We have been back in Maine for a few weeks now getting organized for the 2006 season. As you might guess our place is currently overflowing with new inventory we acquired since closing for the season last fall. While we don’t want to tip our hand too much before we open officially the beginning of June, there are a few things that deserve special early recognition. The next few posts will talk about them.
While we were in Nashville we had the good luck to meet the family owners of an old, respected mid-western furniture restoration business. They had never been to an antique show as vendors before but decided they had too much furniture stored away in their barn at home and thus wanted to sell a few things. They chose the big Nashville show to do it. Everything they brought was choice but since we are New England dealers and didn’t want anything that wouldn’t look right in our part of the country we settled on only one piece. It is a wonderful pewter storage cabinet in great old barn red paint from the early 19th century.
The piece is perfect nothing has been fiddled with. In fact we bought it for what the gentleman had paid for it a number of years earlier. He showed us the bill. Not that it was inexpensive mind you but because it was a New England piece he really didn’t want to keep it and because it was big he definitely didn’t want to lug it back home. We came along at just the right time.
The cabinet is 19 inches deep, 37 inches wide and stands 77 inches tall. The soft patina of the old painted wood shelves gives off a dull red glow that makes a perfect background for a collection of china plates or small framed works of art. (The decoys in our photo look pretty good as well.) Ample storage down below makes the piece as practical as it is beautiful. This lovely piece of furniture has come back home to where it started from nearly 200 years ago and we are proud to offer it for sale for $5800.
