Nantucket Antiques Show to benefit Fireman's Association
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER

Whether you are a collector or merely admire what artisans crafted centuries ago, the island's yearly, quality antiques shows are always enjoyable and educational. On Friday, July 25, the Nantucket Antiques Show will open at the high school to benefit the Nantucket Fireman's Association.

The show, which runs through Sunday the 27th, will have more than 25 dealers from across the Northeast and Europe with wares of furniture, paintings, prints, lighting, jewelry, oriental rugs and more, spanning the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The show includes 45-minute lectures at 9 a.m. by experts in their fields. Lectures are included in the show admission price.

Frank Shaia, one of the lecturers, is the promoter of this year's event.

Friday's lecture is by Nula Thanhauser on antique, vintage and signature purses. She will highlight distinctive purses from the Victorian era through Art Nouveau, the 1940s and beyond. She will also show examples of purse reconstructions using classic frames and new purse bottoms including vintage fabrics and skins.

On Saturday, David Weston, a collector of marine and scientific antiques for more than 40 years, will showcase navigational instruments and sailor woolworks. On Sunday, Shaia will speak on antique oriental rugs that are available today. A second generation oriental rug dealer, Shaia, of Williamsburg, Va., has been in business since 1973. He will discuss rugs woven prior to Christ's birth to the present day with a focus on oriental rugs from the period of 1880 to 1920.

This year's show will also contain an exhibit of rare, not-for-sale 17th and 18th century Brussels and French tapestries on loan from a New York City private collection.

The Nantucket Stock Exchange is the local business represented at the show and will display a variety of nautical items and antiques. Other dealers include:

• B. Fine Art, Beverly, Mass., antique prints 17th - 19th century

• David Brooker Fine Art, Surry, England and Woodbury, Conn., European paintings

• David Weston, Cranbrook, England, marine globes, paintings, scrimshaw

• Derek and Tina Rayment, Chester, UK, barometers

• Eve Stone Antiques, Woodbridge, Conn., metalware

• Fair Trade Antiques, Shelburne Falls, Mass., late 19th century Colonial British and Anglo-Raj furniture and more

• G. Keith Funston, Jr. Antiques, Sudbury, Mass., period furniture and art

• Goldleaf, Atlanta, Ga., oils, porcelain, silver

• House of Windsor, Newport, R.I., antique and estate jewelry

• Interior Expressions, Millwood, Va., furniture and accessories

• Jerry S. Hayes, Oklahoma City, Ok., Majolica

• Nula Thanhauser, Philadelphia, Pa., antique purses

• Patricia Barger, Fairfield, Conn., period furniture, paintings and clocks

• Peg Wills Antiques, Falmouth, Mass., nautical antiques, furniture, art, Nantucket lightship baskets

• Perry-Joyce Fine Arts, Sawyer, Mich., British and European paintings, needleworks

• Plum Cottage, Fair Haven, N.J., linens and textiles

• Poverty Hollow, Newtown, Conn., English, French and American country antiques

• Shaia Oriental Rugs, Williamsburg, Va., antique oriental rugs

• Susan Barr Antiques, Trumbull, Conn., English and French furniture, decorative and nautical items

• The Country Squire, Milton, Mass., English library furniture, miniature furniture

• William Nickerson Antiques, Orleans, Mass., 18th and 19th century American furniture

• Yew Tree House Antiques, New York City, English country furniture.

A preview party will be held from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 24 with appetizers and the chance to see what items will be on sale the next day. The show is open to the public from 10 a.m. untill 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the show will be open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission to the preview party is $50 and may be reserved by calling 757-220-0400. Regular admission is $10. All funds from the show will go to the Nantucket Fireman's Association with its 21 full-time crew and 20 on-call personnel.