Farmington Antiques Weekend, a twice-a-year antiques and design show run by Jenkins Management, attracts a loyal following and is a favorite stop of many among summer antiques shows.
Despite an iffy forecast that materialized into some afternoon showers, dealers set up and buyers queued up for the two-day show’s opening on June 12. Under canopied booths and tents, architectural items and garden furniture were set out for inspection, along with fine indoor furniture, pottery, art and the usual †and unusual †kinds of antiques one finds here.
After the show, management spokesman Jon Jenkins said that many of the dealer comments expressed optimism despite missing an important block of retail selling time Saturday due to a 2-hour downpour. “I know of one nearly five-figure sale late Sunday afternoon, as well as many dealers stopping to tell me that despite the weather issues on Saturday, they had good shows,” said Jenkins.
Show veteran R.A. DiFillipo of Salem, Mass., who has been showing here since the beginning, was offering a choice English sideboard from the 1800s, while T.N. Lepore Antiques, Northville, Mass., offered a campaign dining table and a pair of Welsh mantel clocks.
Hands All Around featured a maritime theme on its outer side wall with a folky sign bidding one “Welcome to the Boathouse, Please Be Seated,” a framed proclamation for the clipper yacht America after it bested Brittania , and an unmatched pair of fine oil paintings depicting ships at sea.
Vintage New England, Canton, Conn., filled its booth with kitchen furniture and metal cookware. Standouts included a great pie safe with punched tin panels in a pinwheel and vine design, a New York apothecary cabinet and a fine Turnbull family scale. Vintage fishing creels inside the booth completed the theme.
Beverly Dutton, West Hartford, Conn., went all out decorating her booth. Covering up the grass with Oriental rugs, her booth almost seemed as if it was an indoor booth. A fine dressing table with mirror and bench was a highlight.
Patricia Frazer, Vintage Couture Jewelry, Easton, Conn., offered fine Midcentury silver necklaces, several by Danish designers, as well as a choice collection of turquoise and coral from the 1960s.
Marx Merry Makers are fairly desirable among Twentieth Century lithographed tin toys and John’s Antique Toys, Old Lyme, Conn., had a fine example. Featuring a four-mice band that the maker fashioned to resemble Mickey Mouse, the toy was in working condition.
Sharing a booth were Peter Moses, Syracuse, N.Y., and John Gould, Yorktown Heights, N.Y., whose styles complemented each other nicely. A trio of painted furniture chests were a standout on John’s side of the booth, while Peter had a nice grouping of New England pantry boxes, including one in black paint and with fine decoration, circa 1850.
Nutmeg Treasures, Glastonbury, Conn., is known for its samplers and estate jewelry. Early Saturday morning dealer Ellen Raiselis had not unpacked jewelry yet, but she was busy setting up early teddy bears and fine samplers, including one wrought by 9-year-old Ann Gulusha from the Albany, N.Y., area. The dealer has been showing here in a friend’s space for several years and this year, had her own booth.
P-B-Antiques, Peterborough, N.H., is known for its McCoy pottery and doorstops. Dealer Pam Brenner had a fine selection of both genres at the show, as well as works by Wallace Nutting and Charles Sawyer. A longtime dealer here, she said she is dedicated to this show, which has “a great group of dealers.”
A dry sink filled with choice cobalt-decorated stoneware pieces was a highlight of Buckboard Antiques, Westfield, Mass., while a cream-colored pedal car accented in bright orange was eye candy at Antiques at 30B, Cambridge, N.Y.
Spotted on the field were the following highlights:
At J&G Antiques, Amityville, N.Y., a good ship’s lantern in salmon paint with red glass lens and a brass top; a broad selection of folk carvings at Marvin Weiss, Baltimore, Md., and at Colliersville Cottage Antiques, Colliersville, N.Y., a handmade candelabra in red paint, with eight arms, circa 1880s, that came out of Cooperstown, N.Y., and a nice drop-leaf table at John’s Collectibles, Plainville, Conn.
For additional information, www.farmingtonantiquesweekend.com or 317-598-0012. The show will return Labor Day weekend, September 4‵.
