Regardless of the state of the economy, one thing is certain when it comes to the Tolland Antiques Show: people turn out for this one-day event in the upper region of Connecticut, and usually come away with an antique or two.
“Our gate appeared to be off a bit at the 8:30 am early admission, but it was strong a half-hour later and right up until 10 am,” said Kathy Bach, manager of the Sunday, February 1, show. Regular admission continued steady until midafternoon †it closes at 4 pm †ending with a gate that compared to the crowds of a year before. There is a one-day setup for this show; 65 dealers take part, and there is a waiting list of dealers wanting to join.
“Because we are in the middle school, we cannot get in until Saturday and Stacy begins setting up the walls at 7 am that day,” Kathy said. This year one of the Stacy trucks broke down, arrived late at the school, and dealers wandering around the parking lot feared a delay past the 2 pm announced load-in time. The Stacy crew had the walls up and papered on time, however, and, with the help of porters, the show moved on schedule.
Dealers were allowed to 8 pm to finish, with a soup and sandwich break midafternoon, compliments of the show committee. Around 7:30 pm, most of the dealers were done, gone home or to a motel for the night, leaving only a handful of exhibitors still pounding nails into the walls and moving furniture about. (Some dealers take lots of time to set up, have that reputation, but are used to it. Those at Tolland included J.W.; L.S.; M & L.S.; and S. & L.G. †Get the hint.)
Due to a date change for the show this year, it conflicted with the show in York, Penn., and a couple of the Tolland dealers elected to do both shows. Stephen-Douglas of Rockingham, Vt., was represented in both locations, offering in Tolland a shoe foot bench dating from the Eighteenth Century with red painted base and scrubbed top. It was probably of New York State origin. A lion stuffed with straw, circa 1890, had glass eyes and a wild hairdo, as did a smaller version. Sold as a pair, the lions were the first things to leave the booth.
A pair of circa 1780 Delaware Valley ladder back side chairs was offered from the booth of Dennis, Mass., dealer Davidian Americana, along with a table filled with smalls, including a 24-inch fabric doll in red dress with white blouse, circa 1900.
Howard Graff of Colt Barn Antiques, Townshend, Vt., was at his usual spot right inside the entrance to the gym area, offering a large drop leaf table with square tapering legs and red painted surface. “One of the nicest tables I have had in a long time, but it didn’t sell,” Howard commented. A tray table with a large blue and white ceramic tray sold early in the show, as did a number of smalls. An interesting and colorful burlap sack, in frame, that once held a good supply of Martin’s Happy Hour Pop Corn, a firm located in Pain Court, Ontario, hung on the side wall.
A carved wooden eagle, with shield and blue ribbon with the inscription “Live and Let Live,” hung in the booth of Penny and Ron Dionne of Willington, Conn. Yellow objects filled the center of the booth, including an arrow weathervane in old surface and a washstand with green painted decoration. A trade sign boasted “Boot & Shoe Repairing Neatly Done.”
A cast iron hay rack, designed to fit in the corner of a barn, was offered by Jack Phelps of Salisbury, Conn., along with a blue painted blanket chest on cutout feet and two pairs of old shutters. Philip Liverant Antiques of Colchester, Conn., had an unusual set of 12 tin snipe shore bird decoys, Strater & Sohier, Boston. The set dated from the late Nineteenth Century and was in perfect paint, almost as if they had never been used and shot at. Each was mounted on the original wooden stake.
Animals and flowers seemed to dominate the paintings offered by Ann and Jim Williams, Collinsville, Conn. Several oil on canvas paintings of horses hung in the booth, pansies were represented in two long works of art, and an amusing American School oil on canvas depicted 11 perky dogs in the company of one cat. It came from the Victorian period.
A well-worn red and blue painted surface covered an early carousel horse that once carried children at a Cape Cod, Mass., fairgrounds and was offered from the booth of Plummer & Philbrick, North Berwick, Maine. The figure was ex-Barbara Doherty collection. Rustic Accents of Nashua, N.H., hung a large, colorful hooked rug with cornucopia overflowing with flowers on the back wall, and a papier mache hen, posed in the process of laying eggs, rested comfortably on a table. It was of large size, probably a country store display, and dated from the early Twentieth Century.
“It is one of the busiest shows we do, people come to buy, the committee does all it can for the dealers and it is really a solid, little show for us,” Lucinda Seward of Pittsford, Vt., said. “We did not sell any furniture, but Michael and I had a good number of sales and we were happy,” she added. Among the smalls leaving the booth were two tape looms, a 12-hole candle mold, a Mexican silver bracelet, a large chopping bowl and a cutting board, a painted tin tray, a few sewing-related items and a watercolor portrait of a gentleman.
Several pieces of country furniture were offered from the booth of Paul and Karen Wendhiser of Ellington, Conn., including a nice circa 1730 gate leg table in pine and maple, scrubbed top surface, and a step back cupboard, American, dating late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century, and measuring 72½ inches high, 32½ inches wide and 16¼ inches deep.
