Jan and John Maggs Antiques

Conway, Massachusetts

Newsletter -- May 15, 2004

Thanks to all who came to our Grand Opening on the 1st and 2nd. The weekend was more relaxed than usual, so we enjoyed the luxury of being able to chat more freely with those who came. By suppertime on Sunday, we were very pleased with the result and have already begun to plan for our October trip. For those who didn't come, here are a couple of pictures of our showrooms before the doors opened.

Brimfield report

(Friday, May 14, 2004) We've just taken down our tent and come home from Brimfield, where we've been during almost every waking hour since Monday. Despite outrageous gasoline prices (the lowest regular gas we saw today was $2.03 per gallon), which kept many of regular visitors away, the crowds were overwhelming. All of the major fields opened early because of pressure from the police to get buyers out of the roadway. Buying, on the other hand, was sluggish; many of our friends reported good sales, but complained that big ticket items weren't selling. One of our buyers announced her new philosophy: if you never pay more than $20 for anything, you won't ever be hurt too badly! We had strong shows at both Dealer's Choice and May's--with different stock at each--though neither show would qualify as our best.

When we weren't set up, we shopped, covering almost every field. We waded through tons of mediocre things, holding out for excellence at an affordable price. This strategy yielded nearly two dozen pieces, with each of which we are well pleased. With  most of our dealer friends reporting similar results, it's safe to say that Brimfield is still alive and well.

Featured Inventory

Though we had a great Grand Opening Weekend, there are still several excellent English pieces in the shop. This month we're listing a large, early gate-leg table and two joint stools, as well as a large, pine double gate-leg table, a few smalls, and three outstanding paintings by Dennis Sheehan. Click here for a look.

Upcoming Shows

In this issue, as usual, we'll give you an insider's look at our shows for the next two months. Click here to go to this month's shows page.

Features

Our buying trip in England terminated in a week's vacation in southeast Ireland. We've posted some of our favorite photographs from the trip as well as some recommendations for travelers considering a similar vacation. Click here to go to County Wexford with us. Though we've reduced the resolution of some images considerably, those of you with slow connections will need to be patient.

We came back from England with a fairly large collection of 18th and 19th century sugar nippers. If you don't know a sugar nipper from the RCA dog, click here.

Tales of the Trade

Click HERE for the tale of The Painted Corner Cupboard.

Links

Our friend Betsy McKee informs us that the Longmeadow Historical Society is sponsoring a very exciting series of events entitled The Deerfield Curator Lecture Series, consisting of talks by four prominent Historic Deerfield historians. Information may be found on a printable card or by visiting the Longmeadow Historical Society website.

To visit the Jan and John Maggs Antiques website, click HERE.

For directions to our shop, click HERE.

Visit our Links Page by clicking HERE.

For past issues of this Newsletter, click the links below.

• February 2004
• March 2004
• April 2004

In our next issue

We came to Conway in 1986, to a house and barns that were falling down from neglect and in immediate need of help. The task of restoration which we undertook then, has been ongoing for over eighteen years. Our next issue will contain the first installment of a twelve-part series on the work we've done.

When we began this newsletter, we did so with the hope that it would contain material submitted by its readers. We're especially interested in short anecdotes for our Tales of the Trade column and links to favorite antiques-related websites. Please feel free to take us up on this offer, and as always, we encourage you to e-mail any comments that might make the newsletter more useful to you. Just use this link.

And we thank you for being a customer.

John and Jan