Middleburg today contains shops featuring sophisticated and world-class goods. The classic Middleburg Antique Emporium is just that - a center of true antiques.

You'll find no massing of flea-market "doo-dads" and collectibles here!

We have made several purchases here (most recently an early 19th Century diminutive sterling silver condiment set and a 19th Century Belgian double-barreled shotgun) and we always recommend the Antique Emporium to friends as a "must stop."

One of our close friends had asked us to be on the lookout for a tall case clock in our travels around the area.

After we visited the Emporium to make photos for the web site, we sent her pictures of two clocks and she promptly purchased one of them, and she did so sight unseen. We've visited her home and seen the clock - magnificent and perfect for the space. Ah! The power of the web.

While at the Antique Emporium, check out the quality antiques offered by Penny Farthing Antiques & Clocks, which is integral to the Emporium. The tall case clock referenced in the previous paragraph was purchased from these exquisite purchasers of fine antiques.

Leslie and John Clark (photo at left) are much more than just knowledgeable - they are sincere, very helpful, and both are delightful conversationalists. Seek them out when visiting the Emporium.

Another absolute "must" stop in Middlebury is Joanne Swift's Shaggy Ram - an art/antique shop and interior design center. Ms. Swift, a long-time supporter of humane treatment of animals, presides over not only a spendid collection of antiques, original sporting art and home furnishings, but runs her own animal adoption service via a wall of photos of adoptable pets.

This establishment is a treasure trove of opportunities for gifts and exquisite home decoration ob´jets d'arts. You can find a wide range of books, pillows, furniture, original oil paintings and lamps.

To your left as you enter the store, you will be greeted by a photo gallery of pets available for adoption as well as animals recently adopted (see photo to the left). This wall represents a continuation of Ms. Swift's long-term commitment to animal rescue.

Prior to her move to Middleburg and opening the Shaggy Ram, Ms. Swift was engaged in animal adoption in Eagle, Colorado, as co-founder of Eagle Valley Humane Society, recognized for its "no kill" status, which means that at least 96 percent of animals are placed in homes.

According to a July 11, 2004 article in the Vail Daily News,

"It wasn't intentional, not planned at all. They just kept showing up; either Inga Prime and Joanne Swift found them or, just as likely, the dogs and cats - and various other critters - found Inga and Joanne.

Week after week, month after month, Swift and Prime filled their homes with cats and dogs and animals in need, finding permanent homes for the menagerie where they couldn't offer their own."

On one of our frequents visits (May of 2006) to the Shaggy Ram, we found an incredible oil painting of a "Braque St. Germain" - a handsome orange and white hunting dog.

Ms. Swift explained that the artist, Elizabeth M. Katchmer, excelled at painting copies of sporting animals, explaining that this piece, "Bell,", was a copy of an original oil by Charles Hermann-Leon, a 19th Century French genre and animal painter. (Click Here for Katchmer Biography)

We believed the price to be very reasonable and made the purchase. Subsequently, we purchased a second of Ms. Katchmer's works - a delightful portrait of two Scottish Terriers, after "Darby and Joan," by the 19th Century English artist Lilian Cheviot - and then a third, "Fox in Snow".

And, we were able to see the originals of the paintings in a book by William Secord entitled Dog Painting: The European Breeds. We found the book, of course, at the Shaggy Ram, and, of course, we bought it.

The book by Secord is the most comprehensive book to date on the history of 19th century dog paintings, including exhaustive information on the dog world and the art world of the 19th century. It also gives a historical overview of the development of more than 90 breeds. Its 400 pages contain 580 reproductions, most previously unpublished and in full color. Now in its second printing "there should be something for everyone," says author William Secord.

William Secord is the world authority on the nineteenth century dog painting and is the first author to explore the presentation of the dog from its origins to the remarkable paintings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and up to modern times.

With regard to art, antiques, fine restaurants and hospitable merchants, it is almost impossible to enter a commercial establishment in this village without something attracting your attention. While our interest does not necessarily lie with French furniture, oil paintings on the wall of JML French Antiques drew us into the shop.

And it was there that we were introduced to the art of Anthony Barham. According to his online biography, Mr. Barham was born in London, UK, and grew up painting, restoring and gilding in the family antique business.

In 1994, he moved to Middleburg, married artist Misia Broadhead, and together they formed the Broadhead-Barham studio, accepting commissions for murals, portraits, sculpture and representational art. JML carries Misia Broadhead paintings as well. Check out their web site to see their amazing art. It took two visits to JML, but we purchased the splendid red fox painting you see here to the right.