The Quaker Lady's Logo (From an 18th C. Angel Headstone Drawing)

Thank you for visiting the homepage of The Quaker Lady, now celebrating my 10th year on eBay, and my 30th as a country antiques collector. My eBay business has been a gradually evolving effort, and one developed slowly over the last several years. I offer a regular inventory of quality country antiques at reasonable prices and (I hope) exceptional service.

My Antiques Interests: My passion is for 18th and 19th century American primitives, painted and natural finish country furniture, simple decorative items, original folk art, especially blue decorated stoneware, early redware, paintings, prints, quilts, baskets, old iron, textiles, hooked and braided rugs, as well as a wide variety of early, unique or whimsical smalls of all kinds.

Shop Owner/House Restorer: I owned and operated an antiques shop (Spiritus Mundi) for 15 years, out of my 18th century home that I restored. The house/shop is located in Chester, Connecticut, a charming, historic town in the Lower Connecticut River Valley. Originally, I bought my New England cape house because it was old and in need of restoration(substitute it was falling down and affordable). The multi-year restoration (substitute "never-ending project") created my affinity for old forged iron, utilitarian hearth pieces, functional hardware, simple primitives, and period furniture used in 18th and 19th century New England dwellings. Operating an antiques shop in such a place gave me years of valuable experience with customers, clients and visitors, and filled my life with many wonderful people who I now call friends.

Antique Shows: For the last ten years, during the summer months, I have often set up a booth and sold my antiques at quality outdoor shows in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine (such as Farmington, Mays/Brimfield and Union). On this page you can see a picture of one of my booths at the Union, Maine Antiques Festival, summer 2005. Year-round, my inventory is acquired from estate sales, auctions and clients throughout the Northeast.

AAFA on eBay: When you participate in my auctions or visit my eBay store, The Quaker Lady, you can expect to find authentic antiques in original surface, paint and condition. As a member of AAFA on eBay (it stands for Antique Americana & Folk Art) I sell only old, true, un-altered, un-enhanced antiques. No reproductions. I belong to both the Connecticut and Maine Antique Dealers Associations, and have been selling on eBay since 1998, maintaining a 100% positive feedback rating. Customer satisfaction is my priority, along with finding and offering the best country pieces at the most reasonable (sometimes bargain) prices. Browse the electronic aisles of my eBay store, The Quaker Lady, and bid with confidence! As the Quakers say, Friends are encouraged to bookmark my store page and check back often.

The Quaker Lady Plays Banjo: Her Booth, Union Maine Antiques Festival, 2005

Vintage Stringed Instruments: Along with country antiques, I also offer a selection of vintage stringed musical instruments such as banjos, fiddles, mandolins and guitars, and a large inventory of early sheet music. As a long-time musician, with a love for Old-Time, 19th century, country dance music, I have a keen interest in rescuing old musical instruments and making them available again for people to play. That's me in the picture on this page, playing a 5-string, open back banjo. I repair banjos, and work with an experienced luthier friend who repairs violins, mandolins and guitars. Together we offer a nice selection of quality vintage instruments (visible in one of the snapshot photos from the Union show on this page). If you are looking for an instrument, and don't see it listed in my store, please email and inquire. We can probably help you.

Old-Time Music: The kind of music I enjoy is called Old-Time, and the style I play on the 5-string, open back banjo is "clawhammer." Old-Time music was played long before blue grass, and it is considered some of the original music of our country, played on fiddle and banjo, and usually played for dancing in the 18th and 19th century. You can hear what this music sounds like by going to the web site, Sugar in the Gourd: Old Time, All the Time. Go to http://www.sugarinthegourd.com/ and start your toes tapping!

Fiddle & Banjo CD: I also belong to an Old-Time music string band, Bound to Have a Little Fun, whose 2005 CD, Old Time Tunes from the Jeff Mart, is often available in my eBay store. You may have heard us playing old-time, toe-tapping fiddle and banjo music at summer antique shows in New England where we have entertained both buyers and sellers now for many years.

Early Sheet Music: In the department of music, The Quaker Lady also carries thousands of pieces of quality, vintage sheet music, dating from 1830 to the 1940s. My large format musical categories include historical, black, rag, blues, marches, military (Civil War, WWI-WWII), patriotic, transportation, disaster, cover artist, ethnic, art deco, beautiful girl, vaudeville, Broadway, big band, opera, movie, composer, etc., as well as a large category with instructional booklets on how to play most any instrument. These too appear in my store from time to time. If you are looking for a particular piece, please email me with your request. We may have what you're looking for.

The Quaker Lady:As a member of the Religious Society of Friends (The Quakers), with a long-time interest in the Friends' peace testimony, I chose the name, thequakerlady. Honoring the historic tradition of the Quakers as seekers and believers in a simple principle--that there is the divine in each human life, and all life is sacred--the name reflects a faith, as well as a belief, that what can be imagined can be achieved. (With some serendipity, the name also reflects my interest in wild flowers, particularly the humble little plant Quaker Ladies, a multi-stemmed, pale blue beauty from the bedstraw, madder family that can brighten any walk in the early spring.) To learn more about the Quakers and their peace testimony that finds expression through the national and international work of the American Friends Service Committee, go to the AFSC site on the web at http://www.afsc.org/about/history.htm or click on the favorites link below.

The Peace Pilgrim: Also in my list of favorites,you will find a link to The Peace Pilgrim, one of the most inspiring characters of the 20th century, who committed her life to living her faith, and literally, walking her talk. Born Mildred Norman Ryder, she got her nickname and became a pilgrim for peace in 1953, when at age 44, she began a 28-year journey on foot, criss-crossing the country seven times, walking more than 25,000 miles on behalf of peace (both inner and outer) with nothing more than the clothes on her back. She vowed to "remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food." In the course of her 28-year pilgrimage she touched the hearts, minds, and lives of thousands of individuals all across North America. Her message was both simple and profound. It continues to inspire people all over the world:

To learn more about the Peace Pilgrim, go to the web site of the Friends of Peace Pilgrim at http://www.peacepilgrim.com/pphome.htm or click on the link below.

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