Five years ago we were introduced to the small town of Oley, where a new antiques show was to take place. We made the trip, about 3½ hours, and found the drive well worth the effort. We have been going back ever since and this year, June 19 and 20, we found the best-looking show to date and a very respectable gate waiting for the 11 am opening on Friday.
One collector awaiting the opening mentioned that he was not planning to attend this year, but as the time got closer he felt, “I would miss not being there, so here I am.” And he added, “I always find something here to add to my collection, and if I don’t this year, I always enjoy the surrounding countryside of Antiques in the Valley.”
This show, managed by Oley Valley Antique Enterprises, is at the Oley Valley Middle School where exhibitors fill the cafeteria, gymnasium and parts of the hallways and lobby. A portion of the proceeds from the show benefit scholarships for students at Oley Valley High School.
“We were up slightly in attendance over last year, about 1,100 visitors, with Friday the strongest day,” John Bartley, one of the organizers, said. He noted that there was some very good buying, especially on the first day, but, “We also had some dealers who did not do very well.” June 18‱9 dates are planned for the show next year, and, “We are very optimistic for 2010,” John said.
For the most part, the show had a very country look, with a scattering of more formal pieces, with painted surfaces, scrubbed tops and old finishes well in the majority. Baskets of all shapes and sizes were abundant, Pennsylvania redware filled several shelves, kitchen and household objects were everywhere, and fabrics included coverlets, quilts and table covers.
Two country pieces of furniture were in the booth of Dark Moon Antiques, Johnsonburg, N.J., a two-board, scrubbed top hutch table with traces of black over orange over the original red, dating from the early Nineteenth Century, and a Nineteenth Century cupboard, dry scraped to the original green, cast butt hinges, that was found in New Jersey.
A Queen Anne hanging cupboard, Pennsylvania German, Lancaster or Berks County, ex-collection Hattie Brunner and ex-collection Henry J. Kauffman Jr, was shown by Baldwin House Antiques, Strasburg, Penn. Also shown was a Pennsylvania flintlock long rifle attributed to Peter Kuntz, Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Penn. It was owner-engraved “Dilcher, 1808,” .47 caliber.
Baldwinsville, N.Y., dealer James William Lowery offered a Queen Anne drop leaf table, Rhode Island origin, circa 1740‱750, and a New England Chippendale chest-on-chest, circa 1750, among a selection of furniture. Of interest to tin collectors was an anniversary candelabra, circa 1830‱840, 19 inches high and 20 inches wide, that was from upstate New York. It held three candles and was decorated with four large tin flowers and leaves.
Another Pennsylvania dealer, Groundhog Hollow Antiques of Felton, showed a worktable with single drawer, turned legs and three-board top, and an American blue painted daybed, maple and pine, dating from the Nineteenth Century. H&L Antiques of Princeton, N.J., had an Eighteenth Century Rhode Island Chippendale five-drawer chest that measured 36 inches wide, 51½ inches high and 18½ inches deep, along with an early country desk with the original lock, scrubbed top and original finish that came from Maxville, N.C.
A pond boat dating from the early Twentieth Century, one mast with black hull and red keel, was shown on an outside wall of the booth of Marc Witus, Gladstone, N.J. Several small collections were in a display case, including a selection of flint oil lamps and a rack of Victorian cast iron cap bombs. Among the bombs were figures of George Washington, Admiral Dewey and dogs.
Furniture offered by White Horse Mill Antiques, Gap, Penn., included a two-piece pine and poplar school master’s desk with blind bookcase, Nineteenth Century, refinished surface, and an early Nineteenth Century Pennsylvania Sheraton softwood chest, four drawers, with oval stamped brass pulls. The Pennsylvania Farmer, Zionsville, Penn., displayed a colorful star quilt as a backdrop for a country bed in old red paint. The bed was used to show a selection of fabrics, mostly blue and white, as well as some quilt covered pillows.
Raccoon Creek Antiques had to travel less than five miles to do the show, and from a booth at the front of the gymnasium offered a selection of both case pieces and accessories. One shelf was filled with a selection of six oval wallpaper boxes of various sizes, and four teddy bears, ranging in size from 15 to 6 inches tall, were displayed in a paint decorated dry sink, circa 1860, of Maine origin. A hanging two-drawer comb case, decorated with four small heart-shaped mirrors around one large one and a pair of carved kissing birds on top, came from the collection of the late John Gordon, New York City. Centered on the back wall, in front of a pair of early barn louvers, was a large cow weathervane, gilded copper, circa 1870.
