I just spent two days attending the Antiques Week festivities in New Hampshire. I’m happy to report that I bought well at the three shows that I attended. The New Hampshire Antique Dealer’s Show is always a worthwhile venue. I thought I was arriving plenty early when I got in line at 8:50 yesterday morning for a 10:00 opening. I was wrong! There were already 214 people in line ahead of me. I prepaid my entrance fee and was given sticker number 215. I chatted across the tape with Derin Bray who was rewarded with number 64 for arriving at 7:30 AM. I have to imagine that the very first people in line arrived in the middle of the night! I like antiques, but I like my sleep better. By 10:00, the lobby was full and the line went out the door and up the block (see photo of the crowd in the lobby).

Peter Sawyer had advertised that he was bringing a terrific Boston block front chest, so I went directly to his booth. I was the first to see it and after a few minutes of examination, I made the purchase. I haven’t seen such a clean Boston block front in a long time. The brass is original and it has a great old surface. Peter sold it over 20 years ago and just reacquired it in time for the show. I’ll probably put it away and bring it to New York in January. By mentioning it here, I don’t think I’m giving away any trade secrets to the 3 or 4 people who read my antiques blog.

The other two shows were good as well. Frank Gaglio’s Mid Week Antiques Show has always been a dependable source for me and this year was no different. I was very impressed with Karen Disaia’s new show, “Antiques in Manchester: The Collector’s Fair”. It was was a terrific show, with an impressive roster of dealers. I bought objects from three of them, including an unsigned lyre clock and a nice Queen Anne Boston wing chair.