Discovering Peter Hunt Art & Collectibles at The Sandwich, Massachusetts Antiques Center

True "hunters" like myself are "wired' to locate hidden treasures everywhere and anywhere. Last week, my "radar" landed me at The Sandwich Antiques Center (Sandwich, Mass.) This Multi-dealer Antique Mall is located off Route 6A on Cape Cod, an upscale area of Sandwich packed with quaint art galleries, boutiques. antique shops and eateries.

Parked across the street from the Antique Center, I noticed that one of the windows of the Center had a cheerful display of colorful painted "objects" which immediately grabbed my attention but blended into a fuzzy whimsy collage from where I was standing. I couldn't wait to go inside the shop to find out what these "objects" were. Meandering through the fairly large group shop, I made my way to the exact booth which caught my attention in the first place.

What I had discovered was a collection of painted furniture and accessories by famed Cape Cod folk artist Peter Hunt. According to www. askart.com , Peter Hunt was "a folk artist and story teller with wide-ranging imagination, Peter Hunt, working from the 1930s through the 1960s, made his reputation with peasant decorations on furniture. A friend of the wealthy, the artistic and the odd-ball, Peter Hunt and his Peasant Village was a well-known fixture on Cape Cod. Customers included Helena Rubenstein and Frederick Waugh."According to many accounts, "Hunt’s work was originally “discovered” by the well-to-do summer people on Cape Cod, who found his colorful peasant decorations the perfect accents for their cottages and retreats. They also found Hunt to be charming, witty and a great addition to cocktail parties and dinners, and his mailbox was filled with invitations from the upper crust of Boston and New York.

Soon the buyers from upscale department stores, including Bloomingdale’s, Gimbel’s and Macy’s, got wind of society’s latest fascination in home decoration, and they clambered for Hunt to decorate more and more furnishings and knick-knacks for their stores, often featuring him in special promotions touted with full-page ads in the New York and Boston newspapers. " http://www.askart.com/AskART/H/peter_hunt/peter_hunt.aspx

Sandwich Antiques Center, Sandwich Massachusetts
1-508-833-3600

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

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