BY KATE REYNOLDS
This one is truly a best-kept secret.
Nothing about The Stock Market (formerly Sheila’s) is ordinary. There’s no sign outside the door to hint at the treasures within. There is simply a storefront on Main Street in Hendersonville, its windows crammed with an intriguing array of items. Something will draw you in and, if you’re fortunate, the door will open into a wonderland of the most exquisite and unusual ephemera this side of The Olde Curiousity Shoppe.
Proprietors David and Sheila Goranson share over 80 years of experience in the antiques trade, scouring the world for the remarkable objects, ranging from the late 1500s to the early 1920s, that crowd their narrow showroom. And although the assemblage may initially seem unrelated and eclectic, one soon realizes that there is a certain poetry to it. There is a precision, quality and depth of detail in every piece. You feel as if you have been given access to the archives of a well-traveled, and exceptionally erudite curator.
There are collections of practical items — jewelers hammers, bells, calipers and plumb bobs, bone handled knives, calligraphy brushes, bed warmers and chestnut roasters, drafting tools, meat cleavers, confectioner’s instruments and copper pots. And then the decorative items — shutters from India, porcelain lamps from France, an ornately carved chair from China and a painted chest of drawers from Hungary in a most remarkable shade of blue.
The skeleton key to all of this is David’s encyclopedic knowledge of the entire inventory. Listening to him describe a hand wrought teakettle or an Italian wine thief is like walking into the Antiques Roadshow.
And just when you think you’ve wrapped your mind around it all — the secret within the secret…a back room brimming with bolts of sumptuous fabric, some vintage, some contemporary — all fabulous.
The Stock Market is located at 340 North Main Street in Hendersonville, 828-697-2005. Although the Goransons endeavor to tend the shop Monday through Saturday, 11-5, the hours can be somewhat erratic. It’s best to call first — but it’s well worth the effort.
