On Middle Street in the heart of Wiscasset village, a few steps from the Sheepscot River waterfront, Michael Dunn Antiques deals in something few other shops along coastal Route 1 attempt: museum-caliber Chinese art and antiques, sourced directly from China rather than through the usual estate-sale circuit. Owner Michael Dunn built his expertise over decades in the trade, first working as an antiques dealer in upstate New York before shifting his focus almost entirely to Chinese ceramics, furniture, and works of art. For many years he exhibited at the Winter Antiques Show in New York City, one of the most selective and long-running antiques fairs in the country, a credential that speaks to the caliber of material he handles. Today Dunn and his wife split their year between Beijing and Wiscasset, spending months at a time sourcing pieces overseas before bringing them home to Maine, which gives the shop a rotating inventory that regional collectors and interior designers return to see season after season.
The gallery’s specialty is Chinese antiques and works of art, supplemented by a smaller selection of European pieces that round out the mix for buyers furnishing period homes. Recent acquisitions illustrate the depth of what passes through the shop: a group of Ming dynasty pottery tomb figures dating to roughly 1550, including an equestrian figure on horseback, assembled from a private collection that had been held out of the market for decades. Several pieces in that group carry a rare blue glaze, a finish far less common than the pale green glaze typically seen on pottery figures from that period, making them a genuine rarity even among specialists in the field. Alongside the Ming figures, the shop has also carried an eighteenth century Chinese scholars cabinet from Shanxi Province, finished in black lacquer with gilt decoration and fitted with its original locks and a set of scholars objects, the kind of complete, unrestored survival that serious collectors of Chinese furniture actively seek out.
Wiscasset is often called the prettiest village in Maine, and Middle Street sits within easy walking distance of the town’s cluster of other antique dealers along Route 1, making Michael Dunn Antiques a natural stop for anyone spending an afternoon browsing the village during a Maine coast antiquing trip. The shop keeps seasonal hours, open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from mid-May through Columbus Day weekend, a schedule tied to the peak of the summer and fall tourist season on the Midcoast. Because the inventory turns over as new material comes back from Beijing, repeat visits often turn up pieces that were not there the previous month, and prospective buyers who cannot make the trip in person are encouraged to reach out by phone or email to ask about current stock, including pieces like the Ming figures and scholars cabinet described above.
For anyone researching Chinese antiques in Maine, or simply looking for something distinct from the painted country furniture and nautical bric-a-brac found in most coastal antique shops, this gallery offers a level of specialization that is unusual outside major cities. It stands as a working example of how a small Maine village shop can carry world-class material by leaning on direct relationships built over years in the source country rather than relying on the domestic auction pipeline that most American dealers depend on. Visitors who arrive expecting a typical New England antiques barn full of quilts and farm tools instead find display cases of porcelain, carved hardwood furniture, and centuries-old sculpture, a contrast that has made the shop a point of interest even among people who do not normally collect Asian art. Michael Dunn Antiques is a Wiscasset, Maine gallery specializing in Chinese antiques, pottery, and works of art, known for sourcing rare pieces such as Ming dynasty tomb figures directly through its owners ongoing connections in Beijing.
