Stories for December '17
(Fragment)Violet Oakley's Grand Vision
A Grand Vision: Violet Oakley and the American Renaissance, the exhibition at the Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, through January 21, 2018, gives new visibility to the depth and range of artist Violet Oakley’s work at a time when narrative and illustration art has a new audience, and women painters are ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)Shenandoah Valley Safes
A Book Review
Opening the Door: Safes of the Shenandoah Valley
by Kurt C. Russ and Jeffrey S. Evans Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 2017, 136 pages, softbound, $44.95 plus S/H from Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates (www.jeffreysevans.com/education-and-research/) or (540) 434-3939, or at the museum store at the Museum of the Shenandoah ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)Tall Clocks and Tide Pools: A New England Anniversary Adventure
The Young Collector
If you’re going to tell a joke, you need to make it funny. Otherwise, you run the risk of no one realizing that you were kidding. Andrew came home this summer from a consultation with a client and said he had a challenging problem: how to get a ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Rediscovery of Rare Portrait by Henry Pelham
Specialists in American portraiture know Henry Pelham (1749-1806) as the sitter in the iconic portrait by his half-brother John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), Boy with a Flying Squirrel (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), or for his fine miniature portraits on ivory. Just a few of his miniatures are recorded today, and ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Rare Sword Donated to Museum of the American Revolution
A small silver-hilted American sword owned and used by Colonel Jonathan Pettibone (1710-1776) of Simsbury, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War has been donated to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. It was donated by a descendant of Pettibone and his family. The sword has never before been displayed ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Exhibitor List Set for Winter Antiques Show
Who’s in and who’s out of the Winter Antiques Show (WAS), an active marketplace for American collectors and curators, is anticipated news. In recent years WAS has broadened in scope to include an eclectic mix of periods and materials. Interior designers shop the show for old master paintings, Tiffany lamps, ... (Read More)
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(Book Review)Books Received, December 2017
These are brief reviews of books recently sent to us. We have included ordering information for publishers that accept mail, phone, or online orders. For other publishers, your local bookstore or a mail-order house is the place to look.
Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party by Eliza E. Rathbone ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Sheffield Antiques Show Ends
After 69 years, the Sheffield Antiques Show, the longest continuously running show of its kind in Massachusetts, has concluded. Sponsored by the First Congregational Church of Sheffield (Old Parish), the show began in 1948 in the parish social rooms as a fund-raising venture for mission outreach. After three years the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Six Mississippi Residents Convicted of Removing Native American Artifacts
Six Mississippi residents were recently sentenced in U.S. District Court for their roles in illegally searching for and removing Native American artifacts from government land. According to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, the six people are Matthew Glen Arnold, 33, of Booneville; Jackie Dale Arnold, 59, ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Museum of Dog to Open
A museum dedicated to dogs will open soon in North Adams, Massachusetts, only blocks from the country’s largest contemporary art museum, MASS MoCA. The Museum of Dog (MOD) will feature a private collection of dog-inspired paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, and accessories.
The 8000-square-foot historic space, at the merging point of Union ... (Read More)
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(Computer Article)Cyber Security
Computer Column #348
John P. Reid, [email protected]
Hackers recently made major information data breaches at large corporations (www.identityforce.com/blog/2017-data-breaches). Small businesses are not immune. Antiques malls often have computer point-of-sale, inventory, and dealer payment systems that are hackable. Sure, the local antiques mall is not as tempting a target as Equifax or the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)American Folk Art Museum's New Gallery in Long Island City
It’s a hop, skip, and a jump from the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan to its new Self-Taught Genius Gallery in Long Island City, Queens.
