Annual Open House at Antique Associates at West Townsend

West Townsend, Massachusetts

It’s worth it for the baklava alone.

From August 1 through August 8, Antique Associates at West Townsend (AAAWT) in West Townsend, Massachusetts, hosted its annual open house during Antiques Week in New Hampshire. Many collectors and dealers travel to New Hampshire for the annual week of shows and then drive the 34 miles from Manchester to visit the establishment founded by David and Lynn Hillier in 1983.

What those collectors and dealers find is an approxi-mately 6500-square-foot old farmhouse—in actuality, four buildings connected together—loaded with antiques, art, and decorative arts. They also find refreshments, including homemade cookies and sumptuous baklava made by Lynn Hillier.

The open house has been a tradition for more than 40 years. “It’s my favorite week of the year because you have such a concentrated focus of people that you see once a year,” David said. “We’re not a show—we’re a shop, but we’re large, and we have a big inventory.”

There are thousands of objects in the building. “Furniture alone is in the hundreds—and all of it is quality, whether it’s your taste or not,” he added. “I’d rather have nothing in this building if I can’t have quality.” Every object—save some new arrivals—is thoroughly cataloged and priced.

AAAWT is a broker for objects. “We have consigned objects from dealers at all levels, including some of the top and most important dealers in America…we broker for insurance companies, probate attorneys, estates, and second and third generation owners,” said David Hillier. “We get whole collections, and we get single objects.”

Hillier said, “I learned very early that you needed to be proactive. You needed to know the stuff; you needed to pitch the material; and you needed to guarantee it. Be polite, friendly, and respectful. If I’m not confident in an object, I won’t represent it. I’m driven by doing a good job and earning the business.”

“We’ve sold many objects that are in the six figures,” he said, adding he started the business in his garage “peddling antiques. The goal was to save enough money to go to Brimfield when it was a fine antiques show.”

“I was obsessed with antiques, and then I had an opportunity to score this location.” Early on, the shop was open only part-time. “We were open weekends,” said Hillier, who at the time had another job as did his wife, who was a registered nurse. “She was our first employee,” he said. They then opened seven days a week and started hiring people.

“When we started, there were almost no group shops. A lot of people feel we championed the concept, including me. There were very few of us. We started out with high-quality, top-notch exhibitors.” When group shops exploded on the scene, the quality of some of the shops went down. “We changed the name to a ‘multiple dealer gallery.’” Hillier added that AAAWT is a curated shop.

For more information, call (978) 597-8084, email [email protected], or check the website (www.aaawt.com).

The shop is in four buildings, all connected, bursting at the seams with antiques. Antique Associates at West Townsend (AAAWT) is located at 473 Main Street in West Townsend, Massachusetts.

This Ralph Simpson Staffordshire royal charger with a portrait of King William III is $28,000. The 1690s charger is 19" in diameter. It has been broken, probably more than once, but there are no losses, and it is expertly restored. Simpson (1651-1721) was a member of one of the most prominent Burslem Staffordshire family of potters and is known for his slipware chargers. Examples of Simpson chargers are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

David Hillier is a genial and welcoming host to everybody who enters the shop. A warm greeting is combined with offers of assistance and refreshments.

During the open house, there were homemade goodies baked by Lynn Hillier. The baklava (center) was sublime. The oblong burl bowl with pierced finger holds is tagged $4250.

The Peter Stretch brass and iron 17" high lantern clock is tagged $29,500. According to Hillier, it’s an original two-handed lantern clock. “Most seventeenth century lantern clocks originally had a single hour hand indicating the quarter hour. Many have been converted to two hands over time, but the chapter ring shows quarter hour markings along the inner edge.” There are three other known original Peter Stretch lantern clocks, according to the 2013 book Stretch: America’s First Family of Clockmakers by Donald Fennimore and Frank L. Hohmann. At least two others known have serious restorations and changes. This is the only known example featuring two hands and larger frets. There are no lantern clocks known by Stretch after he immigrated to Philadelphia.

Every nook and cranny of the rambling building is filled with art and antiques, all properly cataloged with lengthy descriptions and prices.

The Newport, Rhode Island, tiger maple high chest, 69¼" x 35¾", is attributed to Christopher Townsend by furniture scholar and author Patricia Kane (1944-2026) of Yale University Art Gallery. The attribution is based on the presence of Townsend’s lettering system for identifying the proper location of each drawer within the case. The exterior drawer backs in the upper case are lettered, “A” through “E” in flowing graphite. The style of these letters, as well as their placement, is consistent with other pieces that are documented to Christopher Townsend. The drawers in the lower case also exhibit Townsend’s markings. It is priced at $20,250.

Behind glass doors is an area that Hillier arranges into vignettes. He calls it the “museum case.” The oil on canvas portrait of a young girl with a basket of flowers (left) is tagged $3250; the pole screen with embroidery is tagged $1050; the portrait of a man with a tricorn hat (above) is tagged $595; the Queen Anne candlestand (center) with an octagonal top, North Shore, Massachusetts, is tagged $800; the American school portrait by an unknown artist of a woman seated at a worktable creating hair jewelry is tagged $2450; the walnut side chair, Massachusetts, 1740-1760, is tagged $4985; the schoolgirl watercolor painting of George Washington’s Mount Vernon is tagged $2450; and the Maine grain-painted hanging shelf, circa 1822, is tagged $6250. “I had this built years ago because I wanted changing exhibits,” said Hillier. It changes every month.

Savvy buyers head first to the “process room,” a spot for objects that have yet to be fully cataloged. All the fresh objects are for sale.

There is room after room, full of antiques.

There are many cases filled with ceramics, glass, redware, firearms, and more.

Hudson River Steamer “Sylvan Dell” by James Bard (1815-1897), 30" x 50" (sight size), is tagged $59,500. The Sylvan Dell, with a speed of more than 20 mph, was built by Lawrence & Foulks in 1872. On her bow is an unusual flag—a racehorse with a jockey—that alluded to the ship’s speed. On her maiden voyage in 1872, she steamed upriver from New York to Albany, without passengers or stops, in a record 7 hours, 43 minutes, becoming the fastest boat on the Hudson River. The New England Federal mahogany sideboard, 1790-1810, is 38" x 55¾" x 26½" and priced at $4550. Ex-Nathan Liverant and Son.

The 70" tall circa 1800 Hepplewhite two-part mahogany secretary with flame birch veneers, glazed doors, and églomisé panels, North Shore of Massachusetts or Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is priced at $13,500. The door in the background leads to Hillier’s office where photos of objects he’s handled in the past hang on the wall like trophies. “They represent objects that I love,” Hillier said.