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by Maryellen Dever Gillian Dillon knows from personal experience that antiques can tell stories and contain surprises left by previous owners. Sometimes, those surprises connect new and previous owners in astonishing ways. Many years ago, Dillon opened up an antique leather suitcase she had imported on one of her famous container shipments. In the suitcase, she found an issue of The Yorkshire Post from 1954 with a report on her husband Dickie's tennis tournament results. Dickie, a Yorkshire native, was a professional tennis player before the Dillons moved to the United States. Dillon said many of her antique buyers in England have tales of items found from the past. One even found money in an old safe! Come down to Plymouth and check out one-of-a-kind items like an early 19th-century Regency chest of drawers. Originally pine and walnut, it's now painted with a Regency diamond pattern, and sports an attractive apron and splayed saber legs. While you're there, look for the 7-foot French Country console table painted in charcoal grey. It has a central stretcher (bottom shelf), and a central drawer with the original key and lock. Hmmmm……. Story possibilities are endless with this collection. Gillian describes a West Country linen press that she believes probably came from a large country house. (Downton Abbey?) She said "it's painted in a lovely color that looks like zinc with a chalky white inside. There's a fantastic configuration of drawers, with secret glove drawers across the top." Anticipation is building, as customers await Dillon's latest container of European antique furniture. The shipment includes some "exquisite painted pieces," Gillian said, in soft neutrals, greys and pewters. She added, "We've been incredibly busy, so our stock is constantly changing. We get new pieces and shipments of reproductions several times a week." There's a "very impressive" 8-foot long 19th-century Irish dairy table with three deep drawers and a gorgeous thick plank top, "a real showstopper." Another antique table now repurposed for the home as a center island was acquired from a draper's shop. Dillon said the table is all original, with original paint and even with the draper's measuring tape along the top. Known for their beautiful English tables, Dillon's will have some custom-designed extending tables, both rectangular and round, in the container shipment. Gillian describes them as "very unique, handmade by antique furniture restorers with solid timbers of oak and cherry." Also arriving are beautifully restored antique painted console tables, desks, armoires, bookcases, small chests of drawers, original painted side tables, and antique pieces of pine and elm. There are "beautiful, antique French thick top cherry coffee tables," and two iron coffee tables made from old French balcony panels. Dillon will round out her selection with high quality reproductions from the International Furniture Market in North Carolina. The shipment from Europe is expected by the end of October. Isn't it time to add stories to your home? DILLON AND COMPANY 8, 12 & 14 North Street Plymouth 508-747-2242 www.dillonandcompany.com TheSouthShoreMagazine.com 11