Antiques Week 2013: Annual New Hampshire Extravaganza

It's what antiques fans wait for all year: The 56th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show in Manchester, NH, August 8-10-2013. It is the grand duchess of a week of royal antiques shows in the area, in what is billed as Six Great Events in One Great State!

Ron Bourgeault's Northeast Auctions Summer Americana Auction in Manchester starts the ball rolling with the usual big bang, featuring prime items from important collections. Then, off to Deerfield Monday morning for Nan Gurley's Americana Celebration Antiques Show.  

Next is Frank Gaglio's Mid-Week Antique Show in Concord, followed by a return trip back back to Manchester, just in time for Antiques in Manchester.

Stay put in Manchester for the opening of the long-running event of the jam-packed antiques week, the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association Show. Everybody who is anybody gets in line early to find that special treasure or two. Afterwards, everybody gets together to socialize and to catch up on what's new in antiques.

Whew!  Even though everybody was tired, they wouldn't admit it and, of course, could not miss Frank  Gaglio's Pickers Market Antiques Show Friday morning, where one always hopes to find the bargain of the year.

Caught resting amidst the madness are two legends in the antiques world, our good pal Scudder Smith, the famous Editor-in-chief and publisher of the renowned Newtown Bee and The Antiques & The Arts Weekly, looking as dapper as ever in yet another knock-out bow tie. And the esteemed owner of Northeast Auctions in Hampton, New Hampshire, Ron Bourgeault.  Some people never seem to look different than they did three decades ago.

Barbara Pollack of Frank & Barbara Pollack Antiques, Highland Park, IL, as usual, features mouth watering items in vivid colors and forms. Painted chests, theorems, and a stack of rare mid-19th-Century wallpaper hat boxes in rich hues add sparkle to the exhibition. At the right is an unusual departure from the 19th-Century, a store display figure of a glamorous woman wearing a fashionable evening gown with upswept hair in a do typical of the 1930's.

Betty Berdan of Newsom & Berdan Antiques, Thomasville, PA and Hallowell, Maine, displayed a superb textile; a museum quality appliqued mat from the early 1800's. “ A New Hampshire Town Celebration” depicts a colorful gathering of town residents in militia uniforms, top hats, and best clothes, enjoying a memorable day. This wonderful naïve work depicts the joy it’s maker felt about the town, it’s inn dated 1744, the town church, children and animals.

Shaker experts and dealers  Suzanne Courcier & Robert Wilkins, Yarmouth Port, MA, somehow make it look easy to come up with rare Shaker and other period American furnishings year after year. It is not easy, and their efforts are always impressive. With a careful eye and tons of knowledge, Suzanne and Bob never fail to make an impact.

One of our favorite Southern belles, dealer and consultant Deanne Levison, is shown in the booth chatting with Bob. 

Olde Hope Antiques, New Hope, PA, can always be counted on to bring an elegant collection of fine Americana. A graduated stack of seven oval Shaker boxes circa 1830-70 shares the spotlight with a House Hooked Rug circa 1900, a Swan Decoy in old paint, a Centre County Pennsylvania Dower Chest Circa 1810-20, and three early folk portraits among other fine wares.

Elliot & Grace Snyder of South Egremont, MA, well known for their knowledge, expertise and wonderful taste, exhibited their usual array of early furniture, fine textiles, folk art, English and American metalwork and related accessories.

"The Fruits of Industry", a charming hooked rug designed by James and Mercedes Hutchinson in excellent condition.  American, Ca. 1925-35. Cotton on burlap. Also displayed in their booth is one of Grace and Elliot's favorite paintings, shown below.

Portrait of a Young Woman. This exceptional oil on canvas is a hauntingly sensitive portrait of a young woman in white, possibly the work of Henry Folsom. American. Circa 1810-20. Oil on canvas.

Architectural Digest "Likes" a Woodard & Greenstein Hooked Rug

Woodard & Greenstein's hooked rug collection has  found its way to the dream-like pages of Architectural Digest Magazine this month.  The magazine, under the innovative leadership of Editor-in-Chief Margaret Russell, is leaving no leaf unturned in what's wonderful in home design.

Speaking of leaves, look for Woodard & Greenstein's hooked rug, Riverton, a traditional leaf pattern on Page 169 of the latest issue (September 2013). Fashion designer Lorry Newhouse's Park Avenue duplex is featured, with mixes of the sublime with the even-more-sublime. Collaborating with designer Rain Phillips, Ms. Newhouse created a sophisticated living space that follows no rules, other than to make certain that everything is "gloriously eccentric" - and elegant.   

Our own hooked rug adds a rich warmth to the entrance hall's exposed floor boards, and feels very comfortable with the old hand-painted doors from Italy that open to treasure filled living and dining rooms. Putting together old and new pieces found in the U.S., England, France, and elsewhere, the designers brought the rooms to life with surprising combinations of styles and colors, daring to do the unexpected. Ingenious.

The Big Antiques Events In New Hampshire

Climaxing one of the greatest weeks of the year in American antiques was the 56th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show in Manchester, NH, August 8-10- 2013. It is the exclamation mark for a week of antiques shows and markets held in the area for which everybody who is anybody in the field show up to sell, buy, and socialize. 

Enthusiasm for antiques shows in recent times may have dimmed somewhat in other places, but not here. Lines start early for every event, with dealers, collectors and antiques aficionados as excited as ever about what treasures they will find.  

An interesting detail, which may not be new this year, is that free admission is offered to anyone under 30. Blanche Greenstein, my partner, tried desperately to convince the ticket takers that she was qualified, but they seemed skeptical and grabbed her $15.00 anyway. Seriously, all of us dealers hope that genuine under-30's will get more excited about collecting, and join us in this colorful and endlessly fascinating world of American antiques.

Amy Finkel, the knowledgeable proprietor of M. Finkel & Daughter, Philadelphia PA, has always added expertise - and glamour - to the antiques world. Her historic samplers and needlework and antique furniture are well known to be first rate. And so is her taste in rugs, as seen in her booth at the recent New Hampshire Antiques Show. WOODARD WEAVE "Hamilton” runners, edged with black binding, serve as the perfect background for exhibiting her outstanding collection.