Jan & John Maggs Antiques and Art September 2020 Newsletter Our month-long August sale was a great success, proving to us once again that our online presence as dealers and the vast resources which we're able to tap as we hunt for new stock can enable us to keep our business active, while giving us the pleasure of interacting with customers through the internet and occasionally here in Conway as well. As the pandemic shows few signs of abating in the near future, we've begun to consider alternatives to things we once took for granted as "normal". We're happy to announce that we will be participating in the Chicago Suburban Antiques Dealers Association's Fox Valley Antiques Show on October 17th and 18th. For years, our friends David and Jane Thompson have talked about their successes at this show, and next month we've decided to join them - virtually. CSADA will be utilizing the platform developed by Marvin Getman for his virtual book fairs, a highly intuitive and accessible approach that seems ideally suited to the antiques field as well. Because of the pandemic, Marvin decided to cancel this year's Wilmington Show, and we felt that this would be an ideal alternative for us. Not only will we be entering what is a new market for us, the show will also be made available to our eastern Massachusetts customers, since the show will also be promoted through Marvin's massive email list. We'll include additional details in our October newsletter and send an email reminder to all of our newsletter subscribers a few days before the show opens. We're also considering a change in the format of our Fall Opening. We've just begun thinking about the details of this change, and we expect to be able to outline our plan in next month's newsletter. That's the big news for the moment. Other items in this newsletter include a few new listings appropriate to these shorter days and the ones to come, a pictorial visit to The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, and the addition of a new gallery to our website: a Carpet Gallery, illustrating nearly thirty hand-knotted carpets from the Middle East. Pippin's Page and The Back Page complete this month's issue. We hope you enjoy it.

This month's stock listings The cool mid-September nights have us thinking about the approaching winter and the continuing need for isolation. While we're not able to make the virus go away, we thought we might offer a few inexpensive pieces that might make the long evenings pass more quickly. We searched our inventory for objects that had something to contribute to an Autumn evening - and, indeed, the coming winter - and came up with a few antiques for the season, They fall naturally into four categories: #1 - candlelight for waking hours after sunset; #2 - antiques related to wine and ale, to be shared at any time; #3 - a pair of andirons from our home to add history to a gently burning evening fire; #4 - inexpensive carpets to warm your feet and add color to a room in which you spend a lot of time. We've chosen a few pieces of the first three types and, for #4, we're putting our entire inventory of hand-tied carpets online. Just click on the picture above to browse these timely objects.

A Visit to The Clark Art Institute Like most of our friends, we've spent the last several months in isolation, going out only occasionally to shop for necessities or to take short drives through the countryside. When we learned that The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown had re-opened on a limited basis, we decided to take a day off and visit this regional treasure. The museum staff has established guidelines for visitors, including advance purchase tickets, scheduled arrival times, compulsory mask use, and social distancing. Sanitizing protocols are maintained by the staff, and hand sanitizer is available at many places in the buildings. In short, we felt that this would be a safe and extremely pleasant way to re-enter the world, albeit on a limited basis. We were correct on both counts. To support the Clark's efforts and to offer a suggestion to our western New England readers who might be looking for a pleasant diversion in a more or less normal world, we offer this brief pictorial, illustrated with images of more than thirty of our favorites from this superb collection. To begin your visit, just click on the picture above.

Pippin's Page A dear friend, who keeps Pippin supplied with toys, recently sent him a felted wool fleece cat bed, with which we lined the tower in which he spends much of his time. If you enjoy observing bliss overload, you might like to click his picture.

The Back Page Our house painting project is finally finished. Not only has it kept us active during these restrictive summer months, we've saved a ton of money. (Our final cost was just under 10% of the quote we were given.) We think that it turned out well enough to share, and we invite you to click HERE.

Thanks for reading. Stay well, stay safe, be kind. Find something you can't live without. AND VOTE!  John & Jan

Jan & John Maggs Antiques and Art www.jmaggs.com ‌ ‌