Jenkins Management, show producers, attracted great crowds to the Farmington Antiques and Design Weekend, June 13‱4, at the Polo Grounds in this Hartford suburb. Company spokesman Jon Jenkins said the visitor total on Saturday was the highest in the last five years for this 200-dealer, twice-yearly event. He added that Sunday morning activity was slowed by early morning rain, but by noon the parking lots were filling up again.
Jon Jenkins’ father and president of the family business, Steve Jenkins, said he had many reports from dealers that sounded similar to Al Benting’s comment. The Amesbury, Mass., dealer of Benting and Jarvis said, “Under the current circumstances we did well; not a record breaker, but too good to complain!”
Jody Wilson and Jacque Froy of J&J Antiques are dealers of mostly Navajo and other Native American jewelry, which they collect near their home in Tucson, Ariz. For this show they were still selling at least an hour after the 5 pm closing on Saturday, giving them one of their best shows of the year, according to Jody.
Living in Florida most of the year, where they produce a variety of antiques shows themselves, Bill and Kay Puchstein were exhibiting at Farmington with many small antiques they had collected over the past several months. One of their prized pieces was a “skel band” †papier maché skeletons about 2½ feet tall with funky hats and musical instruments. Priced at $1,800, the collection sold early Saturday morning to a museum in New York.
Bill said their sales were good, with all the small antiques and folk art they brought. “We sold great smalls, interesting folk art, redware and the like.”
A dealer with a nontypical inventory was Bob Baker of Poverty Hollow Enterprises, Stamford and Redding, Conn. He brought an entire suite of bamboo: sofa, arm chairs and tables from the middle of the Twentieth Century. His reasoning was that with the minor change in the focus of the show from purely antiques to antiques and design, “This is what the customers are looking for today.”
While exhibiting with a Connecticut dealer friend, Greg Hamilton of Vergennes, Vt., was offering early American antique furniture he collects. Sales were good for him, with many items going to other dealers who were shopping the show.
Fishers Antiques, Fishers, Ind., sold big and small antiques. First day sales included a Pleasant Hill Ky., Shaker basket priced at $950, a mule chest in blue milk paint at $1,800, red faux grain painted small cupboard tagged at $650 and a Jacobean bible box dating to 1650 priced at $2,100.
From York, Penn., American Stars sold a pair of New Hampshire comb back Windsor side chairs for $950 and a small cherry Connecticut stand for $350.
Anne Hall and Mark Brady were offering their collection of antique historic prints. From Sturbridge, Mass., this couple has been exhibiting at shows for many years with original hand colored engravings from the early Eighteenth Century, and some from even earlier. Their collection includes American, English and works from colonial artists in the Caribbean Islands. To quote Anne, “Sales were good, we had a good show this weekend.”
Palisades Trading is all Oriental rugs offered by Tom Landers of Windsor, Conn. His sales for the weekend included a few pieces during the show, but also many after-show sales. His home and showroom are just a short drive from the Polo Grounds, so he made appointments for customers to visit later to see more of his collection. As a result, he had more sales of rugs too big to bring to the show.
Moldies R Oldies offered a collection for the dining table, featuring fine dishes and Waterford crystal stemware. Owner Kevin Walsh of North Haven, Conn., reported sales were good, with multiple transactions of the Irish crystal. With their exhibit only a few booth spaces away, Claire and Peter Ringel of Pennington, N.J., were offering a competitive collection of dishes and stemware. Their sales were also very good, as Claire said, “We did well; no complaints for this weekend!”
Nancy Bryer and her family recently moved from New England to Frankfurt, Ohio, where she finds her favorite antiques: painted furniture from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Commenting on her sales, she said, “We sold several primitive pieces in paint and also some of the smaller accessories. Good Show!”
Among the exhibitors there are many with unusual collections, objects that mark their exhibit in a manner that tells all this is that special collection. One such dealer at Farmington for many years is Ted Storb from Rowayton, Conn., with early furniture and lighting but also a large collection of Nineteenth Century lightning rods. Today, these objects are just collectible antiques, used for decoration of buildings inside and out, but for Storb they are his special attraction.
By about 2:30 Sunday afternoon, Storb said his sales had been adequate for him to have a profit. Then, one customer who had been admiring the lightning rods over the weekend came back to buy one; shortly after that, another customer did the same; and finally, Storb said, “At five to four [the show closed at 4 pm] someone came into the booth and bought a bed and a table making the show a very good one for me.”
Storb’s comments were typical of the weekend: visitors came, thought about things and eventually bought some valuable articles, with a great deal of furniture leaving the show.
“Farmington is a great 200-dealer show now with great antiques and designer home furnishings. It has great attendance, good food and a great hassle-free environment for the visitors and dealers alike,” said Jon Jenkins.
The next Farmington Show will be Labor Day Weekend, September 5‶. For more information, www.jenkinsshows.com or 317-598-0012.
