Madison-Morgan Cultural Center hosts antiques show & sale

Story by Ann Cantrell

Last week, the Madison Antiques Show and Sale experienced one of its most successful shows since its inception seven years ago.
Patricia DuBose, marketing director for the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, said they had a record number of attendees for the show, the lectures and the preview party.
While the most expensive item to be sold at the show to date - a desk made by Boston cabinetmaker Frothingham - went for $60,000 in 2006, there were several significant items sold at this year's event.
A North Carolina corner cupboard from around 1800 was sold for about $16,500. A Baltimore card table from approximately 1810 and a rare Tennessee sugar table from 1830 were also sold during the show and sale.
The event brought in a significant number of returning dealers, including Donald Montgomery, who deals primarily with American and English antique furniture.  Montgomery got into antiques after his time spent in the Navy during World War II, and has been dealing in antique furniture for the past 53 years. He said that the Madison Antiques Show and Sale is a special antique fair.
“It’s a unique show," Montgomery said. "It's antiques, not used furniture."
He went on to say that many of the contemporary antique shows are more like flea markets than legitimate antique shows, but that the Madison Antiques Show and Sale is a true, original shows.
Woody Straub, owner of Antiques and Art, Inc., also attested to the legitimacy of the show.  He said that about 30 years ago, most shows were sponsored by organizations or educational centers that protected the purity of the shows. Straub said that going to the Cultural Center show was like going back in time to those shows, and coming to Madison was like going back in time to an old Southern town.
Organizers of the Madison Antiques Show and Sale take care of the dealers as well, said Straub. He said that they make a point to provide food and a place for them to stay.
DuBose said the show experienced a record crowd and number of sales, and that all of the dealers have already asked to be included in next year’s event.