The Nashville Show, Nashville, Tennessee
To keep crowds coming back year after year, an antiques show must become an eagerly anticipated event, promising surprises and temptations. The Nashville Show, held February 15-17 this year at the city’s transformed fairgrounds, brought together nearly 140 exhibitors, both multi-focused and specialist. The kickoff was early-bird shopping on Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon.
Every picture tells a story, and there is still a lot of simple country furniture at the show, but—as can be seen—there is much more on view. Nashville has become a remarkably vibrant city with a growing population, and high-end housing in need of décor is springing up everywhere. No album review here, but even Beyoncé has her cowboy hat on this spring.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith Antiques, LLC—that would be Paul and Angela Smith of Harlan, Iowa—quickly sold a dog-race game wheel with greyhounds around the edge. The sign marked “School / Crossing / 20-30 / Club” was $995, and the sign marked “Ayotte / Boat / Sales” was $1295.
Past discussions have highlighted the show’s diversity of offerings, and the results can be life-changing. People dropping by for a stroll can begin to form lifelong collections. The man with Sheraton chairs in the dining room suddenly has neon in the den. On the floor, one woman asked another, “How many times have we been out to the car?” Think you have it covered? There is always something else to see. Pounding that concrete floor were everything from designer athletic shoes to “I have a board meeting at ten” heels.
Show promoter Jon Jenkins noted, “Sometimes diversity ruffles peoples’ feathers, but probably in this market it’s a good barometer for a healthy show. We want to have something for first-time showgoers and something for high-level collectors who’ve been in the market for forty years. And everyone in between!”
Who can resist a vessel named Cleopatra? Monty Young from Shelbyville, Tennessee, offered this metal ship with the patina of age for $850.
Always one to look on the bright side, Jenkins was pleased to see strong figures at the gate for the main antiques show and the separate Nashville Vintage Clothing & Jewelry Show, which opened in a nearby space February 16 and 17. “But the attendance was up over last year, and the number of combo tickets for both shows we sold on Friday afternoon and Saturday was up significantly. So a lot of young people look at a more traditional antiques show (surprised at the diversity), and more traditional customers will spot clothing and say, ‘I remember that.’ I was really, really happy with the cross-pollination between the two shows from a customer standpoint.”
Jenkins pointed out that veteran dealers in the February shows know the market well and encourage attendance by their customer base through social media. Some of the best exhibitors can sell literally 75% of their setup simply through being attuned to their clientele. Bill Powell from nearby Franklin, Tennessee, is a good example. Many can remember his spot at the original Heart of Country Antiques Show, way back when, and he continues to arrive with the most riveting vintage signs year after year.
Bob Zordani and Heidi Kellner of Z & K Antiques, Lexington, Virginia, tagged this lush floral hooked rug “sold” on opening morning.
In the past, the Valentine’s-linked events have followed closely on the separate Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville, allowing exhibitors to stay over. This year, however, that show took place over a month before on a snow-struck January weekend. Yet many dealers choose to pop back to the city in February, among them Mario Pollo from Massachusetts, who ended up sharing a booth with Tom Delach of Ohio.
Dealers from distant cities often say that they come partly to buy for inventory, but with crowds on the floor, they often sell what they brought and what they bought, as well.
Shoppers can spot sold tags and the odd empty space on a wall. Jon Jenkins would love to have before-and-after photos of each booth to chronicle how inventory comes and goes throughout the course of a show.
The secret to having multiple shows in mid-February has always been cooperation among the show managers. Jenkins reminisced about the early days working with Libby Kramer across the street from her Heart of Country Antiques Show at the Opryland Hotel.
In 2025 the Fiddlers Antiques Show, next door at the fairgrounds, will have new management, and Jenkins now looks forward to coordinating planning with Jill and Mark Mattingly, who will be taking over that event.
So many reasons to come to Nashville. Next year’s dates will be February 13-15, 2025.
For more information, call (317) 431-0118, email [email protected], or see the website (www.TheNashvilleShowAntiques.com).
The Nashville Vintage Clothing & Jewelry Show opened on Friday and Saturday in a nearby hall. Fashions ranged from fancy formals to helmets.
Steve Jenkins of Lorida, Florida, from the family that manages the show, had two tiger maple desks; the one shown was $3800. The 1723 tall-case clock, partially seen at left, was $6500.
Bill Powell of Franklin, Tennessee, with his display of vintage signs is a show star sought out by regulars. Already sold were the large “Lion Coffee” face and the $2400 barber pole at extreme left. The glowing spectacles were $3800.
Thomas M. Rawson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, exhibited the 1820 portrait by William C. Gooding (1775-1861) of a serious man, Algernon Bascom of Buffalo, New York, vice president of the Naval College. The painting was $6500. The cast-iron garden statue of the harvest goddess Demeter was $3200.
With a nod to the regional market, Taylor Thistlethwaite brought an open-front Tennessee press, cherry with walnut and poplar, circa 1830, priced at $12,000.
With the firm’s strong garden inventory, Village Braider, Plymouth, Massachusetts, had done well in early February at the Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville. The look for this event included a petite Navajo Yei rug priced at $950, which soon sold, over a blue-painted pie safe at $3900.
Mario Pollo of Holliston, Massachusetts, who shared a space with Tom Delach, sold this large English portrait of a rose-bearing young girl with her pet dog.
Longtime exhibitor Tom Delach of Columbus, Ohio, always brings an eye-catching display. His Storm pattern Navajo rug, 1925-30, with lines to the four corners representing lightning, makes wonderful use of birds facing in opposite directions. The one-of-a-kind rug was $3800.
Jamie Hanks showed off this beautifully carved and gilded horse head, priced at $2850.
Jamie Hanks of Studio 13, St. John’s, Michigan, signed up for a major space so he could display an enormous music hall sign; a large horse and rider sculpture, $7900; and big movie-set lights, $4800 for the pair. The countertop he was using as a desk at back was sold.
Michael Hall of Nashville, Tennessee, backed his display with a South Carolina hunt board safe in heart pine, circa 1850, with an extensive provenance, priced at $18,500. Below the hunt board safe, the flag fan was $950.
Southern Accessories Today, Atlanta, Georgia, had this English pond yacht for $1899.
Klint Griffin of PROPS, Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee, hung on the wall a 1940s sign, “CLEAN / COTS,” with restored neon, priced at $3600. Below are three 1950s prints of Blackfeet Indians from Glacier National Park by artist Winold Reiss (1886-1953).
The Dixie Gypsy, Dickson, Tennessee, brought signs, historical photos of baseball teams, and some desirable flat storage cabinets. The large poster for an in-person appearance by Tom Mix and his horse Tony was $775, and the papier-mâché clown head was $665.
Perhaps it was the smiling cow, but Tom Fortner of Memphis, Tennessee, had an early sale with his large butcher’s trade sign, which was quickly taken away.
Tony Lewis of Knoxville, Tennessee, is a collector of southern material, and the Nashville Show is one of the only places where he presents his finds for sale. Fellow enthusiasts search him out, and he always does well. This Dan River valley, North Carolina, pie safe has great size and condition. It was priced at $5500, and it went to a new owner at the show.
Originally published in the May 2024 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2024 Maine Antique Digest
