CCHS Antiques Show

Thanks to a kind neighbor, I got free tickets to the Chester County Historical Society's annual antiques show, this year held at the Phelps School in Willistown Township. Did I know how to get there, my neighbor asked. Indeed, yes: I grew up only a few minutes away!
The show was in the school's fieldhouse. The entry hall took you past former horse stalls, and in the main hall, underneath the floor covering, you could see the vivid green artificial turf.
The antiques were lovely, but nothing grabbed me this year. The cast iron garden frogs were very cute, but I realized they'd quickly become overgrown with lamium, which would defeat the purpose of a garden ornament.
There seemed to be a lot of andirons and samplers on sale this year. One of the more unusual offerings was a gigantic ceremonial ash burl bowl, fashioned by a Native American. Price tag: $44,000. There was also a lovely painting of the sun-dappled Buck Run by local artist Jon Redmond; he painted it at Laurel Forge Farm in Newlin Township.
A child-size mug depicting ice skaters made me laugh: It said, "A small preasant." Ah, typos even in the 19th century!
I had fun eavesdropping on the dealers: the buzzword this year seemed to be "the feel" of a piece, as in "I like the feel of this [chest of drawers, candle stand, weather vane, portrait, etc.]." One dealer confided to another that he was "changing gears" and planned to focus on twentieth-century pieces. Another was regaling two customers with a story of how not even being laid up in the ICU stopped him from bidding online for antiques.
By the way, if you went to the show, too, and still have the catalog, take a look at the article about antique photographs: there's a wonderful photo of the barn at Maulton Farm barn here in West Marlborough (it burned down 70 years ago).