Antiques in Manchester: The Collector’s Fair 2024

Manchester, New Hampshire

On Wednesday, August 7, at 10 a.m. Karen DiSaia of DiSaia Management opened the doors to Antiques in Manchester: The Collector’s Fair, the large two-day 60-dealer show in the Sullivan Arena on the campus of St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. It’s a glittering and vibrant marketplace, and one of the most anticipated shows held during Antiques Week in New Hampshire.

The floor plan was a little different this year. Several exhibitors had moved to other shows, and some dealers had health issues at the last minute and were not able to exhibit.

DiSaia said, “It was pretty good. People did well. There was a lot of selling, right up until the last minute—big stuff. Some people told me it was the best show they ever had there. People were writing up stuff all the time.”

The circa 1860 Goddess of Liberty weathervane, 36" x 25", by William Henis (1833-1907) of Philadelphia was $75,000 from Dennis Raleigh and Phyllis Sommer of Searsport, Maine. The carved eagle by John Haley Bellamy (1836-1914) of Kittery Point, Maine, 26" long, with an untouched surface, was $4500. The folk-art cane is by Mike Cribbins (1837-1917) of Lake Orion, Michigan. Made from a diamond willow branch, it features three snakes, a shield, symbolic carvings, dates, and a presentation inscription to “J W Sayer” of the 19th Massachusetts Infantry. It was tagged $7500.

The show has become an essential part of New Hampshire Antiques Week. “As we all know, New Hampshire Antiques Week is the most exciting event on the antique calendar, not only for dealers but clients as well. Clients plan months ahead with motel and airline reservations to come and seriously buy to advance their collections. Dealers have already started setting aside special things for next year’s show. This combination all goes into making New Hampshire week the very special week it always is and has been for over sixty years,” said Searsport, Maine, dealer Dennis Raleigh, who shows with his wife, Phyllis Sommer.

“Personally we had our second biggest show ever,” said Raleigh. “The attendance was huge, the energy ever bigger, and all this goes in part to the enormous hard work that Karen does to make this event what it is. Hats off to her.”

This Akstafa rug, East Caucasus, circa 1900, 8'11" x 5'7", was $3000 from Frandino Antique Oriental Rugs, Walpole, New Hampshire.

Lori Frandino of Frandino Antique Oriental Rugs, Walpole, New Hampshire, said, “We had a fabulous show, probably one of our best ever in thirty years of exhibiting. The stars must have all aligned for us as we sold in every category of antique rug you could think of. A large Shirvan rug was one of the first ones to sell, and then they just kept going. We even had Incollect sales after the show, which was a great surprise! This is such a beautiful and well-run show.”

Incollect photographs the show and posts objects online after the show is over, which extended the show until August 23, giving dealers more bang for the buck.

The pair of Harris & Co. horse weathervanes, each 48" long, has a history of being on a barn in Florida where horses were trained in the winter. Ted and Jennifer Fuehr of American Spirit Antiques, Shawnee Mission, Kansas, asked $15,000 for the pair.

“We had a good show but did not set any record,” said Ted Fuehr of American Spirit Antiques, Shawnee Mission, Kansas. “Our sales are about at the same level for three years running. The crowd seemed to be about the same as last year. I will say that there seemed to be more buying this year. Karen did a great job replacing the dealers she lost. She is now scheduling load-in, and it is working very well. It appeared to me that there were more dealers buying during setup. I thought that was a good sign. Overall, I thought that it appeared that the customers who came spent money, and many came back late morning after attending the New Hampshire dealers’ show. We did make a couple of sales in the early afternoon to customers who returned on Thursday.”

Hailing from a small carnival in Arkansas, the homemade carnival knockdowns were $1650 from Matt Greig Antiques, Dover, Delaware. It was Greig’s second show during Antiques Week. He also set up at the Deerfield show.

