By Jennifer McNally
You’ve seen the program Antiques Road Show on PBS. The one where the public brings in flea market finds and long-forgotten family hand-me-downs for inspection by antiques experts, often to leave with joy in their hearts that only newfound wealth can bring.
Patterned after PBS’s popular series, Asheville’s version, the Heirloom Road Show, offers top–notch advice from three local experts: Bob Ruggiero in fine art and period antiques, Sue McKenzie in jewelry, and Bob Brunk in fine antiques, decorative arts, furniture, painting, silver and folk art. The difference is, this version isn’t televised. So subtract the drama, subtract the newly discovered millionaires, and you’re there. What the public will leave with is information that can be trusted: the basic who, what, where, when, whys, and most importantly, how much.
Unlike on television, none of the Asheville experts has come across any life-changing, Smithsonian-worthy discoveries thus far. There is, however, a rich history lesson as to why that may be: “Part of it has to do with where we live. People who had money in the South didn’t necessarily own objects; they owned land,” explains Ruggiero, a 20–some year employee with Sotheby’s art auction. “Asheville, like most of the South, was an agrarian society, where wealth was considered primarily in terms of land and crops. This area does have its own genre of special objects, like Edgefield Pottery from South Carolina, which can go for $30,000 to $50,000. But there is a unique situation in the South, as it related to objects and important discoveries.”
“Just let your curiosity be your guide and don’t expect too much,” is McKenzie’s suggestion for walking away happy. “This will help decide whether that piece of jewelry can be given to the nieces to play with, or whether it needs to go into the safe deposit box to be passed on as an heirloom.”
None of the experts participates in the Antiques Fair to get rich. All three give their time for a good cause. Founded in 1945 by the Vetust Study Club, a group of ardent, altruistic lovers of antiquity, the Asheville Antiques Show has always been about more than just making a buck. Operating as a nonprofit, one of the group’s objectives is to raise money for local restoration projects. This year, they’re helping with restorations at the Grove Arcade, as well as with efforts at E.W. Grove’s original office on Charlotte Street, which also happens to be the first office of the Asheville Art Museum.
In years past, the Vetust Study Club has set the show’s standards by strict definition: objects must be 100 years or older to qualify as antiques. But this year, they’re loosening up and getting with the big city trends.
“If you look at the larger shows—New York City, Boston, Palm Beach, Baltimore—their timelines go up to about 1960. They don’t exactly keep with the ‘definition,’ which is partly because the younger generation wants to collect different things,” explains Suzanne Hageman. “This year, we’re including Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Modernist pieces up to World War II, 1946. Which, if you think about the history of Asheville—City Hall, Asheville High School, and the S&W Cafeteria are all done in Art Deco style—it kind of made sense for us to make that move.”
The Asheville Antiques Fair
Celebrating 63 years of altruism and antiquity, the Asheville Antiques Fair brings together vendors from across the Eastern Seaboard, showcasing period furniture, fine art, prints, ceramics, silver and jewelry.
July 31 & August 1
10am–6pm
Saturday, August 2, Noon–5pm
$10 (all three days)
Asheville Civic Center, 87 Haywood Street, Asheville
Heirloom Road Show
Antique evaluations by local appraisers
Saturday, August 1, 10am–3pm
$16 one item; $18 two items; $20 three items
General admission ticket required
More information (including a list of items that will not be evaluated) is available at ashevilleantiquesfair.com
