Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Jarvis House Gallery at the Heritage Antiques Show

Sometimes you are asked to work at, and do an exhibit to help an historical society. (Click to learn more about the Huntington Historical Society.) This is how a high school gym transforms into a multi dealer Antiques show. The Jarvis House Gallery booth. Panels for booth walls are out side the gym awaiting the end of the high school day.Workers and volunteers roll in the heavy panels on dollies.Each booth is equipped with electrical wiring for lighting.The booth walls go up.Many long rolls of display paper are brought in, each having been treated with special fire proofing solutions.The outside walls of the gym are covered first, always made difficult by gym equipment, large rolls of gym mats, retracted bleachers, and other protuberances.Then the interior booth walls are carefully covered, trying to keep things smooth and even. This takes two people, at least, and a lot of precision and patience.The booths are empty and ready for the dealers, complete with the required tables.Smalls, that is anything besides furniture, come in in cardboard boxes and plastic crates.A rug merchant puts up his display in the foyer.A display of folk art takes shape.Others bring in mostly furniture.Dealers bring display props, jewelry cases, and carpets to cover the gym floor.Here is a booth with a garden theme, featuring an old Salterini armchair and a wrought iron chair accommodating a planter and a hosta.Hanging on the wall of that booth were several very old and locely plant pot holders. This one probably was mounted on a brick chimney or outside wall.A selection of vintage pottery.
Jarvis House Gallery had a grouping of Delano Studios commemorative pottery. This company was originally in operation in Setauket, Long Island from the 1940's through the 1990's. Long Island historic locations are prominent.Identification tags are lined up, ready to be pinned on by all the dealers. People come, the show ends after two days, and it is all packed up for the next show venue.

3 comments:

Sinclair said...

Those are some wonderful items, and boy does that look like it was a lot of work to set up!!

JD said...

I agree. I'm exhausted from looking at the pics.

Elizabeth said...

Hope the show was a great success
yes, it look a huge amount of work to set up!