Vice President Joe Biden did not win any points with some antiques lovers on Sunday, September 2, when he visited a high school in York right near the York Fairgrounds, venue for the 159th Semi-Annual York Antiques Show & Sale. “The place was creeping with Secret Service people, some of the roads leading to the fairgrounds were closed, and there were delays for people trying to get to the antiques show,” Melvin “Butch” Arion, manager said. “While it did slow down attendance on Sunday, both Friday and Saturday were good, and many of the exhibitors had good shows, selling furniture and clocks as well as smalls,” Butch said. “Overall, I was pleased and it went very well.”
The show spilled out into the lobby, where several dealers were set up, and the main exhibition area was filled to capacity, with a total of 96 exhibitors taking part in the show. Management sees to it that there is always a nice mix of furniture styles, with both brown and painted, as well as lots of pottery, paintings, glass, folk art, cast iron doorstops, fabrics and countless interesting smalls. And both Halloween and Christmas are well represented with plenty of decorations.
Douglas R. Wyant, Cassopolis, Mich., brought color into his booth with a brightly painted Parcheesi board and a Chinese checkers game board with several colors on a yellow ground. A still life of fruit included grapes, bananas, apples, peaches and a pear.
Axtell Antiques of Deposit, N.Y., offered a very rare ash burl table on pedestal base, pictured in Steven Powers’ book on burl, and a nice three-tier bucket bench in red painted surface. A portrait on a single wood panel, circa 1840, from Troy, N.Y., was untouched and “just as it came out of the house,” Richard “Smitty” Axtell said.
To the left, just inside the main entrance to the exhibition area, was the large booth of Greg Kramer & Co., Robesonia, Penn., with a stenciled and paint decorated miniature blanket chest, green ground with red and black stipple, dating from the mid-Nineteenth Century. A Sheraton tall case clock, Lancaster, Penn., origin, had the original red painted surface, and a Dutch cupboard in salmon sunburst design, blue interior with green doors, was from Berks County, Penn.
An interesting parlor table with an adjustable cast iron ornate frame holding a two-sided original painted game board, checkers and backgammon, mounted on a cast iron three-leg stand, was in the booth of American Sampler, Barnesville, Md. “Note the patent date of May 27, 1873, across the bottom of the checkerboard,” John Smith said. John also pointed out a mallard duck lawn sprinkler by Bradley & Hubbard, signed B&H, measuring 13 inches tall. “This is a rare one, as only three are known,” John said. On the other side of the booth was another wood duck lawn sprinkler, signed “NUYDEA,” in the original paint and measuring 13 inches tall.
From just down the road in New Holland, Penn., School House Farm Antiques showed a collection of redware, including some slip decorated plates and miniature jugs, as well as a selection of jugs measuring from 1½ to 7 inches tall, and both crocks and jugs in stoneware with blue decoration. Four baskets held a selection of Christmas ornaments, including grape clusters in several sizes and colors, including green, gold, silver and blue.
“That is really a rare and beautiful one,” Harry Hartman of Marietta, Penn., said of the horse, rider and sulky weathervane that was displayed in the center of a large table at the front of his booth. The vane had a wonderful weathered gilded surface and was without repairs. In addition, Harry and Oliver Overlander II offered a child’s settee in green with striping decoration, a grain painted corner cupboard that was filled with examples of spatter, and a child’s toy tin train consisting of a locomotive, coal car and two passenger cars, all retaining the original painted surface.
A large American wood and canvasback swan decoy, signed G.C. Well, circa 1920, was at the front of the booth of Tom Brown, McMurray, Penn., and a large pair of American zinc finials from Rhode Island, dating from the early Nineteenth Century, was at the back of the booth. A circa 1760 New Hampshire highboy in figured maple, 6 feet 2 inches high and 37½ inches wide, retained the original brasses.
A carved walnut eagle plaque, Pennsylvania, circa 1880‱890, in the original condition and surface, was on the wall in the booth of James Kilvington, Greenville, Del., along with a fine Philadelphia Queen Anne balloon seat side chair with three carved shells and extended horizontal arch in the crest rail. It dates circa 1735‱745, descended in the Morris family of Philadelphia, and is one of only six known.
