The Wilton Fall Antiques Market

October 26th, 2014


These carved boxes with bears from Quimby’s Chocolate Company of California were available from Marc Witus of Gladstone, New Jersey. The brown bear was $1850, and the white one, $2450. The Victorian still life on the wall was $1250.


A 19th-century bench with a broad walnut seat and pine back was available from Huntington & Hope, Washington Depot, Connecticut. The dealer asked $1125 for it. Repainted and restenciled in the early 1900s, it measures 33½" x 71½" x 21". The dealer said she bought it from an estate in Pennsylvania, which had purchased it from a New Hope, Pennsylvania, dealer, who had bought it from a Pennsylvania Dutch estate.


This painted fish was $1250, and the cupboard was $650 from John D. Gould Antiques, Yorktown Heights, New York.


The Swedish slagbord (gate-leg) table, with original surface on top and slightly later repaint on the base, was shown by Nancy Fishelson at the booth that she shared with Robert Perry. The table was $3200, the tin mailbox from New England was $1100, and the sign from Oley, Pennsylvania, was $3900. Fishelson recently relocated to Orchard Park, New York, near Buffalo.

Wilton, Connecticut

On a quintessential New England fall day in October, 88 dealers offered furniture, portraits, landscapes, folk art, silver, and other collectibles to a Sunday crowd of buyers and lookers.

The field house at the Wilton High School, Wilton, Connecticut, was filled with merchandise on October 26, 2014. Many of the dealers had been to the shows in New Hampshire in August, and their inventory had been refreshed. There was a lot to choose from.

Weathervanes were displayed in several booths, as were portraits of children, blanket chests, quilts, toys, baskets, flags, store signs, and pottery. Items were predominantly American and predominantly from New England. There was plenty for collectors and for interior decorators and furnishers. There was homeyness to the show. Many booths looked alike.

Dealers discussed the cancellations of the Rhinebeck show and the armory show in New York. Some wondered if Wilton will survive. Others did some buying. A few discussed whether a beautiful day brings in buyers or keeps them on the golf course. One said she wouldn’t do the show again because it was only for one day and “you don’t see enough people.” The crowd seemed sparse.

Reached on the phone a week after the show, Frank Gaglio, who brought Wilton back in 2013 after a three-year hiatus, reported there were 900 attendees, same as the gate in 2013. “Like most shows these days a third of the dealers did very well, a third sold enough to cover their costs and make a profit, and a third didn’t meet their expectations.”

In addition, Gaglio said he plans on continuing the one-day fall show and is exploring a two-day show to be held in the spring during the school’s spring break. “It’s predicated on the athletic department’s schedule,” he explained.

In the past, “Wilton’s always been a good market,” said dealer Justin Cobb, owner of Captain’s Quarters, Amherst, Massachusetts. “There were good, competitive dealers, and retail customers could find things to purchase.”

“I just purchased this basket,” said one woman to another who was wishing she’d found it first. They both agreed it was a nice show.

Some of the dealers who did well, according to Gaglio, included Village Braider Antiques, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Peter E. Baker, Quebec, Canada; the Kuraus of Lampeter, Pennsylvania; David Thompson Antiques & Art, South Dennis, Massachusetts; Victor Weinblatt Antiques, South Hadley, Massachusetts; and Antiques at 30B, Cambridge, New York.

The show was managed by Barn Star Productions, and Gaglio dedicated the show to the memory of Donald Bright Buckley, who together with his wife, Gloria, had helped Barn Star start “Midweek in Manchester,” the summertime event in New Hampshire that created Antiques Week.

“It’s good he [Gaglio] has reenergized Wilton,” said Cobb. “Frank’s a hustler. I hope it continues.”

The antiques market benefited the Wilton Historical Society. More information is available on line (www.barnstar.com) or by calling (845) 876-0616.

Cherry Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine, showed this Old Hickory server and asked $4950 for it. On the wall is a lake painting of two people in a canoe by William Rau (1874-1956), 1907, $2900. The lamp on the left is slag glass, $475. The log cabin box was $295, and the squirrel lamp on the right, $575.

The six paint-decorated chairs, New England, 1820, were $3900. The table, with traces of old red paint, also New England, 1810, was $1750. The 46-pieces of stone fruit in a wire basket were $2500, available from Dover House Antiques, Louisville, Kentucky.

Old Mooring by Will Howe Foote (1874-1965) was offered by David and Donna Kmetz, Douglas, Massachusetts. Foote lived in Old Lyme, Connecticut, from 1901, and his works are in the Florence Griswold Museum. The painting was $3200.

Cottage & Camp, Philadelphia, asked $12,000 for this one-piece pine corner cupboard, 77½" x 41" x 40", probably Philadelphia, 1810-20. Inside is a collection of yellowware ranging from $300 to $750.


Originally published in the January 2015 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2014 Maine Antique Digest

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