Page 52 - The Hunt - Summer 2022

VINTAGE
There’s also a market for vintage books, prints and photos, original maps, riding accessories, and “hunting appointments” like flasks and sandwich boxes. A stroll around Maryland Saddlery’s Hockessin store offers
a case in point. Among the Melton jackets and saddles, a flask from early in the previous century looks well used by its former owner, but it’s certainly worth the asking price of $52. A venerable saddle bag is $64, and one can find a seven-volume set of John Leech’s hunting novels for $131. “People love old books,” Foster says. “It gives them a feeling of what it was like to hunt back then.”
Both consignment companies report that vintage whips with antique handles, hunting horns, silver sandwich cases, and even old china are in demand. “We have people who are horn collectors who’ve never blown one,” Thompson says. “There are also hunt button collectors who look for unique insignia and design, especially those from Canada and England.”
A local button from Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds shows the face of a
“This generation
has figured out that reusing, then reselling by consignment,
is one way to keep from destroying
the planet.”
placid-looking fox. “Another item that some people collect doesn’t have anything to do with fox hunting, and that’s the annual Preakness glasses,” Foster says.
Middleburg Tack Exchange caters mainly to the English disciplines of riding. “Dressage, jumpers, fox hunters,” Thompson says. “But we also get a number of people who ride Western, especially in the online business.”
Most consignment items come from
owners who are simply recycling their clothes and equipment. “We sometimes get the contents of someone’s entire tack room if they’re retiring from riding or have passed away,” Foster says.
Those who gravitate to vintage clothing and tack often have an interest in riding
and hunting lore. To that end, there are several museums that celebrate such history. The National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg houses 20,000 books and historic periodicals dating back to the early 19th century, along with antiquarian titles published as early as 1523. The museum
has a collection of 1,300 objects, including paintings, sculptures, works on paper, trophies, weather vanes, dog collars and other ephemera. Located in Lexington, Kentucky, the International Museum of the Horse has a broader reach. And for those who love the thrill of the wager as well as the ride, there’s the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville and the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York. TH
You’re Invited
May 29th - Sept 25th Fridays 5:30pm & Sundays 3pm
Tickets Online or at Gate: brandywinepolo.com
232 Polo Road, Tougkenamon, PA 19374
50 THE HUNT MAGAZINE summer 2022