Jan and John Maggs Antiques
Conway, Massachusetts
Newsletter -- June 22, 2007
Part of our booth at last weekend's Mount Hope Farm show in Bristol, Rhode Island
Since last month's newsletter . . . .
. . . we had one of our best Rhinebeck shows, selling several excellent smalls as well as a few paintings. Furniture sales were less than impressive, possibly hampered by a new booth configuration, which we plan to address. Our shop and online business continue to be strong.
Our biggest news -- we're thrilled to be included in Country Home Magazine's annual Top 10 Collectibles. Our thanks to Kathryn, Rachel, and everyone else at Country Home who made it happen. Click the cover of the magazine to see the story - - or click the photo of the blanket boxes to read our chronicle of the photo shoot in New York, as published in our March newsletter.
We've just booked our October trip to England. This October's Rhinebeck show will prevent us from getting to the big fairs in Swinderby and Newark, so we've planned a shorter visit, focusing on our regular pickers and shops. We'll be in London briefly, but plan to spend most of our time combing the countryside, which we most enjoy.
Last weekend's Mount Hope Farm show in Bristol, Rhode Island was disappointing for us, although managers Brian Ferguson and Tom d'Arruda created an exceptionally pleasant setting and brought in hundreds of buyers. Although many dealers did very well, we felt that the potential of this beautiful show hasn't yet been realized - for us, anyway. We expect Tom and Brian to initiate changes that will enhance next year's edition.
Also on the show front, we learned this month that, after canceling her outdoor Wilton show, Marilyn Gould has also cancelled her craftsman show at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth. We shopped Farmington on June 10th and were dismayed to find that this once proud venue with about 600 dealers has shrunken to a field of fewer than 200. We arrived for the 8:00 opening and were on our way back to Conway by 9:15.
WEEKEND SHOP HOURS
Click here for a calendar.
UPCOMING SHOWS
July 10, 2007
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July 11, 2007
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July 14, 2007
Dorset Antiques Show; Dorset, Vermont
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July 28, 2007
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August 3 & 4, 2007
Please note: this year's show will be at a new, improved location. Click this link for more information.
Click here for our complete show schedule for 2007.
This Month's Featured Inventory
A Selection of Recent Finds
American Furniture
In response to the Country Home piece, we're listing our entire inventory of blanket boxes - -
Chestnut six-board blanket box [#17780] SOLD
Three-drawer blanket chest on thistle feet [#17764] SOLD
Pine one-drawer blanket chest [#17214]
Early 18th century hard pine six-board blanket box [#C8061]
and a beautiful paint decorated Windsor bench [#17530] SOLD
To visit our American Furniture gallery click here.
Smalls
Woven rye straw bee skep [#17742] SOLD
Rare brass sander [#17784]
Set of twelve 19th century steel knives and forks with ornate Sheffield plate handles [#17587]
To visit our Smalls galleries click here.
Paintings
Oil painting on wood panel by Jan Engel [#17712]
Oil painting on canvas by G. H. Brandt [#17718]
Small oil painting on artist board by Jacob van der Maes [#17747]
Oil painting on canvas by Arthur Nielsen [#17760]
To visit our Paintings galleries click here.
For the past five months, we've presented in serial form the writings of a young Franklin County woman, Jennie Williams, whose diary came to our attention several years ago. Many of you have written or spoken to us about her interesting, though unremarkable life. These month;y installments will continue.
This month we also offer a short piece by a woman of our century: a researcher, librarian, musician, and friend, alive and well, though now far from Western Massachusetts, where our friendships were forged. Her essay Word Play is a response to a most interesting book, which she discovered in the stacks of the library that now employs her. Caution: while a few paragraphs of this essay might disturb the overly fastidious, it's all in good fun and, in fact, all found in the dictionary!
Use the links below for this month's feature stories.
Jennie Williams' Diary - June 1873
Tales of the Trade
There was more than met the eye in this set of English table cutlery. Read about our Unexpected Find.
The Back Page
After two years of Ashfield-induced neglect, our gardens are once again getting the attention they deserve. This week we weeded the side entry garden and laid a path of Goshen stone. Have a look.
Pippin's Page
Newsweek.com reported earlier this month that "Americans this year will spend $40 billion to keep their pets fed, adorned, healthy and amused." While we have no doubt that Pippin is worth at least this much, he seems quite content with more simple amusements, as this month's Pippin's Page will show.
Click to visit the Jan and John Maggs Antiques website.
Links
Click for directions to our shop.
Click for links to all past issues of this Newsletter.
For additional links to businesses and places of interest, visit our Links Page.
Thanks for taking the time to read our little monthly. As always, we encourage you to e-mail any comments that might make the newsletter more useful to you. Just click the mailbox, or write to jmaggs@jmaggs.com.
And we thank you for being a customer.
John and Jan
