Antiques at Tiverton Four Corners was a laid back casual affair for the 40-plus dealers and visitors who gathered at Jackie Sideli’s show on July 7. The site, a small art gallery and museum, has one building, which was emptied for the day, along with several adjacent acres, which were filled with antique inventories from a group of dealers more often found in the upscale shows of the Northeast.
Mad River Antiques from North Granby, Conn., was set up under the overhanging porch roof. Proprietors Lorraine and Steve German were showing a portion of their stoneware collection, some quilts and furniture. Next to them, Kim Kassner from The Brewster (Mass.) Shop, was offering a selection of antique garden ornaments and early decorative accessories for the home.
Inside the gallery, Patricia Barger, Fairfield, Conn., had put together her fine hardwood furniture, while her husband Keith was making sure their tall case clocks were keeping good time. Nearby, Doug and Diane McElwain of Goldsboro, N.C., had their vintage sporting goods ready for an old-timers baseball game, or the restart of a golf match at St Andrews.
Casual; that was Sideli’s attitude for the show. Low stress for the dealers and the customers when the gates were opened for early buying at 7 am, and again at the regular opening two hours later. Customers found large collections of very fine antiques throughout the grounds.
Bobbie and Joe Fionda, Appleton Manor Antiques, came from New Ipswich, N.H., with some tramp art, early English porcelain and a small surrey. According to Bobbie, the surrey was made in Ireland about the turn of the Twentieth Century, and with the balmy weather during the show, she sold it to a local resident who planned to use it.
Steele and Steele are from Middletown, R.I., and they had to keep resetting their display. Their small antiques had been placed first on a table, then on some stands, then on chairs †all of which kept selling out from under the smalls.
Early lighting, especially whale oil lamps, were featured exhibits from Charles and Frances Szeglin of Orleans, Mass. Holly Lane Antiques, Little Compton, R.I., brought a large assortment of its collection of fine porcelain and china for this one-day affair.
Sideli repeats the show again at the same Tiverton Four Corners location on August 25. Hours will be the same, 9 am to 4 pm, with early buyers admitted at 7 am. For information, 508-324-4900 or sidelishows@aol.com.