Hopping on the number 1 train across the street from the museum at Columbus Avenue and 65th Street, going three stops to 42nd Street, skipping ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Documented Embroidery from the Misses Patten School in Hartford, Connecticut, Returns Home
After a more than 200-year absence, a rare and important silk-embroidered coat of arms has returned home to the Oliver Ellsworth Homestead in Windsor, Connecticut, thanks to the generosity of a descendant of its maker. Crafted in 1801 by Delia Ellsworth (1789-1840), the youngest daughter of Oliver Ellsworth (1745-1807),1 while ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Manhattan Dealer Strikes Plea Deal in Ivory Case
The owner of a Manhattan-based antiques store and his corporation were charged with felonies in connection with illegal ivory sales in New York County Criminal Court in October, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
Alexander Sakhai and Alexander’s Antiques Inc. of 1050 Second Avenue were each ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Long-running Hudson, Ohio, Antique Show to Change Location
Entering its 48th year, the Hudson Antique Show, Hudson, Ohio, is changing venues. The show had been located at the Clarion Inn in Hudson for the past several years, but the hotel recently was sold and will no longer host events. The new location will be the Days Inn in ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)A Tea Caddy Collection
More than half a century ago my mother, Marnie Bramble, began collecting tea caddies. She often said that as a petite person (5'2"), she was attracted to small things and naturally drawn to the 4" to 5" highly decorative containers used for storing tea. Mother said she acquired her first ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, December 2017
Ian McKay, <[email protected]>
With a poet’s desk, an admiral’s armchair, and a hall settee that may well be the work of William Linnell, there is a certain celebrity element to the furniture content of this month’s “Letter,” and an undeniable one where the season-opening Audrey Hepburn and Vivien Leigh sales that ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)The Manafort Mystery
Editorial
When the federal grand jury’s indictment of Paul Manafort and Richard Gates was handed up on October 27, court papers revealed a tantalizing mystery. Manafort, accused of laundering money in offshore accounts and failing to pay taxes on it, had an appetite for decorative arts.
The indictment lists Vendor C as ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Fendelman and Farrell Join Board of CPWP
Helaine Fendelman and Daniel Farrell have joined the board of directors of the Center for Painted Wall Preservation (CPWP), a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the research and preservation of historic American paint-decorated plaster walls from 1800 to 1860. The mission of the organization is to survey and document paint-decorated ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Show Series in Boxborough
Gurley Antique Shows has announced a new show series at the Boxboro Regency Hotel in Boxborough, Massachusetts. The shows will be held Sunday, January 7, and Sunday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Space is limited. Rachel Gurley said, “We are getting positive feedback from our dealers. The ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Dave and Debbie Guile, Showcase Antiques of CNY, Little Falls, New York
In the Trade
Dave and Debbie Guile’s group shop in Little Falls, New York, doesn’t appear to be all that remarkable. Their Showcase Antiques of CNY, which stands for Central New York, has about 100 brightly lit cases and 26 booth spaces. It has a pleasant variety of merchandise, with lots ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, December 2017
Maine Antique Digest includes, as space permits, brief announcements of exhibitions planned by galleries, museums, or other venues. We need all press materials at least six weeks in advance of opening. We need to know the hours and dates of the exhibit, admission charges, and phone number and website for ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Doubleday House Antiques Gallery Holiday Open House
Doubleday House Antiques Gallery in Ballston Spa, New York, will host a holiday open house on Saturday, December 2, and Sunday, December 3, both days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additionally, the shop will hold an opening preview evening on Friday, December 1, from 5 to 8 p.m.
“We will ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Swann Galleries Sets Record for a Print by Hopper at $317,000
Swann Galleries set a new auction record for any print by Edward Hopper (1882-1967) at auction on November 2, when the rare etching The Lonely House, 1923, sold for a record $317,000 (includes buyer’s premium) to a dealer buying via phone, well above the high estimate of $200,000. It was ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Sammons Indicted
On October 20 Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced that art broker Timothy Sammons, 61, had been indicted for stealing millions of dollars through a scheme involving the sale of valuable artwork. The New York State Supreme Court indictment charged Sammons with grand larceny in the first and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Schofield Collection of Political Memorabilia
Robert C. Eldred Co., Inc., East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Eldred’s
All prices include buyer’s premium
By the time Daniel C. Schofield’s collection of political broadsides and other memorabilia came to auction at Eldred’s auction gallery in East Dennis, Massachusetts, on October 18, the staff had come to refer to the late collector ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)NYC Architectural Rendering Exceeds Expectations
A 37" x 19" color pencil rendering by John C. Wenrich of the Art Deco skyscraper at 70 Pine Street, a Manhattan landmark, brought $5000 (includes buyer’s premium) at Worth Auctions’ October 15 sale in Freeville, New York. According to the auction house, the price is a record for the ... (Read More)
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(Show)Fine Fall Weekend at Fishersville
Shenandoah Antiques Expo, Fishersville, Virginia
The 61st edition of the Shenandoah Antiques Expo was held October 13-15 at the Augusta Expoland in Fishersville, Virginia. The Fishersville show is organized and managed by Heritage Promotions.
