This weekend in Portland: America’s Largest Antique & Collectibles Show on Sat. and Sun., March 3 and 4

[singlepic id=495 w=320 h=240 float=left]How do you know it’s almost spring? It’s all the collectibles dealers filling up the floor space at shows with sensational items and raring to make a deal!

If you’re just coming out of hibernation – and especially if you suffer from seasonal affective disorder (as I do) – there’s no better place to improve your mood and just have a great time than going to America’s Largest Antiques & Collectibles Shows, organized by Palmer/Wirfs & Associates of Portland, Ore. The next show is at the Portland Expo Center on Sat. and Sun., March 3 and 4, and will have 1,000-plus booths.

I’ve started asking exhibitors what they’ll be bringing to the March show, and the first replies just came in …

Greg Davidson of Greg Davidson Antique Lighting – formerly of L.A. and now located on Bainbridge Island, Wash. – has been specializing in old and beautiful lamps, chandeliers, shades and other lighting fixtures and accouterments for more than 25 years. Greg told me he’s mostly packed up his collection for the show, but he mentioned that he’ll be bringing a really cute circa 1915 piano lamp marked “Germany” and showing two boys stalking a mouse (priced at $575), and an American-made eight-arm gas/electric brass chandelier, circa 1900 and now wired (price not noted).

Dick Carter of Dick Carter and Associates specializes in logging tools and outdoor sporting collectibles. While I’m anything but handy around the house, I’m interested in the collectability of tools – they sometimes come up on “Antiques Roadshow” – and especially logging tools here in the Northwest, so I asked Dick about it. He replied, “I have been interested in them for only a few years myself now … They, like most collectibles, are pretty difficult to find in any condition, let alone in great condition. I will have mainly some older axes and a couple of spring boards that I’ve gathered and now it’s time to pass them on.”

You may recall a Louis Vuitton travel trunk from the 1920s that was appraised on a recent “Antiques Roadshow.” Well, Portland exhibitor Paul Norton is one of the premier antique trunk restorers in the U.S., and owns Hartco Travel Trunks of Plymouth, Conn. Paul has a stock of pre-1890 trunks, strongboxes, tool chests and immigrants’ chests. The best way to describe his profession is as a traveling itinerant merchant.

Paul also does a bit of tinkering and repairing of trunks at shows. With many friends spread over the countryside, there are always opportunities to set-up in front of busy shop locations. “Conversation often turns to the history and evolution of trunks.” He told me. “There’s usually hammering and stripping of trunks going on, with the crowd amazed at the overall activity of the place.”

Among Paul’s offerings: hide trunks from circa 1800 to 1830; carriage trunks from the 1850s or thereabouts; dome tops from the 1860s to the 1880s; and flats. He also has some especially rare and interesting pieces, such as a harp trunk from about 1890, for transporting the instrument between performances; and an original 1830s wall trunk from north-shore Boston that is covered with sailcloth and was used for transporting tea.

For more information, visit:

Greg Davidson Antique Lighting: www.antiquelighting.biz
America’s Largest Antique & Collectibles Shows: www.palmerwirfs.com

All images courtesy of Greg Davidson Antique Lighting
America’s Largest Antique & Collectibles Shows is a sponsor of AmeriCollector

[nggallery id=88]