Scott Antiques Market filled two huge exhibition halls starting early on a cold morning on January 7 with 2,600 booths of antiques and décor for the decorators, homeowners and antiques collectors. Conducted the second weekend of every month, this most recent pilgrimage for antiques lovers was January 7‱0 in a location unaccustomed to snow and ice.
As Atlanta is not used to extreme winter weather, when it does occur it is ill-prepared to handle it. For that reason, with a half-inch of snow early Friday morning, there was bedlam on the Interstate highways, ice on driveways and local roads were blocked by cars that had spun out of control. It was the biggest news for the whole weekend, so local media were telling people to not travel, keeping many shoppers in their homes rather than at the show.
Nevertheless, Al Benting of Benting and Jarvis Antiques, Barrington, N.H., said, “We had enough people and enough sales to make the trip worthwhile.” The firm’s sales included several pieces of furniture; leather bound books, a pair of Revolutionary War pistols and several small antiques.
From Richmond, Va., Catherine Moomaw exhibited with her daughter, Robbie Thorne, offering a large supply of furniture. There were six chests in pine and paint on display early Thursday. By Sunday, there were only three left. They also sold a pair of Nineteenth Century English oak side chairs, a miniature chest of drawers, several small tables and a mahogany leather-topped desk from the Victorian era. When Moomaw counted up the show’s total, the results were good, with virtually all the sales on Thursday and Sunday. “There was no one there on Friday and Saturday,” she said.
An Arts and Crafts table about 8 feet long and in excellent condition was covered with other merchandise early Thursday morning during the opening day of unloading and selling. That may have delayed the sale of the piece, but even so, priced at $1,850, it found a new home. The exhibiting dealer, Stevens Antiques of Frazer, Penn., a Philadelphia suburb, is at Scott’s every month. Owner Rob Stevens said, “We sold well every day of the show in spite of the local reaction to the weather.” Their merchandise is primarily furniture, with only a limited quantity of small accessories.
There are a great many exhibiting dealers at the Scott show. Tom the Picker from Lake Lure, N.C., is one such dealer. He comes nearly every month with a selection of early furniture and antique home décor items to sell for small margins to the Thursday shoppers who are often buying for resale. This month, his collection included a selection of Adirondack furniture, braided and hooked rugs, art and wooden toys. Most of his inventory was sold by the end of the show.
Phil Dreis of Antique Cupboard offered the silver collection of William Vanderbilt. Antique Cupboard, Waukesha, Wis., deals primarily in antique and vintage silverware, with a large collection of Tiffany flatware from the Nineteenth Century and many other well known makers from the last 200 years.
Chelsea Hill Antiques, Hampton, Conn., has been in the same booth in the South Building for more than ten years. Owner Tom Nagy trades in early Georgian through middle Victorian furniture and accessories.
Sales were not as strong as usual for Ridge Valley Tavern Antiques, but still enough to go home ahead of expenses. Lois Moritz, the proprietor from Altavista, Va., said, “Our sales included a chest of drawers, some Imari and tile trays.” Her inventory was dominated by the fine hardwood pieces in various Georgian styles.
In contrast, Charles Upchurch was selling Nineteenth Century oak furniture. His best sales of the weekend included a large kitchen cupboard with multiple drawers of varying sizes on the bottom and glass doors on the cabinet top, which he believed was Amish. During the show he also sold a large barrister’s bookcase. Upchurch has been doing this monthly show since it began in 1993. In addition to the sales during the show, he said it “gives good exposure” for his shop in Mableton, Ga., about 25 miles away. Within two days of this most recent Scott show, he received a call that he believed would lead to another sale.
Michael J. Cohen Antiques of Brookville, Ky., sold American country-made hardwood furniture. His first sales included a Kentucky corner cabinet in cherry and an early four-poster bed with carved head and foot boards.
Larry Lewis said his sales of Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio furniture at the show are typically good. Trading as Big Creek Antiques from Clay City, Ky., he had sales for the weekend of a cupboard and chest, as well as several other smaller pieces of furniture.
Scott has a great deal more than just furniture. Patricia Williams of Vandiver-Williams in Atlanta shops in Scotland for small antiques, the size she could fit into a suitcase with many more similar pieces. She offered various kinds of earthenware, treen ware and brass. She even found some beaded items in her shopping, which sold quickly at the show. Caren Monetta of Mostly Majolica, Alpharetta, Ga., sells from her extensive collection of majolica. From Atlanta, Belinda Walker offered an assortment of small antiques and some furniture, but she was “trapped” in her home all day Friday from the snow and ice on her street and that cost her a day of selling.
Lititz, Penn., dealer Barry Meade showed a large collection of American furniture from the Eighteenth Century. Included in his collection was a corner cupboard in cherry for $1,950 and a blanket chest priced at $1,100.
Scott Antiques Market is a popular antiques shopping destination. The site, the Atlanta Expo Center at Jonesboro Road and Interstate 285, is easy to find. For information, www.scottantiquemarket.com or 740-569-2800.
