Annual Antiques Show Opens Friday
The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) announces that its 30th annual August Antiques Show will be held this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 3–5, 2007, at the Nantucket New School, 15 Nobadeer Farm Road. The August Antiques Show is the major fund-raising event for the NHA’s preservation and education programs, and is being chaired by Connie Cigarran, with honorary chairs are Kathryn Kay and Robert Young.
The prestigious Antiques Council, an organization dedicated to ensuring the quality of antiques and historical works of art, manages the August Antiques Show. Visitors from across the country travel to Nantucket to view American and English furniture, fine art, Oriental rugs, books, maritime antiques, folk art, and Nantucket memorabilia. “We have more founders for this year’s show than ever before,” said Cigarran. “It is a wonderful tribute honoring our 30th year, particularly because the NHA August Antiques Show is known as one of the best shows on the east coast.”
The Antiques Show week will begin on Tuesday, July 31, at 6 p.m., with a lecture by Nancy N. Campbell, chairperson emerita of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Sponsored by the Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association, the lecture will be held at the Whaling Museum with a reception immediately following.
For the fourth consecutive year, the August Antiques Show Preview Party—held at the Nantucket New School—is being sponsored by Eaton Vance Investment Counsel, and will be held Thursday, August 2, 6 to 9 p.m. Valet parking will be available, sponsored by Nantucket Storage Center.
The August Antiques Show hours are Friday and Saturday, 10 A.M.– 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 A.M.–4 p.m., at the Nantucket New School, 15 Nobadeer Farm Road.
As of press time, there were still a limited number of tickets available for the annual Antiques Show dinner dance and auction. Held Saturday, August 4, at the Eleanor Ham Pony Field, the event is sponsored by Trianon /Seaman Schepps.
Gifted needlework artist Susan Boardman has donated one of her embroidered narratives for inclusion in the auction. Designed to increase awareness of the association’s property at 8 Howard Court, the narrative is a beautifully wrought piece depicting Greater Light, the summer residence of Quaker sisters Gertrude and Hanna Monaghan.
Boardman’s meticulously crafted needlework portrays, and was inspired by, many of the eclectic architectural details the sisters installed in the former livestock barn, and includes their beloved white greyhound, Angel Gabriel, as well as two soaring gulls circling the home—as Hanna described them on the morning in 1929 when they bought the barn: “The gulls were an omen of an impending storm, not only weather-driven, but also involving neighbors”; various flowers from the lovely garden; and a quote from a poem of Shelley’s that Hanna loved: “For love and beauty and delight there is no death.”
“Boardman’s intricate creation of Greater Light is simply amazing,” said Bill Tramposch, NHA executive director. “Her sensitivity and affection for the property are clearly apparent. We are so honored Susan has chosen to donate this beautiful work to our organization, it is a most generous contribution to our dinner auction.”
Greater Light is the first of the NHA’s properties scheduled for restoration over the next few years. The Nantucket Community Preservation committee has awarded a grant for the project to be matched by July of 2008. Proceeds from the auction will be part of that match.
To purchase tickets for the Antiques Show Dinner and Auction, call special events manager Stacey Stuart, or her assistant Ema Hudson, at 508-228-1894, ext. 130 or 117, respectively. To reserve tickets for the Antiques Show, call the NHA at 508-228-1894, ext. 0, or visit www.nha.org.
