Milford, New Hampshire
Pop the champagne!
New Hampshire Antiques Week got underway when the Granite State Antique Shows opened its doors on August 2. One of the most successful and storied weeks in the antiques market had begun, and the opening show was cause for celebration.
The Granite State show is a no-frills affair, although owner Stephen Cyr adds touches that help ease the early start. Complimentary coffee and pastries were available (and tasty). Easy to find, the show is held in an air-conditioned storefront in the Granite Town Plaza with plenty of parking. Fifty dealers set up and offer a wide range of merchandise.
Cyr bought the show in May, and the show has a long history. Originally the Nashua Antiques Show, it became the Milford Antiques Show, which was run weekly by Jack Donigian. When Donigian retired in 2024, the show passed to Rick Martin and Deb Lerner, and then to Cyr. “I’m carrying the torch,” he said.
“I thought the show went very well. I got a lot of positive feedback,” Cyr said afterward. “One dealer at the end said he had a slow show, but everyone else seemed happy.”
“The people who came in early stayed for a long time—a couple of hours. Once they were in, they didn’t leave. I think that’s a very good sign that people are enjoying themselves,” he said. “They’re finding what they want, they are buying, and they’re having conversations with people. It was a success. I had fun. I met new people, and I’m looking forward to next year,” he said.
He added, “I thought the gate may have been down a little bit. Our admission staggers, so it’s hard to tell. My opinion is that we had a lot of real serious buyers and the browsers not so much. I want it to be a fun atmosphere. Obviously, it’s going to be serious. People are there to spend money and look for certain things, but I want it to be enjoyable.”
In November, the weekly show will be open every Sunday until April. After that, the show will be open bi-weekly. Cyr said he has permission from the town to utilize the parking area out front for space to add more dealers. “I could have a hundred dealers outside,” he said. “This thing could really blossom.”
“When a show goes as positively as I think mine did, you look forward to the next one. A yearly show always does well because people look forward to it every year, but to do a monthly or weekly show—that’s the trick. Jack [Donigian] and his father were the only ones in New England, and maybe beyond, to do it and do it successfully. I’m hoping to continue that tradition. People really need a place to meet and conduct business, especially in the wintertime when things get slow.”
For more information, call (603) 506-9848 or check the website (www.gsashows.com).
This English commode dates from the second half of the 19th century. The commode comes with a blue-and-white porcelain bowl marked “Marriott’s Portable Water Closets” and a grain-painted bucket (not shown). It was $1000 from Timothy Zalenski of Peterborough, New York.
The Council of War, a sculptural group by John Rogers (1829-1904), was tagged $4500 from David and Lori Baillargeon of Swinging Bridge Auction, Huntington, Massachusetts. Figures of General Ulysses S. Grant and Secretary of War Edwin W. Stanton flank the seated President Abraham Lincoln.
These floral paintings are signed by artist Volney Allan Richardson (1880-1955) and tagged $950 each from Peter O’Brien of Colchester, Vermont. Born in Attica, New York, Richardson studied at the Buffalo School of Fine Arts with William Merritt Chase and exhibited at the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo.
This bow-tie-wearing duck plant stand from the 1930s is whimsical and $275 from Christine Rosenbaum of Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Seabrook, New Hampshire, dealer Casey Smolla offered these two windows for $2500. He attributed them to Frank Lloyd Wright and noted they were similar to windows in the 1907 Wright-designed Browne’s Bookstore in Chicago. Smolla said the windows used copper-coated zinc caming instead of lead. One window (right) is in better shape, and Smolla suggested using the lesser window to restore the other.
This pair of ivorytypes by B.F. Ferguson are dated 1862. The pair is priced at $2500 from Timothy Zalenski. According to the Historic New Orleans Collection, “American ivorytypes combine photography and painting to create a more affordable alternative to the ivory miniature. These unique, lifelike portraits were made in various sizes.” Ferguson’s studio was located in Philadelphia—“Over Parrish’s Drug Store”—where he offered “Ivorytypes, surpassing the finest painting on Ivory, executed in the best style, at prices to suit the times.”
At 6:30 a.m., there were already people waiting in line for early buying ($30) beginning at 7 a.m. Cyr had coffee and pastries for the early birds.
This French Greiner papier-mâché doll was $300, and the yellow-painted chair she was seated in was $95 from Meryl Pelletier of Raymond, New Hampshire.
The 1740-60 Springfield, Massachusetts, cherry dressing table was tagged $8900, and the grain-painted miniature Empire chest on top, 1820-40, was $950. The booth belonged to the show promoter, Stephen Cyr, who had the chest on consignment from a private collector.
A 1920s signed Heriz rug, 8½' x 11½', was priced at $4500 from dealer Mark Longval of Mountain Rug Co., Parsonsfield, Maine.
This homemade cranberry scoop was dated to the 1700s by dealer Francis Demers of Keene, New Hampshire, who asked $35 for it.
The restored 1930s Dictaphone table was $165 from Denise Monroe of New Boston, New Hampshire. The four volumes of National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans, 1865, was $145, and the pair of “Struggling Librarian” bookends by Kronheim & Oldenbusch Co. was tagged $125.
