Williamsburg Holiday Show—Brightens Black Friday Weekend

Walter C. Newman | November 23rd, 2012

Robert and Deanna Taylor of Aylett, Virginia, trade as Taylor Antiques and Estates. On this table they displayed a wooden box with inlays of clasped hands and striped shields on the lid (left), $550; a four-drawer miniature chest with turned front feet, $750; a slant-front document chest, $675; and a couple of humidors in the form of nattily attired dogs, $425 and $495. The Pittsburgh glass compote was $295; the covered tureen was $495; and the string-inlaid box on the right was $395.

Robert Eric French of Portland, Maine, specializes in militaria and Americana. French often sets up with an array of lamps and candleholders, but this weekend he brought a booth full of etched glassware. Here are several flip glasses ranging from $175 to $375; two tankards, marked $400 and $450; and an 18th-century handleless cup and saucer, $345.

Williamsburg, Virginia

In 2010 I made my first visit to the Holiday Antiques Show in Williamsburg, Virginia. Bettianne Sweeney is the show’s manager, promoter, and shepherd. The Holiday Antiques Show has the unenviable distinction of being an annual alternative to Black Friday shopping in the greater Williamsburg area. From its beginning, the show has been scheduled for the weekend following Thanksgiving.

Throughout its 31-year history, Sweeney has developed the show with a small and stable group of dealers who are regular participants. The event held November 23-25, 2012, featured 31 booths. A full range of antiques and decorator items were available.

The show is bright, attractive, and of uniformly high quality. When I visited on Saturday, there was a good crowd, and people seemed to be buying. Yet there was a slight cloud floating over both patrons and dealers. Several dealers openly voiced their reservations about the likelihood of having a successful weekend. They expressed a general feeling of post-election, post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas, pre-fiscal cliff angst. Those sorts of feelings have been around for several years, but it seemed that this time more dealers were voicing concern.

Comments after the show from Sweeney confirmed that although the gate was down a bit from years past, the overall count was acceptable. Several dealers reported very strong sales with several larger pieces of furniture selling on Friday. All told, sales were still reported to be down from the 2011 show.

Whatever negativity may have been implied here is not meant as a reflection on the show, its dealer participants, or the promoter and manager. It is simply the general concern that I hear voiced as I visit these events. The Williamsburg Holiday Antiques Show is a marvelous event of high quality. I heartily recommend it. It is worth planning your Black Friday weekend around.

For additional information, contact Bettianne Sweeney at (757) 220-1299 or visit the Web site (www.holidayantiqueshows.com).

Mark Semmes and Carol Buscher of Hamilton, Virginia, trade as Southern Traditions. The circa 1860 coin silver goblet in the center is by Louisville’s John Kitts. Kitts is considered one of Kentucky’s best early silversmiths. The goblet was $850. The English school pheasant hunting scene was marked $1100. The twist-stem wine glass was $395, and the hand-blown funnel was $90. The cup on the right dates from the 1830’s and has molded images of elephants and camels with riders in Asian dress. It was marked $180. All were displayed on a cherry Connecticut River chest with two over seven graduated drawers. The chest was $3250.

Shown are a few of the fine crocks offered by Steve and Lorraine German of Mad River Antiques, LLC, North Granby, Connecticut. On the near left is a Bennington jug by J. Norton & Co. with a very nice cobalt bird decoration for $895. The three-gallon crock with the cobalt cow image was special and priced at $26,000. In back, the row of three crockery beer bottles ranged from $325 to $450, and the other crocks ranged from $495 to $1750.

Gordon and Mary Nicoll of Nicoll Fine Art and Antiques, Newcastle, Maine, featured this wall of paintings. The large oil on canvas by George Frost (1843-1907) depicts a scene on the North Shore of Massachusetts and was $4800. The three landscapes on the right are by Maine artist Alphonse J. Shelton (1905-1976). Each was priced at $2800. Atop the chest, the tea caddy was $695; the anchor-form candlesticks were $375 the pair; and the more traditional candlesticks were $695.

Bill and Joyce Subjack of Neverbird Antiques, Surry, Virginia, displayed this group of interesting paintings. Top left, by Adrianus M. Bouman (Dutch/American, 1847-1930), is a farmyard scene with geese and chickens in the yard of what may be a sharecropper’s cottage. The oil on canvas was $700. The three cattle lying in a field, signed simply “L. L.,” was $675. The scene of a small New England village, thought perhaps to be from Connecticut, depicts four houses along a side road, all sharing a single well. It was $2500.

This grouping was in the booth of Scott A. Cilley of Northumberland Antiques, Richmond, Virginia. The circa 1800 Federal chest is walnut with yellow and white pine secondary woods. The kite escutcheons are inlaid. The chest was tagged $1450. The crock with lid by Lyons was marked $195. The open storage jars were $155 and $325.

A Royal Doulton “Bobby Burns” commemorative plate, circa 1940, hung in the booth of Chestnut Galleries, Spartanburg, South Carolina. Paul Allen Dunbar Jr. tagged the plate $175. The toleware tray on the mantel was $235. The 1908 print of George Morland’s Morning, or the Benevolent Sportsman was marked $275.