Jenkins Management orchestrated and conducted good music in Nashville for its Antiques at Music Valley Show, Valentine’s weekend, February 10‱3. With more than 130 exhibitors in room settings at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds for this three-day event, customers flocked to Nashville for the nationally recognized antiques show.
Frequently described as one of the stops on the unofficial national tour of antiques show, Antiques at Music Valley was a big hit with attendance in the thousands. The shoppers came to see the show, they came to furnish homes and offices, and they came to add to collections.
Exhibiting Texas dealer Jean Compton said, “Collector sales were strong! It was good to see [customers] come in looking to add something special to their collections.” She was especially pleased to sell a pair of Nineteenth Century quilts and a statue, which she had advertised.
Sniktaw Antiques of Gurnee, Ill., was showing cases filled with small antiques, which it finds to be rewarding offerings. Jerry Watkins, co-owner with his wife Luan said, “We were pleased to see a return of the national buyers to the show. They came and were buying our smalls, which made it a good show for us.” He was quick to qualify their sales as “good in bad economic times.”
Debbie Schlichter of Mustard House Antiques, Greenfield, Ohio, echoed the same chorus, saying, “Mostly smalls were selling, but they sold pretty well for us.” Together with her husband John, they were offering a full room setting, but it was smalls that made their show a success.
Three copies of a hand bill, framed, were offered by Tom and Paula van Deest of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They said “Vote Straight Republican” and were sold out in the first few minutes of the show at under $100 each. They were not the only reason for the van Deests’ good sales total, as more of their folk art sold equally well.
Worden Select Objects, advertising as recyclers from Burr Oak, Mich., was selling from all categories of what the dealer called “objects of special interest.” Lynn Worden said she collects and trades in objects that may have a new usefulness from their original purpose, the ultimate in “green,” and that their sales were sufficient to stay ahead.
Sales came quick and fast for Sandy Hart, Hart’s Country Antiques of New Oxford, Penn. As the show opened, she was rapidly placing a sold tag on her center piece, an early rope strung couch. Often offered at shows and shops are the Coats & Clarke thread cabinets that were used in stores in the Nineteenth Century. Hart’s had one filled with spools of thread in many colors for sale.
Traveling from New Brunswick, Canada, Cathy Consentino of Timber River Farm had sales from her early country inventory. Offering many handcrafted Eighteenth Century antiques from New England and Canada, Consentino had a charming small church bench, an eagle †full-bodied in copper, which was probably for the top of a flag pole †and a selection of textiles and baskets along with more early furniture.
Collecting in Maine and Indiana, Tom and Rose Reynolds Cheap, owners of Period Antiques from Scottsburg, Ind., have an extensive inventory in small antiques. According to Tom, “We are trying to get smaller so we can travel to shows with only the big van, no trailer, and for now it seems to be working.” Their sales included an early iron chandelier, a wonderful double-faced game board, some firkins and pantry boxes and a selection of fine early hooked mats and rugs.
Limington, Maine, collector, dealer and picker Bill Kelly said he had “a good show, selling a corner cupboard, but I have to deliver it!” His cat went along for the ride. Bette Wolf of Flint, Mich., said she and her husband, retired doctor Melvyn Wolf, had a great show with good sales of their pewter collection. They offer pewter as their exclusive inventory.
Nancy and Craig Cheney trade in decorative arts. The Newark, Ohio, dealers offered a large collection at Music Valley, which might even be considered folk art with a 4-foot-tall statue of Mickey Mouse, a life-size Uncle Sam cutout (life-size in height perhaps, but at a single board thick, he was awfully thin) and several quilts and textiles. The quilts were wall hangings; the first one sold early in the show, so it was replaced with another, which also found a new home.
Georgia Morel, New Roads, La., was showing a large collection of garden antiques. Her sales at this show last fall were outstanding, so she and her husband Buddy were repeating the motif for the February event. Included were a set of Art Deco-style halogen lights, garden statues and primitive furniture.
Marie Miller, Dorset, Vt., was offering fine early American quilts and furniture. Gooseberry, Ltd, Tulsa, Okla., specialized in treenware for the show with more than 150 pieces offered. Jacksonville, Fla., dealer Sharon Pesek was showing her collection of early patriotic folk art, and Liberty Tree Antiques, Camden, Maine, which trades in early painted household items, had a stack of early painted chests front and center in its exhibit.
Early painted furniture is the favorite genre for Carol and George Meekins, the proprietors of Country Treasures, Preston, Md. Their display was filled with tall cupboards, tables, chairs, chests and even small painted items such as firkins and pantry boxes. Sales were so sufficient that before the show was over they were shopping themselves for more pieces to add to their inventory.
The Puchsteins’ American Heritage Antiques advertised a log cabin along with showing many smaller antiques for the long weekend show. Sales included a few quilts, a blue water pump, a bittersweet pantry box and many smalls. Kay Puchstein said she was also shopping in great quantity during the show.
Mad Anthony Books, the Ohio dealer of books on antiques and décor topics, was sponsoring a book signing where author Donna Dorian was discussing and signing her book, At Home in Tennessee: Classic Historic Interiors.
Jon Jenkins, show manager, was very pleased with the results for the show, noting, “We had great dealers, great crowds and good spending for the antiques. I tried to talk to all the dealers Saturday as the show was ending, and the nearly universal comment seemed to be ‘We did better than we expected.’ That was very rewarding.”
Jenkins confirmed that although the Tennessee Fairgrounds will be closing soon, the city has given the management firm a contract for the October 28″0 show. For information, 317-598-0012 or www.jenkinsshows.com .
