Vermont Antiques Week: Antiques at Stratton Mountain
October 1st, 2016
Bondville, Vermont
Opening on October 1 for a two-day run was Antiques at Stratton Mountain, the heir to the long-running Bromley Mountain Antiques Show. Stratton is a showy resort with European-style architecture for its lodging. The antiques show was held inside the base lodge, under the direction of dealer Greg Hamilton, who bought the show from Mary Fraser in 2014. She and her husband, Bob, who were married for 62 years, began their Vermont Antiques Week show in Wallingford, then moved it to Bromley when Wallingford was no longer available several decades ago. Hamilton moved the show this year from Magic Mountain, formerly Bromley, to Stratton because of a change in ownership at the resort.
Preview crowd at Stratton.
The 1940s red Ferris wheel actually goes round and round and was $950 from Village Braider Antiques, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Most Vermont dealers know each other, and Greg Hamilton, president of the Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association for the past ten years, may know them best of all. He told M.A.D. after the show that Stratton had about 500 patrons. He felt it was a nice show and said that for next year he would work out a few lighting issues. Bright and sunny is one thing; cloudy and drizzly is another. There were 35 dealers set up on the same level, accessible by stairs or an elevator. Lighting was a little uneven on the cloudy morning, but floodlights and spotlights were on. A nice touch to the show program was a list of all the Vermont shows that week, including days, hours, and admission costs. The preview was $15, and regular admission was $10 on Saturday and $5 on Sunday.
There was an excellent breakfast featuring scrambled eggs with chives—we had to take seconds they were so good—plus bagels, muffins, coffee, tea, and juice, which complemented the preview.
For more information, contact Hamilton at <[email protected]> or (802) 989-1158.
The teddy bear, dated 1906, was $595, and the milliner dolls were $795 (left) and $875. Why were they called that? According to Mill Brook Antiques, Reading, Vermont, it was to distinguish them from being children’s playthings. They were not for kids. Most are English, German, or French.
Robert and Janet Sherwood of Cambridge, New York, came up with the most unusual pieces, such as this copper and wood bathtub, late 19th century, for $595, and the wooden hat molds, priced from $60 to $245 each, on the rear wall.
Turn of the 19th-/20th-century rocking horse, all original, $1975 from Nutting House Antiques, New Paltz, New York.
Steve Cirillo of Castleton-on-the-Hudson, New York, had a great show, selling three cupboards, including this blue hanging example.
Choose your prize: on the wall a cheese ladder, $78; a checkerboard or two, one priced at $495; or a small multi-drawer chest (center), $795, all from Tommy Thompson of Pembroke, New Hampshire.
Antiques show promoter Frank Gaglio of Rhinebeck, New York, got a call from Greg Hamilton saying that Stratton had a last-minute cancellation and asking if he could he come. Gaglio organized some things he had, got in his vehicle, and went to Vermont. His selection was eclectic, and it included two Skookums—dressed figures of Indians that were sold in trading posts to tourists; these were $2400 the pair. His penguin was $575 and sold. The two-sided sign was $525, and a smoke-decorated chest (not shown) was $285.
This diorama of a Mexican Nativity scene and village, signed by Domingo Galwan, was found in California and offered for $2300 by Brookside Antiques, Bridport, Vermont.
Originally published in the December 2016 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2016 Maine Antique Digest
