Furniture Makes a Comeback at Antiques in Charlottesville While convention may have it that American furniture isn’t the hot item it used to be, dealers at the premiere of Antiques in Charlottesville January 22-24 reported a high volume of furniture sales.
Furniture Makes a Comeback at Antiques in Charlottesville
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, January 27, 2010—While convention may have it that American furniture isn’t the hot item it used to be, dealers at the premiere of Antiques in Charlottesville January 22-24 reported a high volume of furniture sales.
“If I had one word for what moved out the doors of the Holiday Inn last weekend it would be mahogany,” said Jay Melrose, partner in The Antique Show, formerly Melrose & Duddy. “We’ll be watching this closely to see if it’s a local phenomenon or the beginnings of a trend.”
Carroll and David Swope of Canton, Ohio were dealers who had the good fortune of selling furniture at the Charlottesville show. There was one less piece, a walnut Pembroke table, to load in the truck Sunday night.
Bettianne Sweeney of Williamsburg, Virginia says she is pleased with three significant sales of furniture at Antiques in Charlottesville. Sweeney went home without a red step-back cupboard, a circa 1790s Queen Anne Chair with a Spanish foot and a blanket chest with original finish.
“I keep hearing that furniture isn’t selling, but I was pleased,” Sweeney says. “I’d say furniture sales are picking up.”
Scott Cilley of Northumberland Antiques in Richmond, Virginia may have left the most furniture behind in Charlottesville. He sold at least seven furniture items including a mid- 18th century walnut game table, a one drawer Virginia stand, a set of four mid-18th century walnut dining chairs and a circa 1770-1780 Mahogany tilt-top tea table with a Tidewater, Virginia family history.
Cilley, who sells furniture almost exclusively, says it bothers him to hear people in the industry refer to it as “brown furniture.” “It’s all individual; it’s hand-made,” Cilley says. “It doesn’t help to lump it all together in a big, brown and bland category.”
Cilley blames the recession for most of the decline in furniture sales, however and agrees sales are picking up.
“People are suffering from frugal-fatigue,” Cilley says. “They want to get out and buy something. We saw that in Charlottesville. They’re sticking their toe back in the market waters.”
Jay Melrose, of Poland, Ohio, began selling antiques at shows in the mid 1980’s and, armed with that experience, has worked to rethink the formula of antiques show promotion. Today The Antiques Show exhibits feature an exciting array of knowledgeable dealers who are engaging generations of new buyers.
More information about Antiques in Charlottesville is available on the web at
www.antiquesincharlottesville.com. More information on The Antiques Show is available at http://www.theantiquesshow.com