Matt Greig, a dealer from Dover, Delaware, did two shows during the week, the Deerfield show and Antiques in Manchester. “This was my first time setting up at Antiques in Manchester. I was pleased overall with my sales. The best part was how many new customers I sold to, people I’ve never met before. I’ve set up at two other shows run by Karen, so I knew it would be professionally managed. She was a dealer too, so she knows what it’s like to be an exhibitor and manages shows accordingly. Crowds seemed solid at not only Antiques in Manchester but all the shows I attended throughout the week. Karen’s show does a great job at social media. I wish I saw more of that from other shows. I believe it’s the best way to reach not only new customers but also younger ones.”

The comb-back Windsor chair, Lisbon, Connecticut, circa 1800, has bittersweet paint over the original black. Ex-Don Walters, it sold at Sotheby’s in 1996. Jane Langol of Medina, Ohio, asked $3200 for it. The covered ball compote with a waterfall base is by Bakewell, Pears and Company. It is 15½" high and was priced at $1950.

Dealer Jane Langol of Medina, Ohio, added, “I had a strong show but sold slightly less than last year. I sold two quilts, two paintings, four pieces of pottery, and a great cow advertising sign. I sold two folk houses.... The attendance was great—lots of folks returned on day two, and I had six good sales on Thursday.... Despite my personal success, I felt some exhibitors appeared scant on powerful, knockout, button-busting items for sale. I think this reflects the difficulty in finding fresh, great stuff worthy of an upper-level show. Overall, a must-see week of fun.”

The oil on canvas by Edward Christiana (1912-1992), Stonington Houses, 30" x 42", was $4250 from Scott Ferris of J & R Ferris Antiques, Boonville, New York. Christiana graduated from Pratt Institute in 1933 and was on the teaching staff at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute from 1943 until he retired in 1982.

“The show, for me, began after I posted my ads in the antiques trade papers—making a good preshow sale. The on-site sales were about average,” said Scott R. Ferris of J & R Ferris Antiques, Boonville, New York. “The attendance appeared to be quite strong at the opening, but it dissipated much earlier than usual. Karen keeps the dealer quality level high, so the show always is impressive.... I tried something different this time around: exhibiting two mini retrospectives for the artists Rockwell Kent and Edward Christiana. In addition, I included a mini sociopolitical display—focusing on working women, war, gun violence—on my outer wall by juxtaposing the art of Kent and Mary Gaylord Loy.”

This New Hampshire chair table in red paint has shaped arms, scrolled sides, a cyma-scrolled front, and raised feet. The top is 42¾" x 43¼", and it stands 27¼" high. The maple and birch chair table has a two-board pine top and is attributed to southern New Hampshire. It was dated circa 1790 by Wiscasset, Maine, dealer Peter Eaton, who asked $24,000 for it. He’s sold it once before—in 1982 when he advertised it in The Magazine Antiques.

Wiscasset, Maine, dealer Peter Eaton said, “It turned out to be a very good show for us—and I think a number of other dealers as well. I sold a five-foot sawbuck table, a William and Mary highboy, a rare early New Hampshire stand, a Queen Anne oval-top tea table, an 18th-century chest in crusty salmon paint, a one-drawer blanket chest that had come out of a house in Augusta last week, a Spanish-foot side chair, a child’s Windsor highchair, three paint-decorated boxes, a Boston sewing stand of bird’s-eye maple, a good burl bowl, a terrific 18th-century toaster, a good hooked rug, a half-dozen small pictures and miniatures. It was a busy couple of days! Old and new customers, 50 to 80 age bracket. People are hungry for antique furniture—a good sign!”

Karen DiSaia is lauded for her hands-on management style that is both efficient and bears a friendly touch. She said she gives each dealer a bag of mostly healthy snacks before the show. “I make goodie bags that have cookies, granola bars, water—all this stuff. It’s not always easy for dealers to find something quick to eat.” That is 60 goodie bags, “and it’s enough for two people,” she noted. DiSaia also said she wanted to firmly address rumors about the show’s future. “I’m not retiring, and I’m not selling the business,” she stated.

For more information, contact Karen DiSaia at (860) 908-0076 or check the website (www.antiquesinmanchester.com).

The set of six early 19th-century salmon-painted birdcage Windsor side chairs, each with a seat height of 17½", was $3250 from Joseph J. Lodge of Lederach, Pennsylvania. The appliquéd quilt features coxcomb flowers, a scalloped border, and trapunto decoration. The maker’s name and the date 1869 are on the 6'8" x 5'11" quilt that was priced at $3500.

