Under the name Oxbridge Fairs, Hertfordshire-based Paul launched the event with some success last February. For the new event, he has attracted 55 dealers on 75 tables to this second outing at the Guildhall, just off Market Square in the city centre, on Sunday September 14.
‘‘The fair was fully booked well in advance and all the signs are that we will be able to build on the success of the first,” Paul told me.
“By giving each fair a different focus and running exhibitions within the event, we hope to give visitors some added value and a reason to keep coming back.”
On this occasion there will be a selling exhibition entitled The Harris Dynasty, celebrating the work of the late Michael Harris, founder of the Medina and Isle of Wight glass factories, and the work of his widow and sons who have continued the family tradition of glass design.
In the foyer there will be a non-selling exhibition of the Gary Pyper Collection of Chance Glass.
Chance is a type of Pilkington glass which was popular in the 1950s and 1960s and is emerging as a new collecting area.
Among the stands are all types of British glass, from the 18th century to modern, which will be offered alongside specialist stocks of Italian and Scandinavian work.
Exhibitors include Cambridge contemporary arts gallery Primavera, Nottingham’s Retro Gallery, Jeanette Hayhurst and Nigel Benson from Kensington Church Street and Barrie Skelcher, who will be promoting his book on vaseline glass.
Admission is £2.50.
Cambridge offers a window of opportunity for a Chance discovery…
IN A month when keen collectors and scholars of glass – that ancient but sometimes-overlooked fraternity – are coming into the picture in a big way, glass dealer turned specialist fairs organiser Paul Bishop is holding his second Cambridge Glass Fair.
