Following an eminently successful first year, the Wayside Inn Antiques show is now destined to be an annual event drawing antique dealers and antique lovers from all over the Northeast, Midwest and this year, from across the Atlantic.

Nearly 50 premier antique dealers will converge upon grounds of the inn, 72 Wayside Inn Road, from May 13, through 15. This year’s event will be held in a 20,000 square-foot lavishly appointed, climate controlled tent and feature dealers from as far away as Portugal. New this year is an unmatched opportunity for those attending to get in-depth knowledge from experts via eight “Booth Chats” to be held during the show on Saturday and Sunday.

Proceeds from the show will be donated to The Wayside Inn Historic Site, the 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation that oversees the sprawling 125-acre campus. The grounds include Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, The Gristmill, the Schoolhouse, and the Martha-Mary Chapel, along with many scenic walking trails connecting the buildings. Funds raised will be used for upkeep of the grounds and buildings and for informational and educational purposes.

“Last year’s event was successful beyond even our high expectations,” said Guy LeBlanc, Wayside’s Museum Services Coordinator. “We’re very pleased to be able to offer the region what will now be an annual show featuring extremely high quality exhibitors and their wares.”

The show begins on Friday evening, May 13, with a preview party and reception from 6:30-9 p.m. Tickets for the preview party, a major fundraising portion of the event, are $125 per person with advanced registration, or $150 at the door. The main show will run on May 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. General admission on Saturday and Sunday is $10 at the door. Once again Skinner Auctioneers & Appraisers, of Marlborough and Boston, is the show’s Presenting Sponsor.

“Skinner is proud to again sponsor the Wayside Inn Antiques Show. With so many first-rate dealers assembled under one roof, collectors and aficionados will find an incredible array of antiques and decorative art,” said Karen Keane, CEO of Skinner. “As appraisers and auctioneers, we relish in discovering the treasures of yesterday. This show brings that excitement to the general public with the opportunity to appreciate and experience all that American furniture and decorative arts have to offer.”

New to this year’s show will be the informative “Booth Chats,” four each day, at 11 a.m., noon, 1 and 2 p.m. Each chat will feature one of the show’s exhibitors discussing topics including American furniture, oriental carpets, American painting, and caring for fine art collections.

Sarah B. Cunningham, a Sudbury resident and the owner of Walker-Cunningham Fine Art, on Boston’s Newbury Street, in her second year at the show, will be conducting the booth chat, “Secrets from a Gallery Owner – Tips on Managing Your Collection,” on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“I’m very pleased to be back this year and to be giving this presentation,” Cunningham said. “I will be talking about organizing a collection, insuring it, appraising it and caring for it. Collections take shape over time and some collectors may lose sight of very important details involved in conserving their collections.”

Cunningham will also be bringing many paintings to the show, including two rare Boston School works, Wilton Lockwood’s Still Life of Peonies, and Frank Hector Tompkins’ The Young Mother.
Another dealer, Keith Funston, of Funston Antiques, also a Sudbury resident, will return this year as well, having had a great experience with the first show last spring.

“I’m really looking forward to this year’s show,” he said. “We drew a great crowd from all over the region last year, and with the economy picking up, we should do even better this year.”

Funston specializes in recreating wunderkammerns, or wonder chambers, also called Chambers of Curiosities. Such rooms were created in Europe during the Age of Discovery, circa 1500 to 1650, whereby collectors would display all sorts of items culled from the "New World" together with wonder-inspiring things made by local artists.

This year, Funston will be displaying a 17th Century table cabinet used in a wonder chamber collection, fossilized dinosaur bones, a Victorian bird egg collection, tribal antiquities and many other items. The idea, according to Funston, is to create a “sensation of juxtaposition” pleasing to a 21st Century eye. Funston noted that he has been seeing more interest in wonder chambers, as evidenced by a replication of them in Macy’s store windows in New York City this past Christmas season.