The primitive horse was priced at $425 from Deb Lerner and Rick Martin, New Boston, New Hampshire. The couple sold Granite State Antique Shows in April to Stephen Cyr.
The brass footman was $375, and the jugs, each marked “Keep Jug Tightly Corked / Wm. Radam’s / “Microbe Killer,” were also individually marked “No. 1” and “No. 2.” The pair was priced at $355, and the signed horse and foal sculpture by French sculptor Christophe Fratin (1801-1864) was tagged $5000; all from Christine Nelson of Hollis, New Hampshire. According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, German gardener and botanist William Radam (1845-1902) immigrated to the United States around 1882, settling in Austin, Texas. He claimed his “Microbe Killer” would cure all diseases. It was a success—until passage of the Federal Food & Drugs Act of 1912. The numbers on each jug referred to the strength of the medicine.
These Matthew Boulton silverplate wine coolers are engraved with a crest and “Spero Meliora,” Latin for “I hope for better things.” Offered as a pair from Greg Hamilton of Stone Block Antiques, Vergennes, Vermont, the pair was priced at $3200.
David Baillargeon sported a patriotic hat.
Even though the show was a morning affair, and it was not terribly hot, Jordan, who recently started working with Cyr, offered plenty of water for both dealers and guests.
These 1910 reverse on glass painted signs for Hallet & Davis Pianos with original labels on the back were priced at $1000 for the pair or $600 each from Alan Lebow Antiques, Beverly, Massachusetts.
Up early was go-getter Frank Gaglio, who was there to shop.
The pair of labeled Fulper Polar Bear bookends, circa 1915, was tagged $550 from Dennis Robida of Deep River Antiques, Essex, Connecticut.
The circa 1900 basket of bailing wire was made by the members of the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, and was tagged $195 from a dealer who only identified herself as RT from Connecticut.
The circa 1900 basket of bailing wire was made by the members of the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, and was tagged $195 from a dealer who only identified herself as RT from Connecticut.
Bryan Provost of Marlborough, New Hampshire, offered railroad lanterns. From the rear: a Canadian Pacific example with an amber globe, priced at $200; New York, New Haven and Hartford with amber globe was priced at $250; and New York Central System with cobalt was priced at $250. Provost said they were never used—they were new old stock from the 1920s and 1930s. Provost also offered a Coleman 1951 Model 200A, so-called the Christmas lantern, for $750.
The Steiff 17PAB 1905 white mohair teddy bear in the small trunk has remnants of a white tag by button and shoe button eyes, and was tagged $2850 from Lori Teahen of Teahen’s Treasures, Greenfield, Massachusetts. The Steiff mohair bear in the larger chair with glass eyes and a working growler, 1940s, was tagged $475. The blond mohair bear in the smaller chair is an early Steiff with a blank button, 1905 to 1906, some loss of fur, missing nose and mouth threads, and the paw pads have been covered in felt; it was tagged $1650. The white Steiff teddy bear on the right, 1906-08, with shoe button eyes, replaced pads on feet, was tagged $1950.
This 1950s fish painting with micro-mosaic coloring is signed by artist John Zaccardi and was tagged $450 from Steve Duplisea of Milford, New Hampshire.
These two grain-painted demilune tables, circa 1830, possibly Maine, were being sold together for $1800 by Thomas Degnan of T.G. Degnan Curated, Ashford, Connecticut. The late 18th-/early 19th-century foo lion carving from China with traces of original paint was tagged $1750.
The long paint-decorated box, possibly for maps, was priced at $200 from Wayne White of Woburn, Massachusetts.
Some dealers set up outside. This smoking cabinet/humidor is lined with copper and priced at $200. Sitting on it was a Meriden B. Company silverplate Victorian pitcher, #284, marked with patent dates of June 13, 1868, and November 3, 1868, also for $200. They were offered by Erik’s Treasure Trove of Salem, New Hampshire.
These two grain-painted demilune tables, circa 1830, possibly Maine, were being sold together for $1800 by Thomas Degnan of T.G. Degnan Curated, Ashford, Connecticut. The late 18th-/early 19th-century foo lion carving from China with traces of original paint was tagged $1750.
This Italia waterfall nest of tables by Angelo Cortesi for Fiam was tagged $475 from Stephen Cyr of North Andover, Massachusetts.
The show is held in an empty storefront in a strip mall.
Glazed terra cotta pig with glass eyes, tagged $45 from Brian Shea of Saugus, Massachusetts.
The one-drawer stand with carved pineapples was tagged $75, and was set up in the bathroom. Stephen Cyr said “I had a corner shelf in there with some toiletries—somebody bought it. I thought ‘Why not?’ No wasted space.”
The Jersey cow weathervane by L. W. Cushing & Sons, Waltham, Massachusetts, circa 1880, was tagged $5500 from Robert Deluca Antiques, Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Stephen Cyr is the new owner of the Granite State Antique Shows.
Moonrise over Highland Light, oil on panel, 11" x 14", by Boston artist David Kooharian (b. 1962) was tagged $1900 from Jim Gahan of Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Originally published in the October 2026 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2026 Maine Antique Digest
