Fairs and Markets

The textiles archive at the Sunny Bank Mills at Farsley, near Leeds in West Yorkshire, which was founded in 1829, is a fascinating piece of textiles history.

“We aim to be the largest bricks and mortar antiques centre in Europe with the largest website,” says Robert Miller, managing director of Hemswell Antique Centres.

A specialist fair in London that was put together at top speed in under two weeks, with Christmas in the middle, has been judged a resounding success by the organiser Two C’s Fairs.

This month’s Pavilions of Harrogate Decorative Antiques & Fine Art Fair is the second fair of the year to take place in the Yorkshire town.

As Springfield Fairs, Polly and Peter Trapmore-Shaw’s upcoming Spalding Antique and Collectors’ Fair in the Lincolnshire town famous for its flower bulbs, is at the Springfield Event Centre on Sunday, February 4.

The annual TEFAF art market report has been scrapped in favour of a number of smaller, focused reports.

Renovation of a key venue and repair work following last year’s extreme weather have not deterred exhibitors from the annual migration to Florida for the state’s mega and niche fairs...

Among the 150 dealers at the upcoming Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair (January 23-28) is newcomer of sorts, Nic McElhatton, former head of Christie’s South Kensington.

The picture dealer element of BRAFA is substantial, but increasingly these days the emphasis is on works from the 19th century onwards, be they Impressionist and modern or post-war and contemporary art.

Brussels gears up for its major art and antiques fair this month with the latest edition of BRAFA.

While BRAFA understandably dominates much of the cultural headlines during this period, it is not the only show in town.

BRAFA has long been a fair with a speciality in early (medieval and Renaissance) works of art, which is something that dates back to the years when it was a Belgian National fair in the city centre. It thus serves a venerable collecting tradition drawing in buyers from the local area and further afield.

Alan Blakeman, lifelong rock climber and founder of niche business BBR Auctions in Elsecar, near Barnsley, had a good 2017.

Tribal art has long been a Belgian speciality due to the country’s colonial history in Africa. So it is not surprising to see this area well represented at BRAFA, with around a dozen participants in this field hailing from Paris, Brussels and as far away as Montreal.

Antiquities is one of BRAFA’s strong suits in terms of exhibitor volume. Around 10 specialists in this field are standing, plus a number of others that mix antiquities with, for example, Asian art.