The Heartland Antique Show
Don Johnson | August 22nd, 2012
A blue and white spongeware pitcher, unusually small at 4½" high, was tagged $975 but offered at $750, and a Peacock pitcher in diffused blue and white was tagged $795 but offered at $595-both from Gregg Ellington of Wilmington, Ohio.
This hooked rug showing two American flags and the date 1904, 37" x 56", was $2400 from Don and Pat Clegg of Patricia Clegg Antiques, East Berlin, Pennsylvania.
Jerry Laitinen of Jerrys' Antiques, Davenport, Iowa, offered an 8" high Old Abe covered compote by the Crystal Glass Company, circa 1883, at $325 and a pair of Illinois candlesticks by the U.S. Glass Company, circa 1897, at $645.
Debbie and Glenn Howard of Howard Antiques and Primitives, Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, asked $7500 for the 11'3" square Log Cabin hooked wool rug made in the 1940's in Salisbury, Pennsylvania, from the original owner; $195 for the paint-decorated Boston rocker; $485 for the pine stretcher-base table; and $245 for the tabletop desk.
A patriotic display, including stars-and-stripes outfits, $175 to $245; a parasol, $110; horns, $115 to $185; a bunting, $150; and a homemade Blue Star decoration, framed, $125-all from Pat Buncher of Waterloo, Illinois, and Joan Lucas Antiques, High Ridge, Missouri. |
Richmond, Indiana
by Don Johnson
A set of five pike poles offered during the Heartland Antique Show, held June 2 at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Richmond, Indiana, might say a lot about the passion of collecting.
Shortened over the years, the poles were still as tall as a professional basketball player and featured blacksmith-forged spikes on the end. Once used in barn raisings, the grouping of pikes now had a decorative bent—a sort of Pop Art meets Mr. Green Jeans kind of thing.
Tom and Paula van Deest of van Deest Antiques & Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, showed the pikes, along with a pair of handmade supports from a Mormon barn in Nauvoo, Illinois. Possibly the oddest thing about the pikes and poles, remnants of rural life of a long-gone era, was that they fit in perfectly with the van Deests' booth, as well as the rest of the show.
Having recently dismantled a dilapidated barn, I viewed the pikes with the same fascination I had for the building I helped tear apart. The craftsmanship and ingenuity that went into the barn were undeniable, from the hand-hewn surface of a beam to the pegged construction that, without need of a single nail, kept the massive structure standing for 110 years.
Looking at the pikes offered at Heartland, I appreciated not just how they were made, but also the muscle and coordination it took to use them. It's the same kind of fascination that someone else might have for the craftsmanship of a quilt or a Windsor chair.
We love this old stuff, each of us in our own way. As collectors and/or dealers, we understand that our affinity isn't the same as the attraction that others might have for modern-day material, whether a limited-edition wristwatch or the latest tablet computer. The difference is the dots. There's a bit of history inherent in antiques, especially those found at shows such as Heartland, and we love to connect those dots whenever possible. Provenance becomes paramount. It's intriguing to know where an item has been and through whose hands it has passed.
Heartland remains a treasure hunt for those items. The summer show featured 140 dealers and near-perfect weather. With merchants from as far away as Texas, Washington state, and New England, Heartland offered what promoter Jennifer Sabin called "a wonderful mix of dealers you don't normally see."
There was also a pleasing variety in what those dealers brought, more so than in past years. "There's more eclecticism—traditional booths with a piece of nineteenth-century folk art or garden furniture from the 1940's," said Sabin. It gave the show what she described as "a fresh look, a little pop."
The one-day format continues to create a sense of urgency. Dealers reported steady sales, with furniture being one of the surprises. "Furniture is selling today, which dealers are finding interesting," Sabin noted.
Chuck White of Warwick, New York, agreed. "It's probably the most furniture, real furniture, good furniture that I've seen sell in two years, and I'm conservative," he said. "It's kind of exciting, but you want to be so damn cautious. You don't want to get caught up."
A number of dealers credited the crowd. Dan Freeburg of Wilcox, Pennsylvania, said showgoers weren't just knowledgeable buyers but also repeat buyers, an indication of Heartland's reputation and longevity. "I think that's why we're all here," Freeburg noted.
For more information, contact Jennifer Sabin at (843) 812-0282; Web site (www.heartlandantiqueshow.com).
Heartland East
An additional location for Jennifer Sabin's popular antiques show will debut this winter. Heartland East will be held Saturday, December 8, at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland, the home of the former Mid-Atlantic Antiques Market.
Heartland East will feature 81 dealers, but it will offer more than just country antiques and Americana. "It will be Heartland, but there will be a splash of mid-twentieth century, decorator, and folk art," said Sabin.
"This is a dealer-generated show," she noted. A dealer suggested the venue, and the show quickly filled through word of mouth. "I've never experienced that before," Sabin added.
Tim Chambers of Missouri Plain Folk will be among the dealers at Heartland East. He likes the mix of merchandise planned for Maryland. "There's going to be decorative arts there, and there needs to be," Chambers said. "I'm selling to young people who find this more interesting than Ikea."
Sabin will continue to promote her two Heartland Antique Shows in Richmond, Indiana—the fall show in November and the summer show in June.
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A full-bodied copper ox weathervane, probably by L.W. Cushing and Sons, Waltham, Massachusetts, 1880's, was $25,000 from Rich and Susie Burmann of New London, New Hampshire.
David M. Evans Antiques, Cincinnati, Ohio, displayed a Massachusetts Classical mirror, circa 1825, $3950; a pair of carved and painted wood horse heads, probably from a carnival or circus, 1920-30, $1450; an A.L. Jewell prancing horse weathervane, late 19th century, $13,500; a paint-decorated New England dressing table, 1820-40, $3250; and a pair of bow-back Windsor side chairs in green/red/black paint, circa 1800, attributed to Thomas Cotton Hayward, Charleston, Massachusetts, $3750.
Jeff Walton of Bluffton, Ohio, asked $2450 for the matching chest of drawers and sewing stand in figured mahogany and $1275 for the pair of pastel portraits, 1835-36.Originally published in the September 2012 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2012 Maine Antique Digest
