Antiques and Garden Show of Nashville was again in 2005 successful in raising funds for The Exchange Clubs Charities and Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, co-sponsors of the annual event. Now in its 15th year, the show conducted February 10-13 at the Nashville Convention Center-Downtown and chaired by Elizabeth Papel and Nancy Deaton was host to more than 150 exhibitors; about half with antiques and half with horticultural inventories.

In a postshow interview, Ms Papel said the event has been the primary fundraising activity for their joint charities, with more than $3.5 million collected in the past 15 years.

Highlights of the show included the preview party opening Wednesday evening, with a new record for attendance for the $150 per person entry fee; guest lectures from India Hicks and David Flint Wood, co-authors of Island Life: Inspirational Interiors, and Jon Carloftis, author of First a Garden. Additionally there were six unique gardens on display designed by Lysiane Luong and Red Grooms. Mr Grooms is a Nashville native with a long list of artistic and professional credits and Ms Loung is an architect, painter and sculptor. Their gardens at the show were executed to give the visitors an extra treat in landscape artistry.

C.M. Leonard Antiques, New York City.

Antiques were available from a list of dealers, many of whomare often seen in the most prestigious antiques shows in thecountry. Ile de France is the business of Xavier Bachelier fromWashington, Conn. His French furniture and accessories weregathered on his trip to the countryside. Offering painted andpolished furniture, Mr Bachelier said he believed the market wasreturning to the shows. New Yorkers Henry and Nancy Fender have afederal look to their collection and always have a few girandolemirrors on the walls, at least seven for this show.

Tuesdays on the Boulevard is the business name for Pam Haskins and Mary Meyerhoffer of Yorktown, Va. Their inventory was a mix of early antiques, decorator accessories and garden items. David Zabriskie and Madelein Killeen, Fayetteville, N.Y., offered a broad range of antiques covering at least three centuries of home and garden furnishings and décor.

Some of the dealers were exhibiting at this event as their local show. Susan Kidd of The King House Antiques, Birmingham, Ala., has a shop open on a regular basis and this is her only show. Exhibiting for the third year, she said her collection of Continental furniture was very well received. No fewer than six major pieces of furniture found new homes and many accessories also were sold. She is proud to advertise that she does most of her own buying in England, France and Belgium. Stanford Fine Art is a Nashville shop that exhibited as much to participate in the community as to sell, according to Sara Stessel.

Georgia and Buddy Morel were exhibiting here for the first time and simultaneously at Music Valley Antiques Market near Opryland USA. Their collection was a mixture of early Louisiana French and garden antiques. Village Antiques came from Asheville, N.C., offering a collection that was a blend of upholstered pieces having a French or English look and some American wooden furniture, creating an especially attractive setting ready for the cosmopolitan home.

Inner Pieces, Atlanta.

Wellesley House Ltd is the business of Andrew Vogel, whomakes his homes in London and Lake Forest, Ill. His collection forthe show was rather much as an English study might look, albeit onewith a lighting problem, for he was offering several dozen brasscandlesticks. Cliff Leonard of C.M. Leonard Antiques, New YorkCity, said he had a “fantastic show,” selling a diverse collectionof antiques to a knowledgeable group of visitors. “The show becomesan event for a few days visit to Nashville,” he said, adding thatthe customers spent those days studying the items that theyeventually purchased.

Ms Papel said that the visitors consider this show a destination for shopping and decorating. There were buses from Indianapolis, car traffic from Birmingham, Atlanta and more. “Our traffic exceeded 12,000 people, making this one of the better attended shows east of the Mississippi; in fact, the preview party had the largest crowd ever,” she said.

Next year, the show will be February 2-5, at the same location. Guest speakers and lecturers have not been announced yet, but the co-chairs are Liz Harwell and Julia Johnson, and the show’s business office can be reached at 615-352-1282.