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Jan and John Maggs Antiques Newsletter
July 2009
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Dear Newsletter Subscriber,
After more than five
years of publication, last month we adopted this new
format for our monthly e-newsletter. The overwhelmingly
positive response has encouraged us to make modifications
to our website that make it more compatible with the
newsletter and (we believe) more pleasing to the eye.
We've redesigned every gallery, changing colors and
pictures to make the pages more attractive and less
confusing. You'll still find thumbnails to click for more
information on particular pieces, and we hope you'll enjoy
the new look. If we've aroused your curiosity, you might
like to visit your favorite gallery by clicking on it in
the Quick Links box below.
Have a good time!
John and Jan
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Quick Links
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Current Stock
Newsletter Indexes
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Since last
month's newsletter . . . .
It's been pretty quiet in the shop, although
our online sales have been fairly good. Thanks to two short
buying trips in New England and contacts with several of our
European sources, we've added some very interesting jewelry,
smalls, and paintings to our inventory, some of which you
can see in this newsletter. Furniture acquisitions are
slower. We also bought a great Connecticut kettle stand at
the Darien show and found an extraordinary bench-made table
on a recent buying trip to Maine, both of which are listed
in this newsletter. Pickers call with period furniture, but
they're having as much difficulty as we are finding the
sorts of things we look for at prices we feel comfortable
paying. We're really looking forward to July Brimfield,
which has often been a great source of fresh furniture.
The Darien show was successful, though not spectacular.
As usual, a few dealers reported fair to good shows, and
there were a few abject disappointments. Our weekend was
brightened considerably by a visit to the newly reopened
American Wing of The Met. The enormous crowds we had feared
must have been at the Frank Lloyd Wright show at the nearby
Guggenheim, as we were able to explore the several period
rooms and their outstanding furnishings very comfortably. We
encourage all who are interested in American furniture and
furnishings, especially of the 17th and 18th centuries, to
add the Met to your must-do list.
We've used some of our shop time to tweak our website.
We hope you'll take a few minutes to have a look.
Thanks for being a customer.
John and Jan
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This month's new listings include a rare Connecticut
kettlestand, a group of early Heemskirck candlesticks, a
small French oil painting, Chinese blue and white ceramics,
rugs, a fabulous snake ring set with a double row of
diamonds, two early pins, the emerald paste pendant on the
left, and a large bench-made trestle-base table that
converts to a narrow server. If you'd like a look at any of
these, click on any emerald.
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This Month's Feature
A few favorites from our past
This wonderful Elizabethan press cupboard was one of our
first Newsletter sales. We listed it in March 2004, in our
second newsletter, then drove it to a show in Guilford, CT.
After setting up our booth, we went to our hotel and checked
our voice mail, which contained an inquiry about the piece.
After a couple of phone calls, the sale was finalized, and
the cupboard spent the weekend in our booth in Guilford,
distracting many shoppers from the things that were still
available. Such is life.
One of the great things about this business is that we've
had the opportunity to enjoy the company of not only this
exceptional piece, but also hundreds of other wonderful
objects from the past. For this month's newsletter we've
assembled over one hundred of our favorites from the past
twenty years. They will become a permanent part of our
website and we'll add to them as time goes on. You can see
them by clicking on the picture. Perhaps you'll find one or
two of your favorites here as well.
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Tale of the Trade
Two short stories this month: one true, the
other, well. . . . See if you can tell which is which by
clicking
here.
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Although Spring seems to have passed us by this year, we've
removed our storm windows and have been dodging raindrops to
spend as much time outdoors as possible. Pippin doesn't
enjoy the luxury of free rein, so he spends his days on our
(should we say 'his'?) porch or in front of an open window.
This sometimes provides interesting photo-ops, as this
month's Pippin's Page demonstrates. Click on his picture,
above, for a look.
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The Back Page
For John, Spring began with a long-overdue
project: new cedar shake roofs for our garage and
adjoining areas. To tell the truth, we're not unhappy
about how it turned out - and infinitely grateful that
it's over.
Click
here if you'd like a peek at the project.
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