Tommy Thompson, Pembroke, N.H., had a wire vegetable holder that came right out of a country store, but this time it was filled with a selection of stone fruit and vegetables, not the eatables. A memo board hung on the back wall, painted in old green with a glass door, and a tin pantry board came complete with a tin roiling pin. Don and Peg Clegg of East Berlin, Penn., brought a Shaker worktable in birch, maple and pine, New York State origin, dating circa 1830. It had a one-board top with breadboard ends that measured 41½ by 20½ inches.
James Wm. Lowery, Baldwinsville, N.Y., was in his usual large space at the end of the show, and offered a selection of furniture that included a Chippendale tall chest, Rhode Island, circa 1770‱780, with tray top, center drawer fan and tall straight bracket feet. A Chippendale four-drawer chest of Massachusetts origin, circa 1770‱790, in mahogany with bow front, measured 33 inches high, 41 inches wide, 24 inches deep, and rested on tall shaped bracket feet. Uncle Sam was there in the form of a Twentieth Century whirligig, and a graduated stack of Indian covered storage baskets were of painted splint.
“We did okay,” Jim Lowery said, listing baskets, some folk art, textiles and two pieces of furniture †a tavern table and a blanket chest †sold. He noted that Saturday was slow, which is generally not the case, and that Sunday was better this time.
Thomas Longacre of Marlborough, N.H., offered a demilune table with red painted surface, beaded apron and chamfered legs, and a political shield of painted pine, red, white and blue, measuring 13 inches tall. A hooked rug depicted a real country scene with winding roads, a barn, fields, large maple trees and a crooked fence.
Cheryl Scott Antiques, Hillsborough, N.H., showed a good-sized fish weathervane with old gilt surface, and a child’s rocking horse with a yellow with red stripping painted seat and a brown horse head leading the way.
Michael Whittemore Antiques & Folk Art, Punta Gorda, Fla., had a wooden full-dimensional horse, about 36 inches tall, cream color with red patches, that came from a livery shop in Virginia, and a sheet metal Indian weathervane, about 5 feet tall, painted with a blue jacket and red pants. A nice garden bench, with weathered wood slats, had cast iron pelicans holding it together.
A chest of eight drawers, circa 1675, Dutch, with a label reading “rare form, possibly unique,” was shown by Fiske & Freeman of Ipswich, Mass. Among the pieces of English furniture in the booth was a trestle-based gate leg table in elm, circa 1690, and an Eighteenth Century bench with figured single-board top, three bootjack legs, with the base in old paint.
A large harvest table, 6 feet long and with a 56-by-73-inch top with open leaves, in cherry and dating circa 1820, was shown at the front of the booth of Jim and Victoria Emele of Dublin, Penn. A mahogany oxbow chest of four drawers was of Connecticut origin, circa 1790, and retained the original eagle brasses.
A 12-tin pie safe in teal blue and green paint, circa 1870, was shown by Bertolet House Antiques, Oley, Penn. A green painted apple basket, circa 1900, with iron and wood swing handle, was displayed on a red painted two-leaf drop leaf table with single-board top and turned legs. From Lebanon, Penn., David H. Horst showed a paint decorated blind door cupboard with two doors in the top section and two short drawers over two raised panel doors in the lower portion. A tilt bench table had a round, three-board top in birch.
The Herrs traveled just up the road from Lancaster to do the show, bringing with them a load of coverlets and a number of quilts, including a block on point example in cotton, 1875, 78 by 76 inches, from Southeastern Pennsylvania and in excellent condition. On the wall was a bookplate made for Johannes Steiner by Samuel Bentz (1792‱850), the Mount Pleasant artist, Lancaster County, dating from the early Nineteenth Century.
Hanes & Ruskin of Old Lyme, Conn., offered a paint decorated Federal chest, circa 1810, with original surface, serpentine skirt, flaring French feet, of New England origin, probably Vermont. A tiger maple Pembroke table, circa 1780‱805, had the original cross stretchers, hinges, drawer and brass handle. It was from New York State, or possibly Massachusetts.
