“It was magical, the weather was perfect, the dealers set up great looking booths with interesting material, Martha Stewart was the perfect honorary chair, and the Botanical Gardens turned out a crowd for a well-attended preview,” Jim Glazer, one of the exhibitors said a few days after the show closed. He almost put us in a “need we say more” position, but yes, there is lots more to say.
This first-year event, which is certain to become an annual outing, was the first joint effort for the Maine Antiques Dealers Association. “We joined forces with the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and it was a perfect match,” DebraElizabeth Schaffer, show chairman, said. The gardens, using its membership list, combined with the mailing lists of both MADA and the exhibitors, resulted in an attendance of 650 people at the preview on Wednesday evening, July 16. The high priced ticket, at $100 per person, allowed entrance to the preview at 5 pm, while the general admission price of $45 opened the gate at 6 pm. The preview was to close at 8 pm, but was extended a bit to allow for some last minute sales. The show was open only one day and the Thursday gate numbered around 600 visitors.
“Martha Stewart was asked last winter to be the honorary chair for the show, and she graciously accepted,” Nancy Glazer said. She came to the show about an hour before it opened, talked with the dealers, and gave an interview to a local TV station. “She was great,” Nancy said, “and spent part of the time signing autographs when we all know she would have rather been looking at the show.”
A few days after the show closed, Martha Stewart told Antiques and The Arts Weekly that “as the garden grows, and it will, more and more people will visit the new botanical collections on the coast of Maine to learn and observe and enjoy. Pairing antiques with the garden is an added pleasure and one, as the garden grows and the show gains acceptance and collectors and attention, that will attract exactly the kinds of patrons that will support both endeavors.
“Let’s hope for more rain prior to the show in future years to keep the dust to a minimum,” she added.
Six tents, the largest with room for 12 exhibitors and the smallest housing six dealers, were set up in a clearing that was surrounded by towering pines. For the preview, local eateries arranged tables offering fresh oysters that were consumed as fast as they were shucked, lobster Newburg was ladled by the cupful, duck pâté was available with an assortment of fresh breads, fresh vegetables were piled high, wheels of cheese were softened by the weather, and a bowl of large fresh shrimp drew a crowd. Other treats were available, including a special Maine vodka, but it is time to address the real reason for attending †the antiques.
“We have brought together 45 dealer/members of the Maine Antiques Dealers Association to offer a wide variety of antiques that will hopefully fill many collecting interests,” Beverley Reynolds, president of MADA said. And that they did.
Thomas R. Longacre Antiques of Marlborough, N.H., offered a very graphic and colorful fruit stand awning that read “Fresh Fruits” in bold lettering, and of Maine origin was a large carved and painted herring seagull, circa 1930. A nautical trade sign read “Ship Supplies,” applied gold letters on a black ground, and a homemade folk art Chris Craft yacht with nice detail and surface, New England origin, dated circa 1928.
“Don’t Pick The Flowers or Ferns” per order of the Selectmen of Bethlehem read a sign in the booth of Thomas Thompson of Pembroke, N.H. A long table at the front of the booth sold opening night, and a pair of half-round windows hung against the back wall. “I sold six or eight items at the preview, so I am off to a good start,” Thompson said as the preview ended.
Later blue paint over Windsor green was on a Philadelphia sack back Windsor armchair, circa 1765‱780, in the booth of Hanes and Ruskin of Old Lyme, Conn. From the Nutmeg state was a diminutive Federal sideboard, Connecticut River Valley, circa 1815, in cherrywood with ivory and ebony escutcheons.
“It was a strong night for us,” said Don Heller of Heller-Washam, Woodbury, Conn., and Portland, Maine. He sold a large cast iron fountain, a glazed terra cotta Liberty head, circa 1900, that was an architectural mount from a Midwest building, and a piece of furniture before the preview closed. A Chippendale mahogany wing chair, New Hampshire or Maine, circa 1775, with cyma scrolled crestrail, molded legs, H-stretcher and raked and chamfered rear legs was in the corner of the booth, and a copper horse and rider weathervane with zinc head, 38 inches long, was shown over a two-drawer blanket chest in cherrywood, Connecticut River Valley, circa 1740, with an old dry red surface. It measured 51½ inches high, 36½ inches wide and 19¼ inches deep.
