Anglophiles and antiques lovers will converge at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilmington, Delaware, November 8–10 for the 50th Annual Delaware Antiques Show. More than 60 of the finest dealers from the United States and beyond make this one of the top five shows in the country, and this year’s featured lecturers promise to take guests on an unforgettable transcontinental tour.

Honorary chair and keynote speaker Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill is the eldest daughter of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill. A prolific author and lecturer on classic design and entertaining, she has designed homes for nobility, celebrities, and others who treasure fine taste with a classic and functional aesthetic. She studied at the Inchbald School of Design before forming the internationally acclaimed Woodstock Designs and Spencer-Churchill Designs. Her most recent book is The Life of the House: How Rooms Evolve.

Lady Henrietta grew up in the legendary Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, a 187-room palace considered one of the most important Baroque houses in England. The birthplace of such notables as Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace also was occupied by Lady Henrietta's colorful and illustrious great-grandmother, Consuelo Vanderbilt, a close friend of Winterthur founder Henry Francis du Pont and his wife Ruth.

Despite a title that some may find intimidating, Lady Henrietta is known as a warm, gracious, down-to-earth speaker with a deep passion for antiques, design, and historic architecture. She will delight visitors to the Delaware Antiques Show with tales of life in this legendary landmark, drawing on her personal experiences as a child and adult. In 2005, she wrote a best-selling historical and anecdotal account of her homestead and family, Blenheim and the Churchill Family: A Personal Portrait.

When asked by Palm Beach Illustrated what the walls of Blenheim would say if they could talk, Lady Henrietta replied, “I think it would be like listening to an historical novel with lots of intrigue, drama, and fun depicting the life of the different family generations and their guests over the last 300 years, i.e., a Blenheim Downton Abbey.”

Lady Henrietta's keynote address will open the Delaware Antiques Show on Friday, November 8 at 10:00 am with a book signing to follow.

Lady Henrietta, Delaware Governor Jack Markell and First Lady Carla Markell are honorary chairs of the 50th Annual Delaware Antiques Show.

On Sunday, November 10, lovers of the traditional English garden will be captivated by speaker Barbara Paul Robinson beginning at 2:00 pm. While on sabbatical from her professional life as the first woman partner in the leading international law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, Robinson worked as a gardener for Rosemary Verey at Barnsley House, Gloucestershire, then for Penelope Hobhouse at Tintinhull, Somerset, experiences she found life transforming. In fact, she credits this time with soon thereafter becoming the first woman president of the New York City Bar.

Robinson’s own home, Brush Hill, is an 18th-century farmhouse in northwestern Connecticut surrounded by her own interpretation of the English garden. It is included in the Smithsonian Archives of American Gardens, a testament to Robinson’s role as the hands-in-the-dirt gardener and her husband’s role as designer and builder of the garden structures.

Robinson’s lecture will focus on the fascinating life of English garden legend Rosemary Verey. Although she began gardening late in life, Verey achieved international recognition for her devotion to the “English style” on display at her home at Barnsley House in the Cotswolds of England. She was a garden adviser to clients from Prince Charles to Elton John and is a beloved and wildly popular lecturer in America. Robinson has written the first, and so far, only biography of Verey’s remarkable life, Rosemary Verey: The Life and Lessons of a Legendary Gardener.

A book signing will follow Robinson's Sunday lecture.

These two intriguing women will bring their unique backgrounds and common passions to the Chase Center as part of the 50th Anniversary of Winterthur's Delaware Antiques Show, a spectacular showcase of art, antiques, and design.

The show also will feature a special exhibition, Collecting Treasures: Celebrating 50 years of the Delaware Antiques Show, featuring objects acquired by Winterthur Museum and friends of Winterthur during the half-century run of this highly acclaimed antiques show. From a gothic patterned bedcover and an armorial porcelain plate to an anti-slavery seal and an Uncle Sam figure, this exhibit will highlight treasures that celebrate the joy of collecting for personal and public enjoyment.

Proceeds from the show benefit educational programming at Winterthur.

Show Hours

Friday, November 8: 11:00 am–7:00 pm (Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill keynote address at 10:00 am)

Saturday, November 9: 11:00 am–6:00 pm

Sunday, November 10: 11:00 am–5:00 pm

Location

Chase Center on the Riverfront

Street and GPS Address: 815 Justison Street, Wilmington, DE 19801

Opening Night Party
Made possible by Wilmington Trust.
Thursday, November 7: 5:00 – 9:00 pm. All tickets include unlimited daily admission to the show. Purchase tickets online or call 800.448.3883.

Sponsor
$225 per person. Early entrance at 5:00 pm.

Patron
$175 per person. Entrance at 6:00 pm.

Young Collector (guests age 35 and under)
$125 per person. Entrance at 6:00 pm.

Weekend Lectures

Friday, November 8
10:00 am–Keynote address and book signing with Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill. Sponsored by Delaware Today, Main Line Today.

Saturday, November 9
2:00 pm–Guest lecturers Donald L. Fennimore and Frank L. Hohmann III will introduce guests to the Stretch family, American's first family of clockmakers. Book signing to follow. Sponsored by The Hunt.

5:00 pm–The inaugural presentation of the Wendell D. Garrett Award, established to honor the memory of one of Winterthur’s most venerated alumni. The first recipient is Gerald W. R. Ward, senior consulting curator and the Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Sponsored in part by the Society of Winterthur Fellows and Freeman's.

Sunday, November 10
2:00 pm–Barbara Paul Robinson will share her personal insight into the fascinating life of renowned gardener, Rosemary Verey. Book signing to follow. Sponsored by The Hunt.

Special Events

50th Anniversary Raffle–Enter for a chance to win a $5,000 voucher to be used at this year’s show. Each raffle chance is $50. Raffle tickets can be purchased through Winterthur or at the show. Drawing will occur on November 7 at the Opening Night Party. Need not be present to win. Sponsored by Drexel Morgan & Co.

Special Loan Exhibition–Collecting Treasures: Celebrating 50 Years of the Delaware Antiques Show.

General Admission

$15 per nonmember; $13 per Winterthur Member; children under 12 free. Tickets are valid for all three days and include the special lectures on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as well as the special exhibition. Purchase tickets online at winterthur.org/das or call 800.448.3883.