Fishersville is always a good show and a fun experience. Historically, dealers offer a full spectrum of fine ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Controversial California Autograph Law Changed
On October 12 California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 228 into law, immediately reducing impediments to companies doing business in California. The bill corrects the problems created by provisions in AB 1570, a law regulating signed memorabilia that was passed in September 2016.
AB 1570 enacted new provisions in the ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Art Scammer Sentenced
Vincent Lopreto, 52, was sentenced on October 11 to five and a half to 11 years in state prison for creating and selling counterfeit pieces of contemporary art to prospective buyers around the world. The defendant pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to grand larceny in the third ... (Read More)
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(Show)The ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show
Amherst, Massachusetts
One of the very great pleasures of an antiques show is the freedom to touch the object, to feel its form and surface. What is particularly appealing about the Antiques Dealers’ Association of America/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show is color and surface. Dealers bring out their best, and those antiques ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Sotheby's American Art
New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s sold $3.5 million in its mid-season American art sale on October 6, selling 114 lots out of 158 offered, for a sell-through rate of 72.2%. The estimate was $2.9/4.4 million.
Highlights of the sale, which attracted a few dozen buyers in the salesroom, included works by ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)John Quincy Adams Daguerreotype Sells to National Portrait Gallery for $360,500
Photo courtesy Sotheby’s
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., paid $360,500 (including buyer’s premium) for a newly discovered half-plate daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) at Sotheby’s sale of photographs in New York City on October 5. The photograph was made in 1843, only four years after the invention ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Alderfer's Catalog Sale
Alderfer Auction Co., Hatfield, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Alderfer Auction Co.
Sherry Russell, who bought Alderfer Auction Co. last January, sees her job as helping people through life’s transitions. “Our job at Alderfer’s is finding solutions. We are in the business of selling for people downsizing, settling estates, redecorating, or just wanting to ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Vermont Pickers Market
Ludlow, Vermont
When Antiques in Vermont, the final show of Vermont Antiques Week, folded last year after losing its venue, promoters Kris Johnson and Steve Sherhag saw an opportunity. The Vermont Pickers Market show was born.
To create the show, the pair used a page out of promoter Frank Gaglio’s show playbook—utilize ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Weston Antiques Show
Weston, Vermont
For the 56th time, the Weston Antiques Show opened its doors to dealers and collectors. The show, held September 29 and 30 with a gala preview on Thursday evening, September 28, was the kickoff for Antiques Week in Vermont, a slate of five shows in four days.
The Weston Playhouse, ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Ludlow Antiques Show
Ludlow Antiques Show, Ludlow, Vermont
The third antiques show to open during Vermont Antiques Week was the Ludlow Antiques Show, held in the Ludlow Community Center September 29 and 30. Of all the shows held during the week, it’s the most low key. There are no walls, carpeted aisles, or five-figure ... (Read More)
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(Show)Sales Success on the Fields of Liberty
Liberty Antiques Festival, Liberty, North Carolina
Commenting on what attracts customers to vendors at the Liberty Antiques Festival is always risky. What appears to be a key to sales success may be confined to a specific time and place. Chance and good luck also play a role in everyday living and ... (Read More)
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(Show)Stratton's Swan Song
Antiques at Stratton Mountain, Stratton, Vermont
If all goes according to plan, the Antiques at Stratton Mountain antiques show will cease to exist next year. Its slot in Antiques Week in Vermont will be replaced by the annual show produced by the Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association (VADA), likely to be held ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Woodburys and Wood Planes at Moore Auction
Hap Moore Antiques Auctions, York, Maine
For the cornerstone of his September 30 auction in York, Maine, Hap Moore landed a 77-lot collection of antique tools from the estate of a Wells, Maine, collector, headed by a pair of wooden planes by two of the earliest known American makers.
