Fairs and Markets

Most of the UK may be going through a heatwave, but even if the clouds appear IACF’s new three-day antiques and collectors’ fair at the Staffordshire Showground will shine through.

Thornton Kay, long-time organiser of the annual Salvo fair, has been in touch to say what he’s been doing on his year’s sabbatical from organising the event.

Designer Vicki Ambery-Smith is regularly selected to show at the prestigious annual Goldsmiths Fair at Goldsmiths Hall in London.

The countdown to save winter Olympia has begun as the organisers warn that advanced dealer commitment is crucial.

A c.1715 Queen Anne burr walnut secretaire kneehole desk was among the highlight sales at the recent 'Petworth Park Antiques Fair'.

The long-awaited return in Derbyshire by Halcyon Fairs to the newly restored Octagon ballroom in Buxton’s magnificent Victorian pavilion has been delayed again due to ongoing works.

“She was the only fair organiser I’ve ever met from whom I didn’t mind getting a ticking off,” said one of the many tributes paid to Bunny on her death (Andrew Sim).

Several of the events taking place during this London summer season have put the emphasis on growth or diversification as organisers look to the future. But for porcelain dealer Brian Haughton, whose pair of porcelain events returns this month, the key is keeping specialised and drawing inspiration from the past.

Among the highlights Brian Haughton offers in 'A Collectors’ Paradise' is this Meissen group of a Danish pug dog with her two puppies, modelled c.1745 by JJ Kaendler (1706-75) and painted black, brown and white.

The long-running Antique Scientific Instrument Fair has been given a boost by the Scientific Instrument Society (SIS).

Denys Eyre Bower (1905-77) bought for £6000 the 17th century Chiddingstone Castle, near Edenbridge in Kent, filled it to the turrets with his collections of Japanese swords and lacquer, Egyptian antiquities, Stuart and Jacobite history and Buddhism pieces and opened the place to the public.