A Nineteenth Century oil on canvas believed to show the Penobscot River near the village of Medway was in the original frame and hung over a pair of Victorian button back side chairs, circa 1870. Patricia Anne Reed Fine Antiques of Damariscotta, Maine, showed a painted tin washstand from a Pittsburgh, Penn., playhouse, circa 1910, and a wonderful toy house with lithographed siding by the W.S. Reed Toy Company of Termunster, Mass. It dated circa 1902 and had a tower with two arched windows and a small porch.
Nautical collectors gathered in the booth of Port ‘N Starboard, Falmouth, Maine, where the walls were hung with ship portraits and several carved wooden eagles holding flags in their talons. A large oil on canvas, 34 by 48 inches, hung in center of the back wall and showed the New Jersey pilot boat Thomas S. Negus, built in 1873 in Brooklyn, N.Y., with a home port of Sandy Hook. It was by the American artist Conred Freitag.
“I am staying out of the booth and not getting in Cheryl’s way since she is doing an excellent job selling things,” Paul Scott of Hillsborough, N.H., said while wrapping in bubble plastic a carved wood panel depicting a nautical scene. An unusual piece was a blacksmith’s tool bench from Blue Hill, Maine, shown at the front of the booth alongside a shoe-foot hutch table with an old surface. “It has a good look and is not really very old, circa 1950, and is inexpensive,” Paul said. They also showed a large hooked rug with a black standing dog in the center with red squares in each corner, American, circa 1920, and a gilded rooster weathervane, Cushing and White, circa 1895.
Teachers’ Antiques of Harpswell, Maine, showed a rare swinging cradle on wheels, red painted with decoration, manufactured by the Ford Johnsond Co., in Michigan City, Ind. Other childhood items in the booth included a small rocking horse in the original paint, a child’s Windsor and a large wooden red wagon.
James and Nancy Glazer of Bailey’s Island, Maine, offered a folk art glass curio cabinet in the original paint with a carved wooden bird on top. It measured 13 inches wide, 11 inches deep, and 28 inches high. A scalloped marble top table with elaborate cast iron base, circa 1890, was 31 inches high, 39½ inches long and 22¼ inches wide, and at the back of the booth was a root bench, 45 inches wide, American, circa 1910‱920, in red over the original gray paint. Of great local interest was a shell lighthouse model of Whale’s Back Light made by lighthouse keeper Reuben Leavitt that measured 24½ inches tall. Leavitt was the keeper from 1853 to 1859, and the piece was sold on preview night.
The Barometer Shop of Cushing, Maine, offered a wide variety of instruments, including a rare American stick barometer in walnut by F.C.D. McKay, Warsaw, N.Y., circa 1850. Another of the American stick barometers was by Charles Wilder of Peterborough, N.H., circa 1850.
From nearby Wiscasset, Sideli Art & Antiques presented a neatly arranged booth filled with folk art and crisp painted objects. including a wooden snake from Maine, circa 1925, and a circa 1875 wooden boot trade sign. A ten-foot-long harvest table, circa 1920, green painted, was attracting interest at the front of the booth, and a Bath-Sun Fire Insurance Co., sign hung on the back wall.
A large wrought iron canopy bed took up a good bit of space in the booth of DebraElizabeth Schaffer Antiques of Wiscasset. And for those looking for a vintage Lucite bracelet, a large glass vase was filled to the top with them in different patterns and colors. A collection of old rubber balls of various sizes filled a wooden compote, and a wood overmantel, circa 1860‱880, was painted with a still life with fruit, including a large watermelon with knife in the center.
The Adirondacks was reflected in the booth of Cherry Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine, and furniture included a bent twig rocking chair, circa 1910, and a well preserved glider with cane seat and back. A pair of cast iron andirons was in the form of large anchors, and a decorative pair of cast iron finials on plinths dated 1880.
Nancy Prince and James Lefurgy, also of Wiscasset, showed a circa 1820 New England tavern table and a Star Class pond boat. Of interest was a pair of cast iron stools from a tack shop with white painted horses forming the back rest.
A large hooked rug with “Welcome” across the top greeted visitors to the booth of Jewett-Berdan of Newcastle, Maine. The center of this half-round rug depicted a large whimsical ship. A sailboat weathervane with directionals, circa 1920, green patina, was shown in the corner of the booth, and Butch Berdan said, “It sold right away and we could have sold it six more times before the preview ended.” Furniture included a New England Sheraton card table in maple and birch, circa 1835, with red wash surface.
