Fairs and Markets

FOR many dealers the surprise success of last year was the launch of the audaciously named fair Antiques and Audacity, which was held from May 16 to 18 in the grounds of Arundel Castle.

ALWAYS a steady fair, Caroline Penman’s Chester Antiques and Fine Art Show at the County Grandstand, Chester Racecourse from February 12 to 15, once again proved just that, ticking over nicely for most of the 60 exhibitors but with no surprises.

FOUNDED eight years ago as the Palm Beach International Art and Antiques Fair, and presented this year in a new location with a new name, Palm Beach Classic, this pioneering Florida fair has just cemented itself as one of the world’s top five international fixtures.

MARCH is bursting with smart, large and prestigious fairs. But, while neither massive nor flashy, the favourite of many in the trade is the Bath Decorative and Antiques Fair, the 15th of which will be staged in the Pavilion, North Parade, Bath from March 3 to 6.

ALTHOUGH it is now in its 11th year, the Spring Fine Art and Antiques Fair, which will be held at Olympia in West London from March 2 to 7, is the most recent of the three annual Olympias. To many eyes it is the most stylish and best looking of the three – to others it is the most problematical. It is certainly different.

A compromise deal has been agreed between rival Paris fair organisers the Syndicat National des Antiquaires – the national dealers’ association, which stages the Biennale and the Salon du Collectioneur at the Carrousel du Louvre – and SOC (Société d’Organisation Culturelle), the commercial company (owned by Paris dealers Patrick Perrin and Stéphane Custot) which stages the twice-yearly Pavillon des Antiquaires et des Beaux Arts in the adjacent Tuileries Gardens.

THERE are a plethora of fairs in March but, as usual, the one that will dominate will be TEFAF Maastricht in the Dutch city’s MECC (exhibition centre) from March 5 to 14, with the famous vernissage on the evening of March 4. Here is a taster of the kind of finds you can expect at the world’s number one art and antiques fair.

New laws to benefit the disabled due to come into force later this year will have implications for antique shops, centres and auction houses. The Disability Discrimination Act, covering all shops and service providers, irrespective of size, requires companies and venue managers to improve access and facilities for wheelchair users from October 1.

A COLLECTION of essays published at the launch of the Maastricht fair aims to tackle prejudice against the art market among politicians, academics and the public.

Local trade fare particularly well at Powderham: TWO weeks ago, when Sue Ede of Cooper Antiques Fairs promised her new West Country Antiques Fair at Powderham Castle, near Exeter, would be “an antiques event of a quality not seen before in the West Country”, I must admit I thought that a very bold claim indeed.

A MASKED gang took a substantial quantity of antique jewellery during a robbery at the Petersfield Antiques Fair held at the Festival Hall in the town from February 6-8.

THE first of this year’s three Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fairs is upon us when, from March 2 to 7 some 180 dealers mount a varied and colourful display at the West London exhibition halls. This is the only Olympia with no datelines and it gives the dealers in contemporary and 20th century items all the scope they need for a stylish, eye-catching display.

JUST about six weeks into the new year and on the antiques fair front things are much like last year. Fairs so far have neither really flourished nor foundered. At best they tick over with some dealers doing very well. At worse they end with no exhibitors having enjoyed any real success. We are still waiting for the blockbuster fair.

COMPLETELY full, and with a genuine waiting list, Caroline Penman’s tried and trusted Chester Antiques and Fine Art Show is ready for the off at the County Grandstand at Chester Racecourse from February 12 to 15.

ESSEX organiser Robert Bailey is relishing his new role as ringmaster of LAPADA’s London showcase, The LAPADA Fine Art & Antiques Fair at Claridge’s, which will be held at the exclusive Mayfair hotel from April 14 to 18.

THE country’s premier dedicated trade jewellery show International Jewellery London has appointed Alison Marshall as their new organising manager.

IT was not just Sotheby’s and Christie’s who were generating some exceptional prices for Old Masters in New York in the third week of January. The East 87th Street auctioneers Doyle’s (19.5/12% buyer’s premium) generated keen interest from TEFAF Maastricht exhibitors in the room when they included a moody Gottfried Schalken (1643-1706) canvas in their January 21 sale.

ORGANISER Sue Ede of Cooper Antiques Fairs is promising “an antiques event of a quality not seen before in the West Country” with this weekend’s launch of her West Country Antiques Fair at Powderham Castle, near Exeter. It seems a bold claim but, on reflection, there have not been that many successful quality fairs in the West Country so Mrs Ede may well be on safe ground.

HOT on the heels of the upmarket, well-established Palm Beach Classic, the brand new Palm Beach Jewellery and Antique Show will be launched from February 13 to 17 at the same venue, the new Palm Beach Convention Center. The event is fully booked with a hefty 225 dealers but the astonishing fact is that no fewer than 70 of these are from the UK.

SPECIALIST organisers Oxbridge Fairs have made a change of venue for their third Cambridge Glass Fair. It will be held on Sunday February 15 outside the city at Chilford Hall Vineyard, Linton, which is also the site of fine art printers the Curwen Press.