Date: Fri 24-Sep-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: GWARD

Quick Words:

Farmington-Weekend-Beach

Full Text:

Farmington Antiques Show

(with cuts)

By Laura Beach

FARMINGTON, CONN. -- The sight of hot-air balloons rising near the misty

expanse of the polo grounds early Saturday morning seemed a good omen, one

portending balmy weather and buoyant sales for Farmington Antiques Weekend.

Revival Promotions of Grafton, Mass. celebrated the fair's 20th year on

September 4 and 5. Many of the show's original dealers participated in the

expo, one they've helped make an industry classic.

Farmington is one fair that justifies the cliche "something for everyone."

With 600 exhibitors it is neither too big nor too small, but just right.

Falling a week before the Brimfield markets, its shares many peripatetic

exhibitors in common. Still, Farmington has a flavor all its own. It is

traditional, but with a twist; affordable, but refined for a field show.

Trend-watchers could take heart that American furniture is back. From highboys

to sideboards, tea tables to tester beds, literally acres of lumber was for

sale at the Labor Day market. Loy Harrell of Hawks Nest Antiques, Hinesburg,

Vt. featured several outstanding pieces. Among them was an apple green corner

cupboard fitted with a tin dry sink, $4,800; a matched set of six Vermont

Windsor side chairs, $5,300; and a paint decorated Hepplewhite chest of

drawers, $6,600.

Standing sentry in Joseph Collins' booth was a walnut flat-top highboy,

$5,500. The Cobalt, Conn. dealer paired the casepiece with a cherry

slant-front desk, $2,750; and a pine pewter cupboard, $1,200. Also of note in

this stand was a large, colorful, beaded Plains Indian bandoleer bag, $1,200.

The semi-annual migration of dealers from south and west brings with it its

share of distinctively regional pieces. The thick, bulbous turnings on a tiger

maple drop-leaf dining table offered by Jeff R. Bridgman suggested an Ohio or

western Pennsylvania provenance. The Mansfield, Penn. dealer was asking $2,450

for the table, and $6,800 for a robust-looking country sideboard of figured

hardwoods. Winchester, Va. dealer Court Smith brought with him a statuesque

corner cupboard made circa 1820 in Lancaster, Penn., $9,500. More

light-hearted was his simple country worktable painted with a bread

advertisement, $590.

Dozens of beds turned up on Farmington's field. One of the most inviting was a

large cherry spindle or Jenny Lind bed featured by Antique Reflections of

Willington, Conn. for $985. Dorset, Vt. dealer Marie Miller stocked her

spacious booth with a hundred quilts. She had beds to match, including one

tiger maple example for $995, plus a Chippendale slant-front desk, $2,500.

Perhaps a sign that painted furniture fanatics have finally awakened to its

charm, cottage furniture was also plentiful. Wenham Cross Antiques of

Topsfield, Mass., offered a handsome pine chest in green and gold paint for

$550; and a bedroom suite in pretty blue and white, seven pieces in all, was

$3,200 at Kathy Suisman Antiques of Bloomfield, Conn. Antiques on Eleven,

Stanton, Va. priced a Maine cottage set in spring green with Gothic details at

$3,000. Two other sets, each unique, rounded out the selection. Kate Alex of

Warner, N.H. marked hers $1,100, and a five-piece set in pumpkin paint was

$1,995 at New Hampshire Country Bumpkin, Woodsville, N.H.

Perhaps the cottage furniture craze betokens the return of matched sets of

furniture, which haven't been stylish since the 1960s. In addition to painted

goods, Farmington featured suites of garden furniture. Typical of the

offerings was an inexpensive glass-topped iron table and matching side chairs

painted glossy white, such as that found at Gray Gardens, New York City.

Farmington is the kind of place where dealers felt comfortable bringing the

family dog. In some cases, the canines appeared to be in charge. Tally Ho

Jones, of the eponymous Tally Ho Antiques, Willington, Vt., was asleep in the

shade as the first wave of buyers rolled in on Saturday morning. He left it to

his owner, Stuart Martin Jones, to tout a patented butter churn. The pristine

artifact dating to the 1890s was $525. Boldly stenciled on its side were the

words "The Swing Churn."

