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Maine Antique Digest, December 2016 25-D
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SHOW -
25-D
Weston, Vermont
Vermont Antiques Week:
Weston Antiques Show
by Fran Kramer
F
all in Vermont has its own allure—foliage, food, festivals—but in-the-know
antiquers time their visits with one four-day “weekend” at the end of September/
beginning of October when Vermont Antiques Week is held in five different
venues: a theater, a ski lodge, another ski lodge, a community center gym, and an ice
rink. You may not know exactly where the towns are—Weston, Ludlow, Bondville,
and Manchester—but you get out the Vermont map (much more fun than a GPS), get
in the car, and drive to southern Vermont.
Vermont features no litter and no billboards. Even the show signs were small and
discreet—maybe there were one or two banners. It’s just hills and rolling roads, trees
that were beginning to show color this year, cows, church steeples, country stores,
maple syrup stands, very few traffic lights, and
rivers, creeks, and streams filled with granite
chunks, some with water levels so low you could
walk from one side to the other atop the rocks
and not even get your feet wet.
Held this year from September 29 to October 2,
the one-, two-, and three-day shows offered
a harvest of knowledgeable dealers, colorful,
eclectic merchandise, and food for thought and
for consumption.
The first show, as always, is the Weston Antiques Show, held in the Weston
Playhouse inWeston, Vermont, across from the village green and the famous Vermont
Country Store, where samples of cheese and crackers, cookies and candy, and dips
and spreads are plentiful. (Dig in; no one is counting.)
The playhouse is above and adjacent to a stream and waterfall where in 2011 a
hurricane’s torrential rains reached far north and west from the coast. Since there are
many rivers and streams in Vermont along roads, and roads lead to towns and villages
in valleys between the hills, the water damage was significant. About five weeks
before the Weston show that year, the Weston Playhouse had water up to the ceiling
on the lower floor, and volunteers tried as best they could to salvage some interior
rooms and objects. Would the show even go on? Thanks to the locals, it continued
uninterrupted for its 58th season.
This year the preview was on Thursday night, September 29, and the crowd
was mainly social and hungry. The huge shrimp and other goodies were quickly
consumed, and some sales were made as well. The 33 dealers, many of them longtime
repeaters—this is one of those shows where if you get in, you usually stay in—came
from New England, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Illinois, and South
Carolina. One was actually from Vermont.
The flavor is formal, but some folk art and country could be found on one of the
three levels of the building. The layouts are a bit challenging, as some have small
rooms and others have a stage, and yet others have wide open central areas, with one
including a porch. Dealers adapt and shine. Sales did not seem to be strong overall,
but some exhibitors sold well. An interesting comment from one of them: “We used
to sell to speculators; now we sell to just users.” What this means is that often dealers
would buy on spec as they thought they could get more for an object than the current
owner/dealer was asking, so they bought. Today, buyers are users—they need to find
a table, chair, bench, or bed because they are in need of one for themselves or for
someone else.
A glossy show program reminds all of the efforts made to make the show a success
and benefit the historic preservation of the playhouse itself. The show ran for two
days, September 30 and October 1.
For more information, check the website
(www.WestonAntiquesShow.org).
The flavor is
formal, but some
folk art and
country could
be found.
Dealers Danny and Carrie Klebe of Colebrook, New Hampshire, in front of their $1450
Pennsylvania decorated blanket chest. They began collecting about ten years ago, and
they were new to the show.
New England Home Antiques, Wethersfield, Massachusetts, featured this nicely
upholstered 1700s Continental chair for $850.
Setting up for his 16th year was Robert Perry of Orchard Park, NewYork, with his mother.
White & White Antiques, Skaneateles, New York, always sets up an attractive and colorful
booth. The English Chippendale mahogany chest-on-chest was $3850; the Queen
Anne birdcage tilt-top table, $895; and the four-piece English silver tea set, $2850.
This marble double inkwell, $2250, was one of the many unusual smalls from Marc
Witus of Gladstone, New Jersey.