“We like to have things that are from the area,” Stephen Corrigan of Stephen-Douglas Antiques, Rockingham, Vt., said while pointing out a nice painted and decorated washstand of Maine origin with an unusual step and drawer in the lower section. From New England was a nautical scene with a three-masted schooner, carved into a piece of wood, framed and painted. From far beyond the local scene was a pair of Eighteenth Century Queen Anne French side chairs with green painted and decorated surface.
A seven-foot-long country store table with turned legs and scrubbed top with round corners was shown in the booth of Nan Gurley and Peter Mavris of Parsonsfield, Maine. Around the table was a set of four rod back Windsor side chairs in old red, excellent condition, and a paint decorated Sheraton bed was from Paris, Maine.
“They came off an estate in New Jersey,” Bob Withington said of the two carved limestone benches that lined the entrance to tent D. The legs and arms were carved as logs and the surface retained a look acquired from many years of exposure to the weather. An early patio set in colorful fabrics included three armchairs, sofa and side table in stick wicker. At the front of the booth stood a large cement flower pot or urn capable of holding a very large plant arrangement.
Some formal furniture was shown by Ed Weissman of Portsmouth, N.H., including a Sheraton tambour door secretary-desk in mahogany and of Massachusetts origin. It dated circa 1805‱815 and was 77 inches high on reeded legs and 40 inches wide. A Hepplewhite inlaid card table in mahogany, possibly from Charleston, S.C., dated circa 1790‱800. The interior retained its green felt/baise playing surface.
A pond boat measuring about 5 feet tall, blue painted hull, was shown by Michael and Sally Whittemore of Washington, Ill., and furniture included five zinc-covered tables in various shapes and sizes. Shell-covered boxes, numbering about two dozen, filled hanging shelves at both sides of the booth.
Carvings and weathervanes dominated the booth of Dennis Raleigh Antiques & Folk Art, Wiscasset. Vanes included a horse-drawn fire wagon with two riders, a running horse, a cow, an arrow and an eagle. A black duck decoy was the work of Francois “Frank” Dupuis of Ormstown, Quebec, circa 1920.
“This is the largest and oldest swing I have ever seen,” Collette Donovan of Merrimacport, Mass., said of her Windsor swing with turned spindles, extra wide pine seat, dating from the Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century. She also pointed out the largest storage baskets she has ever had, measuring 20 by 43 by 15 inches, excellent condition with no breaks, and dating from the mid-Nineteenth Century. Early fabrics were folded on several stands, and two early tin lanterns hung from iron hooks.
A set of four steel “Sunburst” chairs, white painted, two arms and two side chairs, circa 1880‱930, was centered in the booth of Costa & Currier Antiques & Art of Portsmouth, R.I. A cast iron hitching post with fancy turning was topped off with a large ball, and a Victorian planter in oak with copper liner, eight carved legs, measured 7 feet 11 inches long. “Martha Stewart showed some interest in the planter as she came through the show, but we still have it,” Dick Costa said.
Few booths are packed as tight as the one John Magoun of South Paris, Maine, puts together. Fortunately, he was in an end booth, so he was able to spill outside where he showed an Old Town canoe, 1929, that had been restored and not seen water for eight years. “It came out of Fairhaven, was in perfect condition when we got it, and we sold it during the preview,” John said. The canoe was the perfect backdrop for a rack of paddles and a couple of early pack baskets.
“I made up my mind that I would not buy another rocking horse, as they are too hard to transport and display,” Pat Stauble of Wiscasset said. She added, “When I saw that one, I had to have it,” pointing out a large white painted and decorated horse on decorated rockers with a seaport scene on the platform.
“We were about a year in the planning stages for this show,” DebraElizabeth Schaffer said, “bringing the ideas of our committee to the Garden people and making it all work together.” She praised the extra effort the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens put into the event and indicated that plans for next year have already begun.
This year, the six tents were set up on Saturday, power was brought in, and the dealers arrived Tuesday, giving plenty of time for the Wednesday afternoon opening. Since the tents took up much of the gardens’ parking space, visitors to the show had to park at the high school and were bused to the antiques show.
“Next year we are moving the show to a different area within the Botanical Gardens and parking will be on site, making it easier for everyone,” DebraElizabeth said. She said that it appears at this time that all of the dealers want to return and “we are not going to increase the size of the show. Forty-four exhibitors seems to be the right number for the facility, and there it will stay.”
The show is a real treat, well worth attending, and there is an extra treat not to be missed. Admission to the show also includes a self-guided tour of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, now in its second year, but giving the appearance of being a seasoned spot for enjoying plants, trees and flowers that thrive in Maine. A double-header well worth the trip from anywhere.
