April 6, 2010 – West Palm Beach, FL – The owners of the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival are reporting that all inside dealer booths are committed to for the next event to be held April 30 through May 2 and only a very small number of booths remain open outside. They also report that space for the June show, June 4-6, is filling up fast with only a few openings still available. Prospective dealers for that show should secure a space with the festival owners as soon as possible. They reported that the April show was better than the previous April edition and the Festival is on an upswing in both attendance and in dealer sales. A dealer in Oriental kimonos had an especially good show in April.
One of the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival dealers who regularly has a good show is Jeff Cotton, a specialist in things mechanical like old clocks and music boxes. He normally has examples ranging from the late 18th century to the late 19th century but occasionally has pieces from the 1600s. He is especially fond of animated clocks that do more than just tell the time. The animated clocks often tell a story as well. Cotton also has a nice selection of mechanical music boxes like Regina and Symphonion and other disc playing music makers and is especially proud of his collection of “musical oddities.” He notes that the repair end of his business in both clocks and music boxes is expanding rapidly due to an increase in demand for quality workmanship.
As much as he likes his mechanical treasures he also has a good eye for 19th century French painted furniture in the Vernis Martin style, antique lighting, high end porcelain and almost anything that is “one of a kind.”
Cotton normally occupies three booth spaces with close to 200 objects on display for sale. He boasts that virtually all of his merchandise is fresh to the market since he buys it privately directly from the original owners. His merchandise ranges in price from $500 to over $30,000 so he feels he has something of affordable interest for everyone. Cotton will also set up at some of the newly announced West Palm Beach Antiques Festival summer shows. Summer show dates will be July 3-4, August 7-8, September 4-5 and October 2-3 with a full day of setup for dealers on Friday 8:00AM to 7:00PM.
The West Palm Beach Antiques Festival is held at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fair located off Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, FL, 1.5 miles west of the Florida Turnpike and 1 mile east of 441/SR7. Show hours are 12PM – 5PM Friday April 30, 9AM – 5PM Saturday May 1 and 10AM –4:30PM Sunday May 2. Early Buyers Admission from 9:00AM – 12:00PM Friday is $25 and is valid for the entire weekend. Adult daily admission $7.00, seniors $6.00 with a 1$ discount coupon for adult admission available on the website. Anyone under 16 is admitted free. There is no charge for parking at the Fairgrounds. For more information contact the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival at (941) 697-7475 or visit the website at www.wpbaf.com.
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