ROUND TOP, Texas – The travel from Singapore had been 24 hours, and that’s not counting the short drive from the Houston airport to the cow pasture better known as Marburger Farm Antique Show in Round Top. This young couple read about the twice-yearly mega show and decided to come see for themselves. What did they buy? For starters, a large American industrial metal basket. Where else would they visit? The Alamo and the State Fair of Texas. Singapore, welcome to Texas!
As early buying tickets were ordered over the summer, the emails came from across the nation. But this summer they also came from places like Israel and New Zealand. “This is Birget from Germany,” one read. “Is it possible to get tickets when we arrive?”
And arrive she did, along with thousands of others, including helicopters circling above the show, delivering their celebrity shoppers just as the opening cow bell sounded.
“It was one of our top attendance rates for a fall show,” said show manager Ashley Ferguson. “By the middle of the morning, the parking had spilled over any previous memory. And the license plates came from all over the U.S.”
Marburger Farm also welcomed a book-signing with author Rachel Ashwell of Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic and new Marburger Farm staff blogger Theresa Cano, as well as charity booths for Dwell with Dignity of Dallas and the Brookwood Community near Houston.
With 43 acres and over 350 exhibitors, nothing happens small at Marburger Farm. The 12 historic buildings and 10 huge tents overflow with exhibitors who have traveled far and merchandise that has come from all around the world. Antiques shoppers always enjoy the opportunity to travel through time with this abundance of merchandise from all eras. But at Marburger Farm, they also go the distance.
Exhibitor Judith McClellan, who buys in Belgium and France, reported sales to shoppers from Amsterdam, Budapest and the Czech Republic. The Czech buyer took home five yards of antique silver metallic trim from France. A young couple from Germany bought a dress from McClelland’s collection of fine early children’s clothing from Germany. Other sales went to New York City, Florida, California and, of course, Texas. Why do the Europeans buy European antiques at Marburger Farm? “Well,” answers McClellan, “I’ve done this for so long that I know where to buy. Or maybe they just don’t want to get up to shop as early in the morning as I do.”
Exhibitors Lee and Linda Naccarato spent some early mornings driving the 2,655 miles from Priest River, Idaho. They offered a mix of sterling Georg Jensen trays from Denmark with American cowboy art and a group of circa 1880-1920 parade masks from Germany. The papier-mache full-head masks were mounted on old industrial stands as a group, including a frog, a bear, a rabbit and a Native American Indian. The Naccaratos sold Eisenberg jewelry, two vintage zebra rugs, a large general store advertising display counter and an early Nevada railroad crossing sign that is headed to California. An Idaho blackboard in their booth read “Marburger Farm – The Best.”
The zebra look abounded. Dealer Susan Wheeler traveled from Seattle to sell “the most insane mid-century modern Italian zebrawood coffee table that was killer awesome,” she reported, “insane” and “killer” being high praise among antiques dealers. Wheeler also sold a French concrete statue of Jesus with “fantastic detail and patina.” She observed that “the best designers are buying vintage, the real stuff.”
Memphis exhibitor Anthony Shaw is himself an interior designer who exhibits a mix of art, jewelry and European and American antiques at Marburger Farm in order to network with clients and potential clients from across the U.S. “I really love people,” said Shaw. “Marburger Farm has people shopping from New York to California. It’s amazing what they buy. I pick up clients at Marburger, everything from designing a home to redoing a few rooms, from Montana to Colorado to Texas.” The designer sold 15 pieces of art, both modern and traditional, as well as an 1830s Dutch marquetry chest and Milanese writing desk.
Many of the antiques that travel to Marburger Farm present transportation challenges. This is an understatement for Eclectic Architecturals owners David Cox, a retired engineer, and Sharon Cox, a retired biology professor.
The Coxes travel to France and Belgium to shop at large shows, street fairs and from private dealers for antiques from Spain, Portugal and Italy, as well as from France and Belgium. They load large architectural doors, fragments, arches, columns, windows and more into their shopping truck, which they later unload into a 40-foot shipping container. The shipper usually gets the container to a port in Houston or New Orleans, then trucks it to the Coxes warehouse in Longview, Texas. When there is a Gulf oil spill or storm, the container can arrive as far away as Long Beach, Calif., from which it travels by rail to Texas. Once it arrives, the Coxes have just two hours to unload the jam-packed container. “We enlist friends, family, workers and everyone we know to help us unload,” says Sharon Cox. Then the merchandise is repacked into a truck and a 32-foot-long trailer, which finally arrives at Marburger Farm.
This is a trailer that goes home nearly empty. At the fall Marburger Farm show, the Coxes sold large architectural fragments to be repurposed into headboards, including an 1850s blue-gray fragment from Valencia, Spain and an Italian painted and gilded arch, both future headboards. Other sales included architectural fragments such as ironwork and wooden corbels made into sconces. Some retirement they have – certainly a well-traveled one.
Few Marburger Farm dealers travel light, but many go home light. Michigan exhibitor John Berry offers everything from modern to industrial to formal, all at good prices. “I’m not greedy,” he says. “And the great weather helped. I virtually sold out.” Berry sold figural dog andirons, Murano glass fixtures and a 19th century French chandelier with 15 branches, found in Kansas City.
Like Berry, exhibitors Pat and Karen Kenney of South Porch Antiques shop in the U.S. for Americana and industrial antiques, putting many miles on their vehicles. From their New York home just below the Canadian border, the Kinneys travel with their daughter Bonnie and border collie Abbie to buy and sell at shows across America. As Pat Kinney wrestled with how to secure a small amount of merchandise in a huge empty trailer for the long trip home, he gladly proclaimed, “Marburger reigns supreme. It’s the best show there is.”
Whether you hail from Singapore or from central Texas, plan to atternd the spring Marburger Farm Antique Show on April 2-6. Antiques, vintage and artisan exhibits will include American, French, English, Continental, mid-century modern, industrial, architectural, fine art, jewelry, silver, western, garden, textiles, early Texas and more.
See information on travel, maps, vendors, special events, book-signings, the Marburger Farm blog and mobile app, lodging, on-site shipping and the Marburger Cafe at www.roundtop-marburger.com or call Ashley Ferguson at 800-947-5799.
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