A molding plane ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Okemo Show
Okemo Antiques Show, Ludlow, Vermont
The 2017 Okemo Antiques Show, held at the Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, Vermont, was the second of the Vermont Antiques Week shows to open, beginning with a preview from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday, September 29. The show continued on Saturday, September 30, from ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Family Archive of Pioneer Missionary Correspondence Tops Star-Spangled Printed and Manuscript Americ
Swann Galleries, New York City
Photos courtesy Swann Galleries
A private collector, bidding by phone, paid $112,500 (including buyer’s premium) for a family archive of 19th-century letters by early missionaries ministering to Native Americans in Minnesota. The sale was made at Swann’s auction of printed and manuscript Americana in its New York ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Collection of Edward Albee
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
For three and half hours on an Indian summer morning, Sotheby’s seventh-floor salesroom was transformed into theater—one filled with fans, friends, art dealers, and collectors, who came to bid and watch as the collection of American playwright Edward Albee (1928-2016) came to auction. The September ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Columbus Letter Sells for $751,500
Bonhams, New York City
Photos courtesy Bonhams
A copy of the so-called Columbus Letter was sold by Bonhams to the William Reese Company, New Haven, Connecticut, for $751,500 (including buyer’s premium) on September 26. Estimated at $700,000/1 million, the Italian explorer’s account of his first voyage to the Americas was the top ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Rago Design Weekend
Rago, Lambertville, New Jersey
Photos courtesy Rago
David Rago gave his $6 million, three-day, 1400-lot sale, September 22-24, an A-minus. “Some parts of the market did well, but others were disappointing,” he said after selling from five catalogs covering seven segments of the marketplace.
Rago had high hopes for this sale of half ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Rare Chairs and Coney Island Bathers Lead at Potomack
The Potomack Company, Alexandria, Virginia
Photos courtesy The Potomack Company
The Potomack Company held its live fall catalog auction on September 23. As has been the case for some time, The Potomack Company’s owner, Elizabeth Wainstein, scheduled the live auction for Saturday with an online-only sale for the following Tuesday, September 26. ... (Read More)
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(Show)The September York Show
Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show and Sale, York, Pennsylvania
The 169th Original Semi-Annual York Antiques Show and Sale, September 22-24, was the most recent in the long succession of Original York Antiques Shows begun by Mable Renner in 1934, continued by Paul and Dorothy Ettline beginning in 1956, and then taken ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Worldwide Participation at Bonhams' New York Jewelry Auction
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Bonhams
Bonhams’ September 19 fine jewelry sale in New York City brought jewelry of many eras and styles to the auction block. At the top was a 16.90-carat step-cut diamond—D color, internally flawless, type IIa—that sold to a private U.S. buyer for $1,807,500 (includes buyer’s premium).
The ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Wadsworth Atheneum Corrals Remington "Bronco" for $510,000
Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina
Photos courtesy Brunk Auctions
Connecticut played a small but noteworthy part in the short life of Frederic Sackrider Remington (1861-1909). The renowned artist briefly attended Yale University, which later gave him an honorary degree, and he briefly lived in Ridgefield, Connecticut, where he died at age 48. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)September Auction of Shaker Objects
Willis Henry Auctions, Hancock, Massachusetts
Part three of the superb Shaker collection of professors Gerald “Jerry” McCue (1913-2011) and Miriam McCue (who turned 100 on November 4) came to market on September 16 at Willis Henry’s auction at the Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Massachusetts. It was the final dispersion of ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Fall Estates Auction Flexes Its Strong Points
Neal Auction Company, New Orleans, Louisiana
Photos courtesy Neal Auction Company
While the early fall sale at Neal Auction Company has in the past been a smaller lead-in to the Louisiana Purchase Auction in November, bidders did not hold back in the September 9 and 10 event. Whether going for 19th-century furniture ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Caren Collection
Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Cowan’s
Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a 19th-century French journalist, is best known for tossing around a concept that today is most often expressed this way: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
That thinking fit in well when Cowan’s Auctions sold more than 400 lots ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Foster Completes the Maine Summer Auction Rush
Robert L. Foster, Newcastle, Maine
Four names dominated the September 2 and 3 end-of-summer coastal Maine auction in Newcastle. One was Robert Foster, the owner and auctioneer who presided over his usual standing-room-only crowd. The others were Vern Broe and Louis Michel Eilshemius with a dash of Louis Vuitton thrown in.
The ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Maine Artists Dominate Thomaston Auction
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine
This year, Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine, expanded its end-of-summer sale to three days, opening the August 25-27 presentation with about 220 paintings and sculptures from Maine artists, some contemporary, some earlier, some living, and some dead. Company vice president John Bottero explained, “We ... (Read More)
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(Show)Short and Sweet with Ice Cream
Coastal Maine Antiques Show, Damariscotta, Maine
This year the Maine Antiques Dealers Association (MADA) produced a show for the 20th time at the Round Top Farm in Damariscotta, Maine. On August 23 MADA and the Damariscotta River Association partnered for the annual Coastal Maine Antiques Show. The former dairy farm has ... (Read More)
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