Fairs, Markets, Shops and Centres

It has been another bumper year of art and antiques fairs and markets announcements, news and views. Here is a selection of highlights.

Two dealers in more unusual material also featured in the column. Bill Neal’s specialist subject is antique Chinese mother-of-pearl gaming counters, in which he deals online and at Adams Antique Fairs events. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of this arcane and fascinating subject.

Dealer Vincent Page, the new owner of Antiques on High in Oxford, which was saved from closure earlier this year thanks to a tweet from ATG news reporter Laura Chesters regarding its sale, has been busy since his purchase in August.

IACF came up with some interesting leads this year and featured stories included Joe Mitchell, an event administrator for IACF who is an embroiderer, working for international costume designers.

In Europe we covered antiques markets in France and Italy plus those across the pond in the US. In December this column ran a profile on Frenchman Nicolas Martin, founder of an influential global fleamarkets website. In August I visited and wrote about the buzzing Foire de Chatou outside Paris.

Monmouth dealer John Read Smith is a multi-exhibitor at fairs, his sole dealing source, standing at around 60 venues a year together with Jools, his springer spaniel.

One of the most innovative vintage costume-style jewellery designers is Frenchwoman Léa Stein.

Tom Smith (1823-69) was the man who made Christmas go with a bang. His entrepreneurial invention of the Christmas cracker delighted Victorian families with the sheer variety of the crackers’ contents as well as the decorative boxes they came in.

Folk art has many admirers. Kent-based Anne Kelly specialises in recycled textile folk art, much of it inspired by nature, particularly birds, and her world travels.

A child’s plate that celebrates a performing elephant which was bizarrely accused of murdering her keeper will be an unusual highlight at Towy Events’ last antiques and fleamarket of the year.

Barry Potter is surely the king of toy fairs: he and his sons Ellis and Simon run toy, train and model collectors’ fairs in seven venues across the country – in Surrey, Bolton, Coventry, Doncaster, Birmingham, Stafford and Rugby.

“This year the Malvern Flea has been the prize in our portfolio,” says Helen Yourston, director of B2B Events.

A new fair organised by an online antiques business putting down fresh roots launches at a country house venue in Surrey on Sunday, December 10.

Before Natalie Smith opened the Woodbridge Antiques Centre 10 years ago in the pretty Suffolk town, she told ATG that she was given a great piece of advice: never compromise on quality and presentation.

Elizabeth Bowman, née Palmer, who established Bowman Antiques Fairs in 1973, passed away peacefully on Monday November 13 in Leeds General Infirmary.

When he was tired of his Paris apartment looking like an IKEA showroom and wanting to expand his interest in antiques, Nicolas Martin set out to investigate the trade.

Russia-born Tanya Goddard is one of the 35 exhibitors at the upcoming two-year-old Art Fair East in Norwich, which runs until December 3 at St Andrews Hall.

Mark Twain said that his Conklin Crescent Filler fountain pen “was a profanity saver as it cannot roll off the desk”.

This lady’s expression says she might be trying to add some gravitas to her Christmas outfit, but it is difficult when decked out with bits of fir tree, assorted crackers, baubles and tassles plus a mini-tree on her head.

For the past 25 years Thomas Jayne has incorporated ancient and modern works of art into the rooms he designs. William Cullum, 28, who has worked at Jayne Studio for the last six years, went to TEFAF New York Fall for inspiration.