Louise Jessie has been hosting the Northern Neck Antiques Fair for seven Years on Memorial Day week end. She always manages to have some of the best antique dealers at this show. Last year the tents were spread throughout the little town of Lively. Lively is located between Warsaw and Kilmarnock on the Northern Neck of Virginia. She owns and operates Epping Forest Antiques in Lively. Epping Forest Antiques is an adventure in itself. It resembles the old curiosity shop. You never know what you will find.
This show has spawn another show also in the area of Lively. It is on the grounds surrounding Calico Jack's Antiques. Will Bonner is one of the organizers of this show. It just adds to the general excitement. The area as a whole is becoming an antique mecca from Lively, through Kilmarnock, to White Stone antique shops abound.
So if you want some fun shopping this Memorial Day weekend come join the fun. Seriously, we always have great antique shopping in the Northern Neck.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
SEVEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIVE AWAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We started up our business as an Antique Mall the week end of the 4th of July 2003. We had both art and antiques in our background. My father, Donald Sykes Lewis Sr., started Auslew Gallery in Norfolk Va. in 1952. He was in the business until he retired to the Northern Neck of Virginia. Retirement was not as much fun as he had anticipated so he started to look into business locations. He found our current location 15 North Main Street, Kilmarnock, Va. and bought the building. There are 8,400 square feet of space in our building so to begin we needed more merchandise than we had to fill the area. An Antique Mall seemed a reasonable idea.We had a great experience with a lot of wonderful people who became our dealers. Life always changes, and with the economy we realized we had the opportunity to realize our dream of becoming a large single shop. My father lived to see the mall blossom and do well. I can only imagine how proud he would be now of all of us. He passed away just after his 85th birthday in July 2003. That last year of his life he came to the shop almost daily. It gave him a new zest for living.
We want to celebrate our new beginning by offering a free gift to our followers and customers. Check out the mirror above this paragraph. The internet has let us become a shop that sells nationally and even internationally. We have a mirror used by Dorothy Draper in her design of the Greenbrier Hotel in Lewisburg West Virginia. One from the Greenbrier sold at Potomack Company Auction House for $1,200. More than likely the one sold through the auction house went to a dealer or a collector. We will give this away the weekend of July 4th to fans of Lewis Trimble Decorative Arts and Antiques on Facebook.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
There they go again!
China Trade
I have been buying and selling Chinese pottery for years. I had a Chinese friend who started bringing antiques out of the main land when they first opened up for trade. I was able to touch and study old pieces and began to understand how to tell the age of china. I purchased and sold pieces I really should have saved. Through the years we've acquired and sold many pieces. I remember selling online an unusual bowl with a bat wrapped around the outside.
Recently we have had a lot of Chinese nationals come into the shop to buy antique Chinese porcelains. They are buying these to ship back to be auctioned in China. They will haggle for the best price literally beating you into the ground. I have learned to give a little but to stand my ground. We have reserved a few real good pieces that we hide on the back shelf. Recently we sold an oxblood bottle jar that had a mummified bat inside. Bats are good luck in China. We think that this happened by accident. The fruit bat climbed inside and then could not spread his wings so he could fly out. Another piece that they bought was an 18th century scarificial blue vase with poetry written in gold on the exterior that was worn off. This had been made into a lamp in the twenties. We like to have a mixture of things. What we sell on 1stdibs is what people are buying now. Good design and quality are what we go for regardless of period. We like the Chinese antique pieces mixed in with the mid-century modern classics and good Murano glass.
We buy what we like, and we like what is good.
Recently we have had a lot of Chinese nationals come into the shop to buy antique Chinese porcelains. They are buying these to ship back to be auctioned in China. They will haggle for the best price literally beating you into the ground. I have learned to give a little but to stand my ground. We have reserved a few real good pieces that we hide on the back shelf. Recently we sold an oxblood bottle jar that had a mummified bat inside. Bats are good luck in China. We think that this happened by accident. The fruit bat climbed inside and then could not spread his wings so he could fly out. Another piece that they bought was an 18th century scarificial blue vase with poetry written in gold on the exterior that was worn off. This had been made into a lamp in the twenties. We like to have a mixture of things. What we sell on 1stdibs is what people are buying now. Good design and quality are what we go for regardless of period. We like the Chinese antique pieces mixed in with the mid-century modern classics and good Murano glass.
We buy what we like, and we like what is good.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Out Door Greats Salterini & Russell Woodard
Now that spring is here we turn our thoughts to outdoor living. Setting up an outdoor room with great atmosphere is a challenge and fun. M. J., who helps out in the shop, has a little building at the edge of their property over looking their creek. Here they have fabricated a martini house or as she calls, it their tiny " tini house". I'm working on an outdoor area on my deck where I can sip coffee in the mornings and watch our pups play in the yard. Everyone has a different idea of how they'd like to use their outside area.
Using vintage outside furniture gives a warmth and interest to your outside room. A 20th century company that designed exceptional outside furniture is Salterini. John B. Salterini was from Italy, from 1920-1953, he made in the United States quality outdoor furniture which was all hand wrought steel. He made custom furniture for the rich. He some times mixed wood with metal. We have a small outside table by Salterini with the ribbon design and recently acquired a bar with four bar stools with this ribbon design on the bar. He used mahogany along with his wrought iron and a brass foot rail.
Woodard furniture is another good name to remember. Here are two iconic designs from Russell Woodard.
Using vintage outside furniture gives a warmth and interest to your outside room. A 20th century company that designed exceptional outside furniture is Salterini. John B. Salterini was from Italy, from 1920-1953, he made in the United States quality outdoor furniture which was all hand wrought steel. He made custom furniture for the rich. He some times mixed wood with metal. We have a small outside table by Salterini with the ribbon design and recently acquired a bar with four bar stools with this ribbon design on the bar. He used mahogany along with his wrought iron and a brass foot rail.
Woodard furniture is another good name to remember. Here are two iconic designs from Russell Woodard.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Brimfield In May
Nothing is so fine as a day in May, and nothing any finer than to be at the May Brimfield Antique show. All this coming week antiques take over the little town of Brimfield Massachusetts three times a year, however, the May show tends to be the biggest and the best of the year. These shows have been going on at least for 30 years. All winter long dealers from across the states save up and plan for the much anticipated May Show.
I call it a show, but it is a collection of many shows in one. I started attending these shows about 12 years ago with my oldest son Chris. We had just closed a small antique shop that we ran together, and had started doing antique shows on the road. A fellow antique dealer asked if we would share a tent with him. It was cold and wet that year, setting up was a real task. We stayed up all night before opening, and I swore that I'd never set up at another show. We did 3 shows that year, and for the next 8 years or so I helped Chris. It just ended up to be too much fun. We met so many great people. Lewis when he was working in New York City would take a train up to visit with us. Chris is still doing the shows. You can find him at the Meadows #148 across from the office and the coffee/bake shop. Stop by and tell him that we send you.
I call it a show, but it is a collection of many shows in one. I started attending these shows about 12 years ago with my oldest son Chris. We had just closed a small antique shop that we ran together, and had started doing antique shows on the road. A fellow antique dealer asked if we would share a tent with him. It was cold and wet that year, setting up was a real task. We stayed up all night before opening, and I swore that I'd never set up at another show. We did 3 shows that year, and for the next 8 years or so I helped Chris. It just ended up to be too much fun. We met so many great people. Lewis when he was working in New York City would take a train up to visit with us. Chris is still doing the shows. You can find him at the Meadows #148 across from the office and the coffee/bake shop. Stop by and tell him that we send you.
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