New vendor Cherry Street ABCs, Carmel, Ind.

Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Some people wait in line for concert tickets or the latest limited edition collectible to be released. Others, die-hard antiques collectors, show up hours before a show opens to be certain to be the first at their favorite dealer’s booth, rushing onto the show’s floor ahead of the crowd. The antiques shows that take place during New Hampshire’s Antiques Week are particularly conducive to the phenomenon, when many visitors stay overnight, enjoying the camaraderie of friends and professional colleagues. More than 400 people waited patiently for show manager Karen DiSaia to open the doors to Antiques In Manchester, The Collector’s Fair, which took place in the Sullivan Arena on the campus of St Anselm College, Wednesday and Thursday, August 6-7. Within the first four hours of the show, another 200 visitors had entered, with many return passes handed out for the second day.

“Overall, the show went well,” DiSaia told Antiques and The Arts Weekly. “The gate was similar to last year, although it seemed to me that there were more new paid entries on Thursday than previously. Most of the dealers I spoke with were pretty happy with the show, and many of the new ones made a point of saying they want to return next year.”

This photo does not capture the nearly 250 additional people who were waiting inside the Sullivan Arena for the show to open.

In 2024, DiSaia tried something new when she designated one outer aisle of cost-affordable booths to dealers who might not be well-established, saying then, “It’s so important to give younger or emerging dealers a place at the table; we need to seed for the future of the industry.”

Some of the same dealers who took advantage of the less expensive booths returned to the same place this year, with strong results. Matt Greig, Milton, Del., had two paintings signed by “M. Gilbert” that he had found in an estate near Dayton, Ohio. He also had a great cobalt-decorated stoneware jug he could have sold to multiple people and a whimsical “Three Legged Man” sign, which also sold.

Across from Greig, Thomas Moser framed a glass case of decorative “smalls” — pottery, glass, wooden objects and metal objects — with landscapes and small pieces of furniture. A standout object, which enjoyed pride of place on a small tavern table, was a circa 1820 military hat in its original shaped and papered box. The accompanying note reported it to have been owned by John Woodhouse of Preston, Conn.

Evan Grant had a selection of relief carved wooden panels, made by Rose de Rose (1902-1982), the heiress to a coal fortune who chose to live simply on Long Island, raising chickens and creating wood carvings. The panels had been discovered in 2021 in a storage room of an East Hampton Hospital alongside works by Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning.

Four relief-carved panels by Rose de Rose. From left, “Plantain,” “Milkweed,” “Iris” and “Apple.” Evan Grant, Bremen, Maine.

Mary B. Ross was quick to show us a blanket chest she had acquired from a Stony Brook, N.Y., family; according to family legend, the chest had been buried with family silver during the Revolutionary War. She also had three needleworks by Calista Smith she’d purchased from a house on the North Fork of Long Island.

One of the best stories this reporter heard in Manchester occurred following a chance conversation over breakfast before the show: Santa Rosa, Calif., residents mother and daughter Marianne and Carissa Gibson were visiting New England for the very first time. Marianne had purchased a sampler online from Wayne, N.J., dealer Randi Ona, who encouraged the two to come to the New Hampshire shows. The two reported having a blast, and Marianne picked up a couple of things at this show, including an early portrait from Penelope Williams of West Palm Beach, Fla.

There were a fair number of dealers on the floor who were not there last year. Among these was Ryan Wagner of Newlyn Lowly, based in Great Barrington, Mass., who brought a strong selection of country Americana and textiles as well as framed folk art. A stool was among his early sales.

A walking boot did not slow Stephen LaMachia down much, and he saw interest in several of his chicken-themed antiques. OTA Antiques, Marlborough, Mass.

Stephen LaMachia is OTA Antiques, and he sold a watch and clock repair sign right away. Of interest in his booth were a collection of early baseball gloves, artfully arranged on stands in grid-form wall displays. While we were in his booth, a collector with a penchant for chickens was asking LaMachia about a painted cast iron rooster and a sheet-metal cockerel weathervane.

Antique and vintage photos are the specialty of Erin Waters, new to the show this year, who hails from Exeter, N.H. Cabinet cards, daguerreotypes, tintypes and photo albums joined folk art, including signs.

John Sinning, Elkhart, Ind., returning to the show after a brief hiatus, came with a diverse selection that included painted smalls, decoys, metalware, baskets, woodenware, redware, game boards, weathervanes and small framed artwork. Among his sales was an institutional sale of a Washington County (Penn.) fraktur to Lisa Minardi, executive director of Historic Trappe.

Jon Rider had the best selection of early Nineteenth Century American furniture on the floor, including a pier table with marble top, a metamorphic armchair, a Federal card table from New York in the style of Duncan Phyfe and a Federal server, but it was an early Seventeenth Century English marquetry table he’d found locally that many shoppers were examining.

New show vendor Jon Rider demonstrated his eye for early English furniture with this early Seventeenth Century marquetry table. Jon Rider Antiques, Essex, Mass.