Jay Martin of The Family Firm was meanwhile doing a brisk business in Scotties

and Westies. The advertising pieces and souvenirs ranged from ashtrays to

whiskey glasses. This being the polo grounds, equine art was not overlooked.

"Cynthy" and "Manthy," two lucky horses, had their own stall signs for sale at

Comfort Fish Antiques, Springfield, Mass., for $195.

Farmington is also a fine spot for finding military Americana. Cooksville

Antiques of Trumbull, Conn., sported a Lincoln portrait. An outstanding

collection of Civil War material was on offer at Iron Gate Antiques of

Turnersville, N.J. Of special note was a pair of signed Tiffany military

epaulets. The gilt ornaments, still housed in their original tin case, were

created for a captain in the medical service. Dealer Len Benson retailed the

rare items for $4,950.

Though Farmington Antiques Weekend can seem like a world unto itself, it's

also a place for spotting global trends. The Western fascination with Buddhism

in particular and Asian culture in general was satisfied by Oxus River of

Lambertville, N.J. For those who can't travel to India, Pakistan, China or

Tibet, Lambertville, N.J. dealers J. Randolph and Dana Bentley had brought

East to West. Their earthy ensemble of low, carved furniture and richly woven

carpets was perfectly at ease under Farmington's broad canopy. Chairs, each

unique, and a low table to match were $175 each.

More international flair was supplied by Dutch dealer Ewa Grabowski. The

Amsterdam native swagged the front of her booth with Dutch and German samplers

dating to the late Nineteenth Century. Punctuating the succession of samplers

were men's black felt derbies. The textiles dealer, who also retailed Dutch

pillow shams and duvet covers, additionally exhibits at Brimfield and at the

Triple Pier shows in New York.

More collectible items included oversized pages from old Dick and Jane

primers, featured by Barbara E. Smith, a dealer in children's books from

Northampton, Mass. Propped up in a wire rack at Kathy & Kim's Corner Cupboard

were antique valentines. Postcards and other ephemera are a sideline for

Kathleen Lautenschlager of Woodbury, Conn., whose first love is decorated

ironstone and Staffordshire. Here she is pictured with a Sprig footbath by

Wood Rathbone & Co. Dated 1868, the marked piece of English transferware was

$2,200.

Chocolate lovers succumbed to temptation at F & M Crum Antiques. Besides

hundreds of chocolate molds, the Chambersburg, Penn. dealers featured a

child's sized ice cream parlor table and set of chairs at $595.

In addition to the American Indian artifacts, for which they are better known,

George and Jackie Bernheimer, of Moonstone Antiques, Mansfield, Mass., stocked

dozens of British pot lids, all dug from sites in the United Kingdom. Dating

to the Nineteenth Century, the white ironstone vessels printed with

advertisements for now forgotten products ranged in price from $35 to $90.

Country store tins lined the walls of Alice's Attic of Churbusco, Ind., but it

was Ernest Lueder who really took the cake. Known as the Quarzsite Bread Man,

Lueder papered his booth from top to bottom with selections from his 20-year

collection of vintage bread wrappings. The Arizona dealer, who will be on the

road picking paper until November, owns 210 different wrappers dating from the

1920s to the 1950s. Old advertising items, signs, tins, trays and country

store items are also specialities.

Surveying the green expanse where nearly 600 dealers set up, Revival

Promotions chief Bob McInnis was pleased. "For the first time in a long time,

we're up a bit in dealers this year," he said with satisfaction. "Yes, the

Internet is affecting our business. The good news is that it is bringing a

whole new group of young buyers and sellers into the market. The antiques

business needs that."

His son Bret noted afterwards, "Overall the show was quite good. Attendance

was probably in our top five shows of all time. To what do I attribute that? A

couple days of decent weather. It was a good summer for antiques, and we've

been advertising very heavily."

Farmington Antiques Weekend next convenes on June 10 and 11. For details,

check Revival Promotions' Web site at www.farmington-antiques.com.