Berkshires of Western Massachusetts Antique Shopping

THE BERKSHIRES, MA-Like an angler with a favorite fishing hole, most savvy antiques aficionados have a favorite, often secret destination. For many collectors and shop owners-be they New England day-trippers enjoying a treasure hunt, Canadian visitors shopping their way up or down Route 7 or Northeast dealers replenishing their inventory-the antiques mecca of choice is western Massachusetts' Berkshire County.

Whether you're searching for formal early American pieces or Fiesta Ware, the Berkshire's galleries, specialty dealers and group marketplaces offer an astonishing range of antiques and collectibles in a relatively small region. Collectors looking for antique American clocks, 18th and 19th century glass and china, Oriental furniture, estate jewelry or rare books will find places that specialize in these items and others.

Many antiques road trippers begin in southern Berkshire County, where some of the largest shops are located. Sheffield, home of the Berkshire County Antiques and Art Dealers Association (comprised of more than 60 area shops), offers a particularly large concentration of dealers. Most shops offer the association's free Antiques Map & Guide, an invaluable resource for plotting your trip.

Step into Sheffield's Painted Porch Antiques for English and French country furniture and accessories from the 18th and 19th centuries, including armoires, tables, cupboards and desks. Cupboards & Roses boasts a large selection of fine 18th and 19th century paint-decorated European and Scandinavian furniture. Twin Fires Barn-Robert Davis Antiques is stocked with American and European antiques and waxed pine and classic leather furniture, while Susan Silver Antiques is the place to find 18th and 19th century English and Continental formal furniture, gilded mirrors and chandeliers.

Next door, in Southfield, Buggy Whip Antiques Market has15,000 square feet filled with antiques, books, furniture and jewelry in an 18th century setting. Great Barrington, just north, features an assortment of antiques shops including the Emporium Antique Center, an upscale downtown dealer featuring jewelry, art glass, sterling and other fine decorative arts. The huge gallery at Asia Barong features Asian art antiques and sculpture. Berkshire Antiques displays a large eclectic collection of French country furniture, decorative accessories, garden and architectural elements and plumbing fixtures. Country Dining Room Antiques focuses on antique tableware, with porcelain, stemware, silver, dining furniture, and linens displayed in formal and country settings.

From Great Barrington, travel southwest on Route 23 to South Egremont. Kenver Ltd. offers antiques along with their line of fine apparel and winter sports equipment. Point the car north on Route 7 and drive to Lenox, where Charles L. Flint Antiques buys and sells oil paintings, Shaker items, 18th and 19th century and early American wares, folk art and blown glass. Also there is Past and Future Antiques, with19th and 20th century fine small antiques, perfume bottles, sewing accessories, china, glass and sterling.
Bellefontaine Antiques, in adjacent Pittsfield, displays European art pottery, dinnerware and glass and other antiques while Nora Martin Antiques has 19th and 20th century furniture, china, sterling, vintage jewelry, linens and clothes. Just over the state line to the west, in New Lebanon, NY, is Meissner's Auction Service & Antique Center, LLC, which holds weekly Saturday evening auctions. Meissner's specialties include antique furniture, stoneware, art, glass, quilts and linens.

The heaviest concentration of dealers is in southern Berkshire County, but myriad antiques shops dot Berkshire County's roads countywide. In northern Berkshire, check out Library Antiques in Williamstown for a wonderfully eclectic selection of furniture, antiques, prints, folk art, housewares, jewelry and rare books, making it another ideal starting point or destination for a day of antiquing throughout the Berkshires.
To obtain complete information on antiques hunting in Berkshire County, call the Berkshire Visitors Bureau (866-444-1815) or visit their web site at berkshires.org.

Selected Berkshire County Antique Dealers and Resources

Bellefontaine Antiques-Tasteful collections of American and European furniture, art pottery, dinnerware and art work. (413) 499-1391) 814 East St., Pittsfield, MA 01220 info@bellefontaineantiques.com