This Classical worktable, Boston, circa 1813, attributed to Thomas Seymour was $12,500 from Christopher Settle of Newton, Massachusetts.

The Queen Anne burl and maple high chest with walnut herringbone inlays, southeastern coast of Massachusetts, circa 1740, is diminutive, only 64¾" x 35½" wide (top) and 37¾" wide (bottom). Ex-Mabel and Francis P. Garvan, it was $34,500 from Antique Associates at West Townsend, West Townsend, Massachusetts. The engraved brasses are original (one replaced), and the drop pendants are probably original. According to David Hillier, several features have a similar style to Boston pieces, but the cornice configuration with a long drawer, the lack of applied cockbeading to the lower case apron, and the extra cross-banding to the drawer fronts point to the shop traditions found along the southeast coast of Massachusetts. Above the chest, the oil on wooden panel portrait of Daniel Yanior, a member of the Philadelphia Butchers Guild, by James Herring (b. 1794), circa 1824, 261/8" x 203/8", was $5200. The Butchers Guild hired Herring in 1824 to paint portraits of each of its members. The Westerwald stoneware jug on top, with a “GR” monogram for George Rex, indicating King George of England, was $1950. The 18th-century jug stands 10" high.

It was the dog days of August. The Swiss late 19th-century dog family sculpture (left) with a mother watching over her pups, 9" x 15" x 10¾", was $8500. The walnut Black Forest dog inkwell, Swiss, late 19th century, 5½" x 11" x 6", was $1450; both from Leatherwood Antiques.

The Federal grain-painted two-drawer pine blanket chest, New England, circa 1820, has a hinged lid over two false drawers, two long drawers underneath, and bracket feet, and it measures 37" x 40" x 17¾". Roberto Freitas of Stonington, Connecticut, asked $2850 for it. The glass bowl with 31 pieces of velvet fruit, vegetables, and butterflies, mid-19th century, was $22,500.

The circa 1930 folk-art floor lamp was found in Maine. It features a carved hand and leafy vines and is 62¼" high. It was $2200 from A Bird in Hand Antiques.

The portrait of a man by Maine artist E. E. Finch (active 1832-50) is identified on the back as H. L. Hawks and dated 1841. Measuring 33" x 29", it was $3800 from Samuel Herrup Antiques, Sheffield, Massachusetts. For more on Finch, see Marius Péladeau’s two articles in Maine Antique Digest: “E. E. Finch: A Puzzling Folk Artist,” November 1987, page 28-D, and “E. E. Finch, Folk Artist—Part II,” July 1988, page 8-D.

The four-drawer chest was attributed to Abiel White (1766-1844) of Weymouth, Massachusetts, by Bethany Kelly of BDK Antiques and Design, Limington, Maine. It was tagged $1350. The tabletop nine-drawer chest with a gallery was $795, and the 18th-century creamware cat was $2800.

Martin and Kathyann Weber of Cobblestone Antiques, Middletown, New York, asked $7500 for the circa 1920 illuminated tavern sign that reads “BEER,” made of brass, glass, and painted aluminum or zinc foam, with a porcelain and brass light socket and a real glass mug, all original.

The early 20th-century giraffe carousel figure with an old repainted surface was $9500 from Dennis and Valerie Bakoledis of Rhinebeck, New York.

The 18th-century Hudson Valley, New York, settle bench was tagged $14,000 by Bettina Krainin of Bethlehem, Connecticut. The circa 1890 folk-art rag doll with moccasins and a bracelet with beads, from the southwestern United States, was $1400.

The Stevenson family Queen Anne walnut dressing table, Philadelphia, 1740-60, with an old surface, scalloped skirt, and drake feet, measures 31" x 37" x 31", and it was $29,500 from The Hanebergs Antiques, East Lyme, Connecticut. The Canton punch bowl is 15" diameter and was $2750. “I had a great show,” said Bob Haneberg. “Sold lots of different categories to old friends and new friends. It was a great show, and Karen does a great job.”