“End your week with a great antique.” No, No, that’s not right anymore. “Start your week with a great antique” was the slogan this year as Frank Gaglio moved his popular Bedford Pickers Market from Friday, the last day of Antiques Week in New Hampshire, to Monday, the beginning of it all. “It was an absolute success,” Frank said of the August 6 show, stressing the change of date was “popular among both the exhibitors and the people who make this time of year in New Hampshire a destination.” He indicated the show brought in some new people, among them those who remained for a few days after Ron Bourgeault’s Northeast Auction on the weekend.
The lines formed several hours before the 9 am early buying and the second wave of visitors came into the show at 11 am, the regular opening hour. The tent was fully air-conditioned by two 80-ton and two 70-ton units that kept the temperature comfortable. Under these conditions, people stayed longer at the show and shoppers remained right up until the close at 4 pm. In all but a few cases, the booth paper was taken down, fresh paper put back up, and both the tent and the convention center were ready for the next 112 dealers taking part in Mid*Week in Manchester. Setup was on Tuesday and Mid*Week opened on Wednesday.
One of the booths receiving much attention was Antiques at 30B, Cambridge, N.Y., with an offering of an early staircase, railing, gate and landing that came from the Stevenson Homestead, Stevenson Corners, Coilai, N.Y. It was Nineteenth Century paint decorated. Trade signs, garden antiques and a large bird house, circa 1890, Massachusetts origin, were also offered.
“It took him 30,000 hours to carve all of the pieces,” Bruce Emond of Village Braider, Plymouth, Mass., said of the five framed cases of wooden whimsies hanging on the wall of his booth. It was the work of George Mattison of Shelton, Neb., and included linked chains, stars, anchors, initials, crosses and many other designs, all done in different woods. “We think it is remarkable,” Bruce said, and before the day was over the cases had been sold. “Great Bay Clams” was the lettering on a seagull decorated trade sign that sold quickly, and another sign came from the post office at East Concord Station.
Halsey Munson from Decatur, Ill., put the emphasis of his booth on very decorative pieces and folk art, with less attention to furniture. His back wall, visible from the entrance to the convention center, was attractive and colorful with paint decorated objects including a wood carved shield painted red, white and blue with an oval mirror in the center. It measured 12 by 16 inches and was dated circa 1870‱920. A sack back Windsor, circa 1780‱790, was in mustard paint over the original green and it was from coastal Rhode Island.
Melissa Bourque Antiques, Garrison, N.Y., offered a New Hampshire serpentine block front card table in cherrywood, old finish, circa 1800, along with a dovetailed shopkeeper’s desk, original unpainted surface, circa 1870.
Four large round breadboards hung on the outside of the booth of Rose Garden Antiques, Bronx, N.Y., and dominating the front portion of the booth was a very large drafting table with a tiny red “sold” dot right in the center. And even with the sold sticker, the table was generating interest from many people passing by.
Furniture filled the booth of Hanes & Ruskin Antiques, Old Lyme, Conn., including a hutch table with a two-board scrubbed top, New England, circa 1760‱800, measuring 42 inches in diameter. Bold tiger maple made a New Hampshire tall chest stand out in the booth. It had six drawers with a fan carved in the top center drawer. The piece dated circa 1785 and measured 36 inches wide, 57 inches high and 20½ inches deep.
Three horse weathervanes raced across the back of the booth of Loudonville Folk Art, Loudonville, N.Y., as if headed to the Hotel Metropole, a lodging advertised on a large trade sign with a hand pointing in the proper direction. Several other vanes were offered, including a large rooster in old yellow paint.
The booth looked sparse, but the furniture offered by Zollinhoffer Antiques of Medina, Ohio was interesting. A country Queen Anne blanket chest, circa 1750, was of Connecticut origin, and a New Hampshire candlestand, circa 1790, was attributed to John Dunlap III of Antrum, N.H.
For sign collectors, Pioneer Folk Antiques of Ellsworth, Maine, was a good place to begin. Among the hand painted reminders of the past were “River View Seed Farm,” “Reserved For Shuttle Boat,” “Giddings Rooms For Tourists,” “Ernest C. Hilton, Music Teacher,” “C.O.D. Office,” and “A.S. Brewster Will Occupy This Building When Completed.”
Foxfield Antiques of Columbia, Md., showed a one-drawer table with green base and scrubbed top, North Carolina origin, and a stack of nine Shaker finger boxes, graduated and in shades of yellow, green, red and natural. Among the furniture in the booth of Hagadones Antiques of Charlottesville, Va., was a William and Mary chest, two drawers over three graduated drawers, double reeded molding, original ball feet and dating circa 1710‱720. It measured 34½ inches wide, 42½ inches high, and 17¾ inches deep.
