Dealers

Old cookery books are more than simply receptacles of food history. They speak of technological change, the availability and discovery of ingredients that came with the expansion of the known world and how the social standing of the cook or chef changed over time. They are also very much in collecting vogue.

A selection of highlights that dealers are taking to upcoming fairs.

A highlight of Suffolk House Antiques’ summer selling exhibition is a pair of 13th or 14th century English gargoyles.

Bookings are significantly up this year for the Fawley Decorative Fair which is held on the Fawley Hill estate near Henley-on-Thames and runs from Friday to Sunday, May 31-June 2.

It is with great sadness that I report the passing away of George Floyd – always an immaculately dressed larger-than-life character.

Nick McConnell of McConnell Fine Books is among the exhibitors at Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair (see Books Supplement in this edition). He worked from shops in London before moving to the Kent coast, close to Canterbury.

A collection of rediscovered drawings by the 19th century artist Elizabeth Frances Batty (1791-1875) feature at Bloomsbury gallery Abbott and Holder this month.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Scottish artist Alan Davie’s (1920- 2014) oil on canvas 'Jumpin’ at the Woodside' (1965), which is on offer at Richard Green Gallery, references a jazz number with the same title released by Count Basie in 1938.

A watercolour by John Nixon (1755-1818) showing St Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London from Regent’s Park in the early days of the land’s development is offered at Guy Peppiatt Fine Art for £6500.

Running from June 7-9 at Battersea Evolution, the upcoming ' 'Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair' will feature 150-exhibitors.

This oil on canvas of A June Day, Ludlow by Beryl Maud Sinclair (1901-67) is among the works featured at Miles Wynn Cato’s final exhibition devoted to views of the Shropshire market town.

Thirty years ago organiser Matthew Adams launched his antiques fair held at the Royal Horticultural Halls.

Dealers Neil Honor and Jonathon Pegg run Catesbys, an interiors shop, from their home in the village of Exton, Rutland.

This 1979 photograph by German artist Astrid Klein is among the works on show at The Arts Club in London this summer.