Early needlework lined one wall of the booth of James Island Antiques, but the Charleston, S.C., dealer also had a plentiful selection of ceramics, metalwares, pewter and more.

The first booth inside the show’s main floor belonged to that of James Wm. Lowery Fine Antiques & Arts. A good selection of horse weathervanes welcomed visitors into his booth, which was anchored by a rack that beautifully displayed at least two dozen quilts. For those who ventured farther into the booth, hooked rugs and small pieces of furniture awaited. One side wall of the Baldwinsville, N.Y., dealer’s booth was hung with a pair of portraits of a gentleman and his wife, attributed to Joseph Whiting Stock, which looked great over a Massachusetts Queen Anne walnut veneered dressing table.

Hilary Nolan transacted several things early in the show, including a large blue-painted box in the form of a boat that came from Cape Cod and a pair of antique windows.

Across from Nolan, Jane Langol had an exceptional quilt made of 9,000 diamonds she’d acquired a year before the show. She said it was from the Midwest and, because of the fabrics used, she dated it to between 1890 and 1915. It looked great next to a folky heron sculpture and four landscapes by Paul R. Lehman (1914-2008), of Laureldale, Penn.

Jane Langol, Medina, Ohio.

Langol’s neighbors were Florham Park, N.J., dealers Ron and Joyce Bassin of A Bird In Hand Antiques; they were doing a brisk business and in the first hour of the show sold a stuffed fur Grenfell polar bear among many other things.

Towards the back of the show, Bettina Krainin wrote early receipts for a drying rack, horse weathervane and yellow-painted armoire or cupboard.

Roberto Freitas, just back from doing The Newport Show, said it had been a good one, with a couple of pending sales that — if they go through — will make it one of his best-ever shows. One wall of the Stonington, Conn., dealer’s booth was devoted to the whimsical mermaid-populated works of Ralph Cahoon. Of particular note, the “Five Senses” next to “Mr and Mrs Abernathy & Family on the Sun Deck.” Though another was untitled, it came with a spectacular frame and story: Kitty Mellon saw the frame at Ralph Cahoon’s shop and commissioned him to paint a picture to fit the frame. The resulting picture showed a mermaid in a pagoda garden, holding a fan.

“I’ve had a great show so far; there’s been very good energy and the material on the floor this year is exceptional,” reported Nancy Douglass. Among sales in the first hour were a carved wood theorem basket, a weathervane and a sandpaper drawing.

Nancy Douglass found a buyer early on for this Nineteenth Century carved wood theorem-style basket Willow Springs Perennial Antiques, Rexford, N.Y.

Mo Wasjelfish, Leatherwood Antiques, had sold many things by the time we made it to his booth, including a pair of giltwood eagles, a red architectural element, a painted iron weight and a circular iron cover. One of the items he directed our eyes to was the “Four Seasons” by the husband-and-wife team of Richard and Barbara Sparre. Richard painted the scenes while Barbara embroidered the mats. He had found them on Cape Cod.

Paul Thien of Rising Sun, Md., was Firehouse Antiques, but he now trades under the name Buckley Mills. He told us that he’d made the move after 30 years and was really excited about the change. He had sold a sheet iron poodle and a pair of dummy boards and showed off a labeled rocking horse he’d acquired from a woman who was selling her grandmother’s estate.

Smalls were the strongest sellers for Bob Haneberg, who mentioned finding new homes for a pear tea caddy, a carved monkey and some scrimshaw. A small Kazak rug was unfurled while we were in the booth to show the strong colors to prospective buyers.

Colette Donovan packed up multiple shopping bags for clients to take with them when they were ready to leave the show for the day. A green shelf and several framed pieces were among her sales in the first few hours.

The pictorial needlework on the back wall was acquired by Detroit sampler collectors, Sharon and Jeffrey Lipton. It was one of many sales Elliott and Grace Snyder transacted. South Egremont, Mass.

Grace and Elliott Snyder appeared to be having a banner show from the sign of all the “sold” tags in their booth at the center of the show. A leather box, brass footwarmer, door knocker, iron spiral candlestick, Bellarmine jug, painted chest, corner chair and tavern table were among their first sales, as well as an embroidered pictorial needlework, to Detroit collectors Sharon and Jeffrey Lipton, whose needlework collection was among a few featured in a recent needlework exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Peter Eaton, the Snyders’ neighbor in the show’s center, also looked like he was doing a booming business, marking “sold” a portrait after John Tolman, a table, a bowback chair, a leather box, an oval watercolor of a cat and a portrait miniature meant to be worn as a locket.

High style furniture is Don Heller’s stock in trade and he brought a good selection at the end of one row, from formal furniture in a variety of forms to ship paintings and portraits, mocha ware, samplers, baskets, decoys, stoneware, early lighting and a large pair of metal dogs that would look good in a garden.

The 2026 Antiques in Manchester, The Collector’s Fair, will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, August 5-6. For information, www.antiquesinmanchester.com.