Heart of Tennessee Antique Show, Lebanon, Tennessee
This year’s show was the eighth annual edition of the Heart of Tennessee Antique Show, which opened with early buying and a bit of wine from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 15, and continued Friday and Saturday, February 16 and 17. The exhibitor list of almost 40 dealers included many names familiar to dedicated buyers at the Nashville-area shows.
Hannah Humes of Alexandria, Ohio, had a high-country look with many transportable pieces of furniture and accessories. At center stood a drop-side table with beautifully grained leaves, circa 1830, priced at $4900.
Collectors had a special opportunity at 3 p.m. on the opening day for a lecture on pie safes by antiques authority and well-known auctioneer Jeffrey S. Evans. They gained some special insights before heading out onto the floor.
The show is held at the 79,000-square-foot facility now known as the Farm Bureau Exposition Center, located to the east of Nashville, beyond the airport, in Lebanon, Tennessee. Spacious and well equipped with extensive parking, the facility is universally praised by dealers for the ease of load-in and setup.
Maybe it was the relaxed exhibitors, but the overall look of the show was one of elegance, whatever inventory categories were displayed. There was certainly the formality of 18th- and 19th-century furniture, accessories, and art. Also on board, however, were the attractive regional forms one would expect to find in this mid-southern state. The lighting and spacious aisles made everything look good.
Warm tones in the booth of R. Stephen Johns of Grosbeak Antiques, Bloomington, Indiana, included a Navajo rug, Two Grey Hills design, 1920-40, for $975, along with many baskets. The circular basket immediately below the rug was $1450.
The Nashville shows in February have become a place to which veteran visitors are drawn by a sense of reunion. Dealers and customers have formed friendships, and the dealers work to keep the good stuff coming. Also, with luck, spring gets an early start in this wooded state.
Well worth mentioning is that Heart of Tennessee is the only Nashville-area show that publishes a booklet for attendees to pick up at the door. This has not only a map of dealer spaces but also their contact information for customers to take home. Favorite dealers are easy to locate on the floor, but—more importantly—when a collector realizes they let something get away, a quick call can remedy the situation. The conversation often begins “Did you sell that...?” These days, those cell phone shots of tempting objects make them even harder to forget.
The hooked rug everyone loves—two friendly lions and a bold slash of red—was $1850 from Steve Sherhag of Early American Antiques, Canfield, Ohio. The gray two-drawer cupboard partially shown below was $1750.
John and Wanda Joiner of Newnan, Georgia, were exhibitors who were rewarded with a great show after years of hard work. Their specialties are southern furniture, stoneware, bottles, and folk art. In fact, John said it was the best show they ever had, and only around three pieces made it back home. This came at a perfect time for them, as they plan to scale back and put into action long-awaited travel plans.
The dates for next year’s edition of Heart of Tennessee will be February 13-15, 2025, with the preview party on Thursday evening, 4 to 8 p.m.
This year, there was a new offering close by Heart of Tennessee, the Lebanon Antique Show, which opened at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 16, and ran through Saturday, February 17. That show, organized by Linda Miller and Katherine Bovard, also will continue in 2025.
To learn more about both future events, go to (www.heartoftennesseeantiqueshow.com). There you will find information on how to contact manager and promoter Bovard, who is the show’s creator and guiding light.
Debbie Lund of Wheeling, West Virginia, assembled an eclectic booth that included a Dutch marquetry tall chest and matching headboard, $3500, and a butterfly lamp, $475.
Rick Setser of Decatur, Georgia, who shared a booth with Phillip Hunter of Savannah, Georgia, had a southern pine slant-top desk, priced at $795, accompanied by vintage baskets and photos.
On the formal side, Rick Setser brought this four-drawer Sheraton chest, possibly New Hampshire, priced at $3400, and a pair of gilded Regency mirrors, $2800.
Scott Filar of American Huckleberry, Knoxville, Tennessee, described these as a “pair of civil rights era carvings displaying great tenderness and optimism.” They are signed and were priced at $675.
Larry N. Thompson of Mr. Chippendale’s Best, Snellville, Georgia, is certainly a furniture man, but he brought great paintings as well. The 1844 painting at top left shows ships engaged in the Battle of Trafalgar. By British marine painter Richard Ball Spencer (1812-1897), it was $6500. The outstanding frame has more sails at the top and plaques with the combatants’ names: Princess Charlotte, Bellerophon, and Benbow. The inlaid cherry chest below, from the Piedmont region of North Carolina, dated 1820, was $3000.
Frank Swala of Swala’s Antiques, Washington, Pennsylvania, has had major interest from serious collectors in this exceptional example of southern pottery, a harvest face jug by Charles Decker (1832-1914) from Keystone Pottery in Washington County, Tennessee, circa 1875. It was priced at $250,000.
Frank Swala of Swala’s Antiques brought a regional form, a Tennessee cherry food safe, attributed to John Wolfe (1810-1891), priced at $9500. The piece was photographed often during the show; interested parties followed up, and the food safe sold to one of them later.
Lisa McAllister of Clear Spring, Maryland, brought this creatively abstract “floating objects” hooked rug, priced at $2400.
James William Lowery Fine Antiques & Art, Baldwinsville, New York, brought one of the great quilts of the show, a Whig Rose creation in beautiful condition that was $5600. Underneath sat a dower chest from Pennsylvania for $12,885. The 20th-century acrylic sculpture by Cuban/American artist Hivo G. Van Teal was $1685.
Betty Bell of Betty Bell Antiques, Dallas, Texas, is best known for high-quality seasonal antiques. This year she also brought this Old Paris porcelain Madonna and Child in a glass dome with an inlaid base, 18" high, priced at $975. The Father Christmas at right, in original condition, with a peaked cap and a basket on his back, 21" high, circa 1916, was $15,500.
The best-door-in-show winner was this 18th-century carved example, decorated with forged iron nails. Displayed by Erik D. Wohl of Jupiter, Florida, it was $950.
In Erik D. Wohl’s booth stood an ever-so-useful map and blueprint chest, with its original surface and hardware, priced at $1450. On top was an Amish marble game for $295.
Fronting the spacious display of Blandon Cherry of Paris, Kentucky, was this eye-catching 1960s sculpture of a woman emerging from a carved cedar tree trunk—not a mermaid but perhaps a dryad—priced at $4500. The pair of cast-iron lions from Louisville, Kentucky, was $12,500. They might be better off in a garden. At the back of the scene, the cherry and mahogany-veneer southern sideboard/sugar chest, South Carolina, Kentucky, or Middle Tennessee, was $8900. It was below a 1959 painting by Bernard Cathelin (French, 1919-2004), priced at $8500.
Art Pappas Antiques offered for $6500 this charming circa 1830 portrait of a young boy with basket of fruit and his favorite dog.
Art Pappas Antiques, Woodbury, Connecticut, erected a magnificent cast-metal architectural element with phoenixes and masks, late 19th or early 20th century. This could make a great interior, but it would have to be in the right place. The dealer had found it in Florida—which makes sense—but was still thinking about the price. The carved wooden frame at center with a beveled glass mirror was $1150.
Although “Big-Bang” and “Safe and Sane” rarely go together, both were promised by this advertisement for a “No danger” cannon. The ad was $1800 from Mark Hulse.
Originally published in the May 2024 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2024 Maine Antique Digest