A brace back, continuous arm Windsor chair in old yellow paint was branded “E. Tracy,” circa 1880, and offered from the booth of The Hanebergs Antiques, East Lyme, Conn. A Philadelphia sewing stand in highly figured mahogany, with astragal ends, original brasses, circa 1810, from the Haines Connelly School, was also available.
Rhinebeck, N.Y., dealers Dennis and Valerie Bakoledis had a Nineteenth Century screened pie safe, the top crowded with a selection of carved and painted wood decoys, and a Nineteenth Century folk painted lap desk with a pine tree scene on the lid. A Connecticut banister back armchair dated from the late Eighteenth Century.
A nice set of six rod back Windsor side chairs, circa 1800‱805, Boston area, was shown by Kocian DePasqua of Woodbury, Conn. A Queen Anne slant front desk in curly maple was from Rhode Island, circa 1730, with a mellow patina.
A polychromed wooden working model of the paddle wheeler Oriole was docked in the booth of The Norwoods’ Spirit of America, Timonium, Md., and a large basket was filled to capacity with a selection of velvet fruit and vegetables, including large strawberries and two long carrots. Nineteen paper-covered boxes of various shapes and sizes were stacked neatly into a three-shelf hanging shelf in old red paint.
Furniture filled the booth of Christopher H. Jones of Alexandria, Va., including a classic sideboard in walnut, North Carolina, circa 1830‱840, and an early tavern table from Eastern Virginia, stretcher base and three-board scrubbed top, circa 1770.
One of the Wiscasset, Maine, dealers at the show was Dennis Raleigh; he had a booth filled with smalls, including four New England onion lanterns of graduated sizes, figural andirons in the form of both dogs and fish, and a very well detailed locomotive weathervane, all handmade and dating from the late Nineteenth Century.
A set of four highly decorated thumb back Windsor side chairs, stenciled backs and painted seats, was shown by Stephen-Douglas of Rockingham, Vt. Other offerings included a narrow blue painted cupboard on tall legs, Georgia, early Nineteenth Century; a small settle with nicely carved arms; a selection of hat boxes, including one in the shape of a top hat; and a collection of nine sailboat paintings on wood, all by the same artist and several of the same boat.
Robert Snyder & Judy Wilson, Wiscasset, Maine, had probably the most colorful glass case in the show, bright with a large selection of stone fruit, a number of doorstops, a grouping of yellow-clad Old Salt figures, and a bootjack in the form of a red lobster. “We have had lots of bootjacks, but we have never seen this form before,” Judy said. Following the show, Bob said, “We were quite pleased with the show, sold about 30 things, including a very nice game board, a sign, stone fruit, doorstops and other smalls.”
Hessian soldiers and eagles were on two pairs of figural andirons, and an amusing hooked rug depicted a pig pulling a cart with a large hen roosting in it, while in the background a storefront had awnings that read “Ham & Eggs.”
Jeff and Cathy Amon of Jamestown, Penn., had a paint decorated doll’s cradle with red and yellow flowers, ex-Kindig collection, and in matching scale, a child’s decorated wooden wheelbarrow, circa 1900. A circa 1900 hooked rug showed flowers in a red vase in the center of the design, with a large flower in each corner and all on an off-white ground.
Neverbird Antiques of Surry, Va., hung a portrait of a young woman, seated and holding a flower, an oil on canvas attributed to William Kennedy, circa 1840. Of interest was a framed land grant for William Heinser, along James River, Botetourt, Va., signed by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Included in the frame was a photo of Jefferson
DBR Antiques, Doug Ramsay, Hadley, Mass., had a sheet iron double-sided boat sign in red and black, and several weathervanes, including a circa 1920 ship vane with two masts, red and black hull, and a punched tin swan vane, circa 1900, full-bodied. Garthoeffner Gallery of Lititz, Penn., had a colorful red, white and blue patriotic shield on the back wall of the booth, stretched canvas over wood, hand painted with wood carved starts. It dated circa 1876. A hooked and braided star runner was circa 1900, and a large carved wood and painted fish with glass eyes, a northern pike mounted on an oval decorated background board, was circa 1920.
