Fairs and Markets

The TEFAF decision to remove dealers from vetting at their shows has caused debate (ATG Nos 2367 & 2368). Here, silver dealer Alastair Dickenson writes to ATG giving his view, while we canvass opinion from four more experts.

IACF is expecting a buoyant antique and collectors’ fair at Alexandra Palace on Sunday, December 2, including items sourced from shipwrecks.

News from Antiques on High, the antiques centre saved for the city of Oxford when it was bought by antique furniture dealer Vincent Page last year, alerted via a tweet about a story in ATG.

Sally Knott has been running the biannual two-day Dorset Brocante for three years at two venues: in August at Deans Court, Wimborne, and in the autumn at Larmer Tree Gardens, near Salisbury.

Dealer association BADA has introduced changes to the vetting committee of its fairs to “ensure independence”. While dealers can still hold vetting positions, the chairs of 16 specialist sub-committees must now be non-exhibitors.

Two years ago we featured ex-paramedic Allun Davies and his business selling vintage luggage in the Gwent town of Pontypool.

The range of choice in antique and vintage jewellery makes for ideal one-off special presents – try the dedicated 30-dealer jewellery fair pictured below, with baubles from the Georgian period onwards.

Antiquarian and out-of-print book and ephemera collectors will be in heaven on the weekend of December 1-2 with two fairs at the Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury in Coram Street.

A unique, high-quality specimen table fitted with Rockingham porcelain plaques is on offer at the next Galloway Fair, which runs from November 23-25 at Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire.

Mirrors in a variety of styles and types found new homes at the recent Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair (October 2-7) in Battersea, reinforcing the event as a destination for private buyers and decorators on the hunt for interesting and unusual home furnishings.

One of the busiest of Naomi Knight’s monthly markets at the Listed Green Park Station in Bath is her Christmas Vintage and Antiques Market.

It’s party time at Savitri Coleman’s Clerkenwell Vintage Fashion Fair in the Freemason’s Hall, Great Queen Street, on Sunday November 25.

Decoratives dealer Marcus Potts is the enthusiastic organiser of the well-regarded biannual Antiques at the Holt Fair which runs at the Holt Hotel, Steeple Aston.

Our picture below from a past event shows that Art Deco is quite often a speciality at Polly and Peter Trapmore-Shaw’s antiques and collectors fairs held in the Lincolnshire town of Spalding.

When buying online from dealers, it makes sense to look out for expertise and top-quality objects. But where do you find them?

Art dealers and auction house specialists have been removed from all TEFAF vetting panels to avoid any potential conflict of interest.