Scott Antique Market calls itself America’s Treasure Hunt. It’s located just outside of the airport in Atlanta. If you can get a good deal on a plane ticket, for us in Dallas, it actually makes for an easier day than driving to Round Top in the Texas Hill Country. Catch the 7:30 flight, then an Uber and the hunt is on.
I hadn’t been to Scott in a while and heard it was facing some of the same struggles as the market at large. We were dropped off at the first Atlanta Expo Center building (I didn’t remember exactly where the two were).
About a third of the way through, we had seen some interesting stuff, but the antiques stopped and the decorator and crafty items started.
We decided to have lunch at the Greek Cafe in the center. I had been worried about the food, but the options, including vegetarian, were plenty.
After taking a second look at a few items including an iron rabbit and a Dutch Delftware plate, encouraged by comments that “more of the real antiques” lie ahead, we set out to find the second building.
It soon became apparent there was no easy way to walk there, so we boarded the free charter bus. We circled the parking lot and went across the highway. About 15 or 20 minutes later we arrived.
Inside the door, things did seem promising. We stopped to look at several items in the first few booths. We had seen a few things dealers had posted on Instagram, including some French salon paintings we remembered from Round Top. “Someone just walked by and asked ‘who would hang that on their wall?'” dealer Donald Fields told us. I guess there’s no accounting for taste (or the lack of it).
I was surprised by some of the items people were walking out with and some of what had been marked sold. The biggest surprise was a wealth of brown furniture, including some higher-end pieces being shown and shopped.
There was a pair of Irish chairs priced at nearly $10,000, a handsome classical mahogany sideboard with tiger-maple inlay, a mid-Atlantic sideboard and a classical sofa, the kind that hasn’t gotten a second look for years, with a sold tag.
I also chatted with a writing pen dealer (perhaps the first I have ever encountered) who told me about the upcoming Atlanta Pen Show. Now there’s something you can collect (and use) even if you live in the smallest of spaces!
The show was busy, at times so busy you had jog around people a bit. Sales seemed good, including the sale of large items. And the midcentury craze does seem to be fading. I’ve also noticed this on trips to malls in the Dallas area.
Lin and I both commented that Scott seems like a place where pickers set up. Not as much has been cleaned, polished and presented, so there is still the possibility of a real bargain find.
In the end, we only came home with a small pencil drawing. But we did have the flight and TSA checks to think about. There was definitely enough there to bring us back.
Scott Antiques Market is held monthly.
Urban Art & Antiques 