September 2019

September 2019 VADA News

Fall is in the air—cooler mornings and evenings and lovely days. October is Vermont Antiques Week—5 great shows all in one weekend, October 3rd  through the 6th!
The shows are filled with great antiques from dealers from all over the country.

The shows for Vermont Antiques Week kick off with the Weston Antiques Show, Weston Playhouse, Park Street, Weston. Preview, Thursday, October 3rd, 5pm to 7pm, $75 per person; Friday and Saturday, October 4th and 5th, 10am to 5pm, $10.

Okemo Antique Show, Okemo Lodge, 318 Mountain Road, Ludlow. Preview October 4th, 2pm to 6pm, $15; Saturday, October 5th, 10am to 3pm, $10.

Black River Antique Show, Ludlow Community Center, 37 South Main Street, Ludlow. Preview Friday, October 4th, 7pm to 9pm, $15; Saturday, October 5th, 10am to 3pm, $8.

Antiques at Stratton Mountain, The Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association Show, Stratton Mountain Base Lodge, 5 Village Road Lodge Road, Stratton. Saturday, October 5th, 8am to 5pm and Sunday, October 6th, 11am to 3pm, $10.

Antiques in Vermont, Okemo Lodge, 318 Mountain Road, Ludlow. Sunday, October 6th, 8am to 2:30pm, $10.

For more information on all the shows, including places to stay, restaurants, and area attractions, please visit www.vermontantiquesweek.com

Our featured dealers of the month are Toni and Gregory Prince, The Horse and the Bear Antiques, Norwich, Vermont. Both Toni and Gregory were exposed to antiques at a young age—Toni’s father had a Rare Children’s bookstore in New York City and Gregory’s grandfather collected museum quality pewter and silver, pieces of which are now at Deerfield in Massachusetts and the Hogg Museum in Texas. Toni began collecting antiques while she and Gregory lived in Amherst, Massachusetts in the late 1980’s when Gregory was president of Hampshire College and she had to furnish the 5-bedroom college president’s home. The first antique she bought was a gift for Gregory’s inauguration as college president--a large, painted platform rocking horse that resided in the front hall of the house until he retired and they returned to their home and farm in Vermont. 

Toni’s love of horses and antiques continues to this day. Toni has a riding school, The Prince and the Pauper, at their farm where she has 40 students. She and Gregory do nearly 100 percent of the care of the farm, leaving one to wonder when she has time for her antiques business!

Toni has been buying and selling antiques since the 1990’s, doing many shows and maintaining a booth at the Antiques Collaborative in Quechee, Vermont. In addition, she occasionally holds an Antiques Only Barn sale at the farm. Gregory is an enthusiastic supporter of both the antiques business and the farm while also pursuing his own work as an educational consultant, traveling several days a week.

Toni never buys anything to sell that she wouldn’t have in their own home or collections. She especially looks for unusual items to sell. Their own personal collections range from pond boats and Grenfell rugs to old copper and silver and books. Toni has her father’s entire First Edition Winnie the Pooh signed by both Milne and Shepherd. They also collect large platform horses, small pull toy horses, doll houses, and other child related toys. Toni is always looking for other “collections” to start!

Toni and Gregory share the experience of being dealers and love what they do whether it is doing shows or working on the farm. They have no current plans for retiring! They are lucky in that both their grown children have a love for antiques and are collectors themselves, ensuring that at least some of their collections will someday be passed along.

They enjoy doing small local shows like the Norwich Antiques Show where people with children can come and interact with the dealers and where hopefully an interest in antiques may be passed along to the younger generation. You can visit with them at the Norwich Antiques Show as well as other shows.

The Fifteenth Annual Norwich Antiques show is Saturday, September 14th, 10am to 3pm on the grounds of the Norwich Historical Society, Main and Elm Streets. In addition to wonderful antiques, there is great food, live music, and a raffle. There are two new features this year, “The Doctor is In”, expert advice on the care and repair of antiques, 11am to 1pm; and Informal appraisals by Andrew Katz, Windham Antiques Appraisal Services, 1pm to 3pm. Plan to stop by for a full day of antiquing fun!

Have a wonderful fall and enjoy your antiquing wherever it leads you.
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Vesta Urband  vkurband@gmail.com