An eagle weathervane, Nineteenth Century and with old surface, was at the front of the booth of Hanauer & Seidman, Colchester, Conn., near a set of shelves displaying a selection of decorated stoneware crocks. An armchair from eastern Connecticut dated from the Eighteenth Century.
“Hooked rugs are not selling real well anymore,” Barbara Ardizone of Salisbury, Conn., said, but she took a chance that would change, offering several examples, including one with a black Scottie in the middle, and another with a large basket of flowers.
“There was a real buzz at the show from opening until about 2 pm, and then people were still coming in, but in slower numbers,” John Gould of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., said. He added, “People came to spend money on nice things, but at the right price. We can’t ask today the same prices we did a couple of years ago.” He noted that he did well, selling mostly from his large collection of antique frames.
The lights sparkled off the large selection of copper and brass items shown in the booth of Ken Vincent of Farmington, Conn. Candlesticks, both singles and pairs, filled one end of a table, copper molds hung from the walls, and lanterns of all sizes filled one shelf. A glass case held a collection of corkscrews and other bar-related objects. Union, Conn., dealer Sue Wirth had a nice country drop leaf table in old red, one drawer, and a storage cupboard was in early white paint, one door with floating shelves.
Dealer Ron Chambers of Higganum, Conn., had his usual rack of pewter, including two coffee pots, one by R. Durham, Westbrook, Maine, circa 1840, the other by Sellew, Cincinnati, circa 1848. His furniture included a double tombstone crest side chair, brown surface, circa 1760, of Connecticut origin. “I did not sell any furniture, all my sales were pewter,” Ron said, listing a 14½-inch-diameter dish by Grisham Jones, who worked in Connecticut and later moved to Rhode Island; an Ashbil Griswold beaker, Connecticut, to a person who collected pewter by this maker; and a matching pair of Danforth plates, eastern Connecticut. “Those sales, plus a couple of others, made me come out OK, but it was not like other years in Tolland,” he added.
Stuart Magdefrau of Ellington, Conn., had a large collection of Rockingham pottery with forms including a cow, spaniel, pitchers, handled mugs and books. A pair of country ladder back side chairs, Nineteenth Century, had splint seats, and a horse weathervane showed good patina.
Jan and John Maggs, Conway, Mass., brought a Queen Anne breakfast table in mahogany, New England, circa 1780, and a four-drawer Chippendale chest in birch, bracket base, New Hampshire origin and dating circa 1790, among several other pieces of furniture. “The show was disappointing for us, not up to the past, but that seems to be the norm today,” John said. No furniture sold, but the Maggs did sell a pair of small paintings, a pair of brass candlesticks, a small jug and other accessories. “We had lots of good conversation with people, the gate was a strong as ever, but people were slow to buy,” he added
Thomas Longacre, Marlborough, N.H., had a pair of paint decorated Hessian soldier cast iron andirons, a colorful bird tree, a barber pole that was wall mounted and a nice pair of Windsor bow back side chairs, splayed legs, with the original white painted surface. From East Dennis, Mass., Priscilla Hutchinson brought a step back cupboard with canted back, pine, circa 1820, of small size; a set of painted drawers with decorated drawer fronts; country store items dating circa 1850 and from either Vermont or New York; and a nice pair of juggling clubs, 19½ inches tall, American, with a patriotic decoration in red, white and blue.
Four pairs of New England, early Nineteenth Century, mittens were mounted on a board in the booth of Sharon Platt, Portsmouth, N.H. Also shown were two very early child’s armchairs, one with a rush seat, the other with a splint seat. A pair of yellow Windsor side chairs, with crisp rose decoration on the back splat, flanked a small table in the booth of Joseph Martin of Brownington, Vt. His weathervane offerings included a rooster and a horse, both with good surface, and a tall 5-gallon churn, New York Stoneware Co., Fort Edward, N.Y., had dark blue cobalt decoration of a large bird on a branch.
Of special interest in the booth of Mad River Antiques, LLC, North Granby, Conn., was an early dollhouse that came from a house in the Syracuse area. Dealer Steve German pointed out several features of the house, including the intricate construction of the roof and the collection of original furniture. “There is a picture of a young girl hanging in the living room and we assume it to be the child who owned this dollhouse. The picture is dated 1884 on the back,” Steve said. A recumbent dog was centered on an early hooked rug hanging on the back wall of the booth, and a red and black paint decorated storage cupboard, one drawer, was among the furniture offered.
Jane Wargo of Wallingford, Conn., hung an early hooked rug with facing horse heads, a very small Nineteenth Century spice box was in the original green painted surface, and a hanging two-door cupboard with red wash dated from the mid-Nineteenth Century. “We have been doing the show for a good number of years and we were very pleased, as usual. A real plus is that this show always draws a strong gate,” Jane said. Her sales included four wallpapered boxes, a long handled Nineteenth Century peel, a number of smalls, and a basket that sold after the show.
“It was nice to see so many people come out, and some buying taking place,” Kathy Bach said. She added that a good number of people came out with packages, had their hand stamped for reentry, put things in their cars and came back for more. “That is just what we love to see,” Kathy said.