Jewett-Berdan, Newcastle, Maine, hung a large trade sign with “Clover Farm” spelled out in fancy, wooden gold letters on a green ground, and a Pennsylvania game board, eight-sided, for Parcheesi, decorated with pinwheels and American flags. An articulated black figure wore a top hat and retained his original clothes, and a rare pair of Gypsy carnival female figures, American, of carved and painted white pine. “We had one of the figures, ran an advertisement, and a person called to say he had a similar figure,” Tom Jewett said, “and that is how we ended up with a pair, which makes them even more interesting.”
Joseph J. Lodge, Lederach, Penn., was at the front of the show with a walnut blanket chest with bracket-foot base, circa 1795, and a full-bodied goat weathervane, circa 1890, from L.W. Cushing. A one-drawer sewing table with reeded edge, finely turned legs, dated circa 1825, and a paint decorated dry sink was signed by the maker, Harry J. Sleeger of York.
Raccoon Creek Antiques of Oley, Penn., had a large booth offering a vast collection of Pennsylvania objects, including a bucket bench with the original painted surface, circa 1880, with three long shelves and a smaller half-shelf at the top, and a paint decorated bucket cupboard, salmon-ochre surface, circa 1840‱850. A leaping stag over a pine tree weathervane, circa 1920, was found in southeastern Pennsylvania, and a rooster carving with multiple tail feathers dated circa 1860‱870.
Heller-Washam of Portland, Maine, offered and sold a Queen Anne drop leaf table in walnut, Salem area, Mass., circa 1765, with scrolled apron, knife edged knees and oval platform pad feet. A Queen Anne drop leaf table in maple, southern New England, circa 1745‱770, had a scrubbed top, worn red washed base and out-swept pad feet, and a bowback knuckle-arm Windsor bench, 80 inches long, was probably Pennsylvania, dating circa 1795. “We had a great show, lots of interest, and we saw a couple of clients that we had not seen in years. One even flew in from Kansas to visit the show,” Don Heller said.
In addition to the table, he sold a pair of Queen Anne candlesticks, a large ship’s figurehead, a tray top tea table in cherry, a figured walnut tall chest from Maryland and a sepia print of the London Stock Exchange.
Lancaster, Penn., dealer Steve Smoot showed a Midwestern salmon painted stepback cupboard, all original, circa 1860‱870, and a crescent moon wrought and sheet iron weathervane, yellow mounted on a black rod, from a Shriners lodge. From North Carolina was a large dome top trunk in pine, circa 1820, with “Success to America” painted on the lid.
A zinc-lined dry sink from York Country, Penn., was shown in the booth of B. Hannah Daniel, Athens, Ala., along with a green painted fence that once surrounded a Christmas tree. Among some wooden objects was a red firkin displayed on a large green painted pantry box with swing handle.
More firkins, four in blue paint and graduated sizes, were shown by Country Treasures, Preston, Md., and a wood compote was filled with stone fruit. Furniture included an early Nineteenth Century New England chair table in dry red paint, two-board pine top measuring 46½ inches in diameter.
Hilary & Paulette Nolan, Falmouth, Mass., had a nice New England maple Queen Anne tea table, circa 1780, original surface, with provenance, and a four slat, sausage-turned side chair in early paint with the provenance on a jelly label on the back splat.
A selection of doorstops was shown by A Bird In Hand, Florham Park, N.J., including a duck, frog, squirrel, tulips and elephant, and a Parcheesi board in red, yellow, green and blue depicted a reindeer in each corner. An early wooden ladder leaned against the side wall of the booth, serving as a display rack for a collection of eight duck decoys on the rungs.
A large and rare turned ash burl bowl, with traces of the original yellow paint, was shown by Steven Still of Manheim, Penn., along with an American tin toy train, circa 1880, four pieces in the original paint. Placed on a pedestal at the front of the booth was a slide lid bible box, Pennsylvania, paint decorated and dated 1764, with the provenance of H. Richard Dietrich Jr.
“We worked until 2:30 Monday morning taking down the show, as the fair was moving onto the grounds about as we were leaving,” Butch said a few days later. The Original 160th Semi-Annual York Antiques Show & Sale will return to the fairgrounds in 2013, opening for three days on Friday, February 1, at 10 am. For information, call 302-875-5326 or 302-542-3286.
