AUGUSTA — It hasn’t been the easiest couple of years for those in the antiques trade, according to James LeFurgy, the president of the Maine Antique Dealers Association and the owner of Water Street Antiques in Wiscasset.
But if the Augusta Armory Antiques Show is anything to go by, things may be looking up. The annual New Year’s Day show is held at the Augusta Armory and this year drew 41 Maine vendors.
“Last year I did better than the year before,” said LeFurgy, one of the dealers at the Sunday show. “It’s gradually increasing, so I’m a little upbeat about it.”
Among LeFurgy’s offerings this weekend were a wooden dressing table made in the early 1800s — in the same time period Maine was becoming a state — and a woman’s bag made from linen, velvet and beads by a member of the Maliseet Native American tribe around 1850.
“It’s in great condition,” LeFurgy said of the small bag, which was black and featured a floral pattern on either side.
Furniture, artwork, postcards and other odds and ends were in great supply at the Sunday show, which drew a steady stream of visitors and potential customers throughout the sunny morning.
The cost to enter the show was $3, making it “one of the least expensive shows to come to,” said Jim Montell, its organizer.
The show has been running for more than 27 years, and Montell has also organized fall and spring shows in the Augusta Armory.
“It has turned out to be a wonderful location,” he said.
Mike Lokuta, a collector and dealer of old photos, was among those perusing the stalls at the 2017 show.
“I always come out hunting, scrounging and scrapping,” he said.
So far, Lokuta said, he had purchased a black-and-white photo of a western landscape that resembled something Ansel Adams would have shot and a 1840s daguerreotype — a photo made using silver plates and mercury vapor — of a young family.
The man in the photo bore a passing resemblance to Abraham Lincoln, but Lokuta said he didn’t know who the portrait’s subjects were.
“The details have disappeared into the ether of history,” he said.
Charles Eichacker — 621-5642
Twitter: @ceichacker
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.