jacques III in the late Nineteenth Century.
Helen and Craig Smith do business as Temora Farms Antiques, Newtown, Penn. They have been shopping the Vermont shows for “at least ten or 15 years,” said Helen after the show. This year they decided to participate in Antiques in Vermont. “It’s one day and we can still have fun,” said Helen. They featured two samplers from New Hampshire, one from Pennsylvania and one from Massachusetts. A pair of 1830s portraits of a man and a woman in oval format came from New York City. One of the stars of the booth was the Pennsylvania blanket chest that was sponge decorated in yellow with black feet and black trim and had Lancaster County features. This chest sold, as did the pair of portraits, an iron rush lamp on a stand and a small Amish sampler.
“It was a very good crowd †almost like old times,” said Gene Bertolet of Oley, Penn. The dealer reported selling mostly good country smalls under $500, including a tin Betty lamp, redware, bakeboards, and a man on horseback cookie cutter. “It’s great scenery, and there are great people †people I’ve seen for many years and new faces too.”
“Lately we’ve been selling only smalls,” said Denise Scott, East Greenwich, R.I., “but in just the last month or two we’ve started selling furniture again.” A New England Nineteenth Century pewter cupboard in green paint with an open top went quickly, as did “a sweet little Eighteenth Century tea table with a maple structure,” she said. While at most shows customers go for her pewter plates, this time it was a beaker and a measure. Also at the show was a tin coffee pot with punched tulip decoration, stacked painted boxes, samplers and a portrait of a woman in a lace bonnet from about 1830.
There was a good selection of early American country furniture at this show. A smattering of what was available: David Griffith Antiques had a Hepplewhite table, circa 1790‱810; Old Farm Antiques, Reading, Penn., had a signed J.B. Jarvey yoke back Windsor chair from southeast New Hampshire; Country Classics Antiques, Demarest, N.J., displayed a circa 1600s step back cupboard in nice old surface with rosehead nails and unusual construction; and Home Farm Antiques had a nice Connecticut River Valley blanket chest.
Phyllis Carlson said, “It was a great 25th anniversary show †lots of fun, with wonderful dealers who really make the show, many of whom have been with us for years. Our customers keep coming back, too, so it is a good fit and a great time to be in Vermont.”
For more information, 802-362-3668.