A flat top Queen Anne highboy with a fan carved into the lower center drawer was in the booth of Robert Freitas American Antiques of Stonington, Conn. Two painted dower chests were also shown. A blue painted step back cupboard in the booth of Country Treasures, Preston, Md., held 15 pieces of cobalt decorated stoneware, and a large dry sink retained the old yellow surface.
A landscape showing the Finger Lakes region of New York State, with cows, horses, man in the foreground and a house to the right near a pond, hung in the booth of Pratts Antiques, Victor, N.Y. This oil on canvas was by Henry S. Suydam (1802‱883) and was signed lower right and dated 1873.
As usual Daniel and Karen Olson of Newburgh, N.Y., filled their booth with interesting furniture, including a step back cupboard in walnut that was found near Locust, Iowa. This piece was made by Norwegian immigrants during the last half of the Nineteenth Century. An American open-top cupboard in white pine with old mustard paint, punched tin doors in the lower section, was from North Central Wisconsin.
Frank Martin from Mertztown, Penn., showed a Rupp corner cupboard, Pennsylvania, dating from the mid-Nineteenth Century; a dry sink from York County, Penn., black painted surface; and a Pennsylvania tall case clock by Jacob Hege, circa 1790‱800.
A pine tap table and a chair table in old blue paint were among the pieces of furniture in the booth of Ken and Susan Scott Antiques, Malone, N.Y. A cast iron elk, possibly a salesman’s sample but now certainly an attractive and seldom seen garden ornament, checked in at 22 pounds. Robert Simpson Antiques, Ramsey, N.J., showed a 6-foot-long dry sink in old blue paint with two doors and two small drawers, and a collection of 11 hog scraper candlesticks in various sizes.
A pair of mid-Nineteenth Century landscapes with river, people and animals, Hudson River School influence, hung in the booth of Jef and Holly Noordsy of Cornwall, Vt., and among the furniture offered was a circa 1810 New England hutch table in salmon paint, three-board top, that listed Peter Eaton, 1974, in the provenance.
A row of four early portraits, circa 1839, oil on wood panels, by Susan Paine (1792‱862), Rhode Island, of the Oldridge family, hung across the back of the booth of Sheridan Loyd American Antiques, St Joseph, Mo. Mary Allis of Southport, Conn., well-known antiques dealer, was listed in the provenance. Furniture included an early school desk from Maine, mid-Nineteenth Century, with a backless bench connected to the writing surface. It was in old green paint.
A stack of hooked rugs was at the front of the booth of Adrian Morris Antiques, East Aurora, N.Y., and a Chautaugua Lake ice fishing decoy, either a trout or pike, circa 1880, was displayed on a stand. A blue bill decoy, circa 1901, was from either New Jersey or Virginia.
Painted pieces dominated the booth of Don Olson of Rochester, N.Y., including an early Nineteenth Century miniature blanket chest, straight bracket base, pine and painted yellow and red. It measured 153/8 by 7¾ by 10 inches. A decorated document box, dome top, was probably from New York State and was lined with Nineteenth Century wallpaper. A bold mustard painted panel was on the top and the sides were painted red and black.
Cincinnati, Ohio, dealer David M. Evans offered a set of four painted bow back Windsor side chairs, circa 1800, with yellow-gold painted seats and trim. A fanback Windsor side chair, circa 1780‱800, was in red paint and came from Lancaster, Penn. Nancy Wells, Portland, Maine, had a large cast iron tester bed and a metal hall rack that would hold a dozen or more hats and coats.
A large trade sign in the form of a boot, circa 1900, advertised “Fitted High Button” shoes in the booth of Home Farm Antiques, Bolton Landing, N.Y. David and Cheryl Craig Antiques, Indianapolis, Ind., had a Connecticut maple tea table with two-board top, circa 1810, and a Pennsylvania slant front desk in walnut on ogee feet, a fitted interior with ten drawers, dating circa 1770.
David Allan Ramsay Antiques of Cape Porpoise, Maine, sold a pair of blue painted cupboards, each with an eight-light door, that once held guns but were now more practical with shelves. A large sign was worded “The Last Straw,” and a set of four plank-seat side chairs was in old green paint with decoration.
Is there a chance of going back to the old schedule? “Never,” said Frank Gaglio. “We have had so many people compliment us on the change, they love it, and the Pickers Market exhibitors like it as well,” he said. Based on postshow reports, Frank said that close to 90 percent of his exhibitors had good shows and the list of dealers wanting to do Pickers is growing. “We have the longest waiting list ever for this show and we are looking forward to many more Pickers Markets on Monday,” he said.
Indeed, it seemed to be the general feeling of those leaving the show that the change of date was well accepted. Comments included, “We like the Monday start,” “The show looks the best it ever has,” “We bought more this year than in the last three years,” and “It was real interesting and we stayed longer than usual.” The air conditioning also got top marks. It appears, on all counts, that a Monday Pickers is here to stay.