Fifty-six dealers did the show this year, 41 from Pennsylvania; traveling in from Decatur, Ill., was Halsey Munson with a collection of American furniture and folk art. A hutch table, originally from the Hudson River Valley, was of maple with stepped shoe feet, circa 1720‱740, with a 36-inch- diameter top. Standing on a shelf was an early whirligig, Nineteenth Century, a man with white pants, blue coat, brass buttons down the front and iron tack eyes. This figure measured 20¼ inches tall and was out of a New York collection. “To my knowledge there are only two other examples by the same maker,” Halsey said.
One of the early visitors to the show on Friday, a dealer with an interest in walking canes, was seen looking over one in the booth of W.F. Kinbrough Antiques of Powhatan, Va. It was carved, painted and inlaid, 36 inches long, circa 1900, with a standing horse on top, and from East Tennessee. Against the back wall of the booth was a wall cupboard, “ox blood” red painted surface, two doors, second quarter of the Nineteenth Century, from Virginia. It measured 72 inches high, 35½ inches wide and 18½ inches deep.
From nearby Boyertown, Penn., Greshville Antiques & Fine Art offered a number of large paintings, including “Quiet Reflections,” two women relaxing by the water’s edge, an oil on canvas by Christopher H. Shearer (1846‱926). This work measured 36 by 29 inches, signed lower right, and was dated 1881. Centered on the back wall was “Shipwrecked,” an oil on canvas by American artist William H. Weisman (1840‱922). It is signed lower left. Circa 1900, it measures 30 by 50 inches and is in the original gold leaf frame.
Greg Kramer of Robesonia, Penn., never seems to miss a show, and this time filled a large booth with cupboards, tables, benches and all manner of accessories. One of the painted pewter cupboards, two parts, had six-light doors in the upper section, over two drawers and two doors, circa 1820‱830, was from either York or Lancaster County. A wall shelf, with red and yellow sponge decoration, was filled with 22 pieces of redware including five flower pots, four miniature slip decorated plates, pitchers and fruit-shaped banks.
Bertolet House Antiques, one of the Oley dealers in the show, offered a hutch table of Pennsylvania origin, circa 1870, grain decorated base and three-board top, and a Pennsylvania jelly cupboard, circa 1850, in old red paint with two doors over two doors. Furniture filled the booth of Emele’s Antiques, Dublin, Penn., including a Dutch cupboard with two, nine-pane doors in the upper section. It dated circa 1825 and featured a double spoon rack and plate rails. The cupboard was filled to capacity with blue and white pottery, with eight tall pitchers across the top shelf; shorter ones and many plates filling the rest of the space.
Strong paint decoration covered a Dauphin County blanket chest in the booth of Robert M. Conrad Antiques, Yeagertown, Penn. It had the original tulip strap hinges, three drawers, and rested on turned feet. A small corner cupboard in the original red painted surface, circa 1840, was found in Huntington County, Penn. A star pattern quilt in green and cheddar stood out against the green papered walls in the booth of Charles Brehm Antiques, Thorndale, Penn. Among the accessories in the booth were a large redware trencher displayed on a hutch table, and a selection of straw baskets.
A large dough trough on legs, dating from the Nineteenth Century, served as the base for an early second tabletop that measured 82½ by 36 by 28½ inches in the booth of Jeff and Cathy Amon of Jamestown, Penn. A collection of small baskets hung on a clothing rack, and a miniature paint decorated blanket chest had a vibrant floral design on the top and front. It was of cut nail construction, pin striped, and measured 12¾ inches high, 18 inches wide and 10 inches deep.
Salt Box Antiques, Sugarloaf, Penn., showed a Nineteenth Century wall cupboard from Lancaster County, scraped to the original red surface, mortised and pegged construction, circa 1830‱840, that measured 37 inches wide, 68 inches high and 15½ inches deep. A Nineteenth Century 48-drawer apothecary in the original dry surface, walnut, came out of the Shanesville General Store in Oley Valley.
Another Oley dealer, Gene Bertolet, filled a glass display case with a row of nine candle molds, each with between three and 12 tubes, a selection of kitchen choppers and crimpers, and a row of six tin cookie cutters in the shape of horses. A large trade sign advertised “Shoes Fitted, $3.50.”
A large and colorful Log Cabin quilt from the Schwenkfelder area all but covered the back wall in the booth of Old Farm Antiques, Reading, Penn. A wrought iron rack held a matched set of five kitchen tools, strainer, forks and ladles, in addition to a selection of kitchen objects for the hearth.
Antiques in the Valley is a well-run show, with attention paid to the inviting entrance decorated with plants and shrubs from a local nursery, food and beverage service and a special exhibit boasting the history of the area. And traveling through the Oley Valley is half the fun, as the catalog notes, “This area is blessed with rolling wooded hills, fertile soil, limestone-bed streams, many horse and dairy farms, covered bridges, ancient mills and ironmasters’ homes.”
We suggest you make the trip in 2010. For information, www.oleyvalleyantiqueshow.com
