33rd ANNUAL ANTIQUES SHOW AT
THE BRANDYWINE RIVER MUSEUM
(April 2004, #006)


Thirty-two outstanding antique dealers from across the nation will be featured at the 33rd Annual Brandywine River Museum Antiques Show on Memorial Day weekend. Hosted by the Museum Volunteers, the event presents a variety of American and English furniture, glass, metalware, ceramics, folk art, quilts, Oriental and European porcelain, rugs and other fine collectibles.

The Antiques Show runs Saturday through Monday, May 29 to May 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 per person. All proceeds benefit the Brandywine River Museum Volunteers' Art Purchase Fund. Antiques are displayed in the Museum Courtyard, the second and third floor mill galleries, and the Museum Lecture Room.

New to the show this year are Irvin and Dolores Boyd Antiques from Fort Washington, PA, specializing in 18th and early 19th century American furniture with a focus on cupboards, desks and chests. Returning exhibitors include David Morey of Thomaston, Maine, Campbell House Antiques from Baltimore, Maryland, Kemble's Period American Furniture of Norwich, Ohio and Autumn Pond Antiques from Bolton, Connecticut.
To complement the Antiques Show, the museum presents the special exhibition, Extreme Creamware: Surprising Forms and Diverse Decorations. In the process of discovering a clay mixture for porcelain during the 18th-century, English potters developed a durable, lead-glazed, white-bodied earthenware now known as creamware.

While most creamware was-and still is-largely undecorated, save for molded and pierced designs, its light color and smooth texture provided an ideal surface for colored glazes, transfer printing and painted designs of flowers, leaves, figures and decorative patterns. This exhibition features approximately 60 pieces predominantly from the 18th century that display unusual forms and demonstrate a wide variety of decorations applied to these everyday wares.

On Friday, May 28, a special preview party of the Antiques Show will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $100 per person ($50 tax deductible) in advance and at the door (cash, check or credit card accepted). The ticket price includes valet parking, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, music and show admission. Please call 610-388-8318 for tickets.

On Saturday, May 29, Suzanne Regnier, a graduate of the University of Delaware Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, will share her expertise of creamware in an informal lecture and guided tour of the exhibition. The lecture will begin at 9:30 a.m., following a continental breakfast in the Museum Restaurant at 9 a.m. The price of the lecture, breakfast and admission to the Antiques Show is $20 per person. Please call 610-388-8318 for tickets.

The Brandywine River Museum is located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. The museum is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Christmas Day. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for seniors and students; free for children under six and museum members. For more information, call 610-388-2700.

Photography available upon request.

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