Too early for Christmas?

Not at historic Smith's Fort Plantation, which will host an Old Virginia Christmas Fair Friday through Sunday, featuring 18th century-style crafts, for a second year.

"It's a gathering of craftsmen from all over the United States," said Tom Forehand, site manager at Smith's Fort Planation. They come here, set up their booths and perform their crafts right on the site."

The grounds around the circa-1765 manor house have been restored to their original appearance, and are maintained by the Garden Club of Virginia. The property is owned by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

Add a bevy of craftsmen clad in Colonial-style apparel, period music and entertainment, a contingent of historians, and the grounds return to life.
"I don't think they could've picked a better site for the fair," said Forehand.
"It's out in the country here, and pretty much off the beaten path. Last year was great," he said. "I know that we had at least 300 people through the house in a couple days. We're hoping for a bigger turnout this year, and I think we'll probably have it."

At the fair, shoppers can buy 18th-century reproductions comparable in design and craftsmanship to original Colonial-era pieces. Traditional furniture, floor cloths, folk art, Santas, ornaments, candles, trees, dried flowers, pewter, handmade journals, silver jewelry, salt-glazed pottery and redware (a type of glazed pottery), will be among the items for sale.

" The hard work and creativity of the artisans are what makes this show wonderful," said Sharan Mason, the event coordinator and an exhibitor. Mason produces canvas floorcloths in 18th-century fashion, and her husband, Roger, is a wheelwright and furniture-maker. The Masons trade as Olde Virginea Floorcloth & Trading Co., a Williamsburg company that specializes in reproductions of 17th- and 18th-century furniture and accessories.
Two of Sharan Mason's reproduction floorcloths have protected the central hall of Smith Fort Plantation's manor house for years.

Work is "top-notch"

Many of the craftsmen who will be exhibiting and selling their work at the Old Virginia Christmas Fair are juried artisans who are featured in the special craftsman's issue of Early American Life magazine.

"They're not just crafters. They're artisans and their work is top-notch," said Tess Rosch, publisher of Early American Life magazine, which is based in Ohio. "It's incredible the meticulousness that they use," in terms of both their research and work, she said. "They try to make reproductions as absolutely authentic as possible." They also compete annually for the prestige of being included in Early American Life's Directory of Traditional American Crafts, a listing of artisans who have been judged to be the best of the best.

For contemporary Colonial craftsman, the directory is, in essence, a list of "who's who" among Colonial artisans. Museum curators from Colonial Williamsburg to Hancock Shaker Village gather to examine the work by the craftsmen. The curators decide which pieces are the best. Most artisans listed in the magazine's directory also teach their crafts in an effort preserve them for future generations.
"If they don't teach our heritage crafts, our heritage arts will die out," said Rosch. "The magazine is about keeping alive what makes us unique as Americans," she said.

Featured artisan

Weaver Jain Faries of Mox Nix Textiles will be the featured artisan this year at the Old Virginia Christmas Fair. Mox Nix, based in Raleigh, N.C., specializes in producing hand-woven, heirloom quality, historically accurate textiles and quilting.

"Jain does absolutely fabulous hand-woven pieces," said Rosch. "She does only legitimate, traditional, documentable patterns in the real fabrics that they would have been done in. The only thing that's different between what she's doing and what you would buy that's 300 years old is that it's newer." According to Rosch, Faries has developed a substantial following over the years, and examples of her work are featured at a number of museums. It is always commented on by our jurors as being extraordinary," Rosch said. I love Jain's work. I have a number of her pieces."

Joesph MacPhail, who owns Joseph's Cabinet Shop in Portsmouth, will be exhibiting his wares and demonstrating his craft at the Smith's Fort event.

"I'm a furniture-maker. My era is the 18th century through the early 1800s," he said. "I make primarily Queen Anne, Chippendale, Sheraton-type furniture." MacPhail said when some people see his meticulously crafted furniture on display and watch him work, they ask if he works for Colonial Williamsburg. No, I'm afraid not," he replies. "I probably could if I went through their apprenticeship program. They get paid every week," he laughed. "I have to finish the article and get it sold before I get paid." Currently, he's working on a pair of bachelor's chests, a carved four-poster bed and an oak settee.

MacPhail has produced period reproduction furniture for a number of local museums, including Endview Plantation in Newport News and the Yorktown Victory Center's 1780s farm site.

Bob Ruegsegger, bruegse@yahoo.com

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