The Salvo 2017 fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, June 24-25, and among the tools on offer are those more at home in the kitchen than the workshop.
Event organiser Thornton Kay, an evangelical espouser of the green movement, promises “human-powered tools, not just hand tools used in building such as drills, braces, planes and augers, but also kitchenware such as whisks and coffee grinders”.
On cue, dealer Sugden and Daughters is bringing a selection of 1930s-’40s French hand coffee grinders priced from £38 upwards. These were made by Peugeot before the company got into car manufacture.
Meanwhile, chef entrepreneur Douglas McMaster’s pop-up, award-winning “food pure” restaurant Silo from Brighton is next to the fair fashion marquee which is showcasing clothes made from waste materials and fabric using vintage tailors’ tools.
The exhibitor list of architectural and decorative highlights also includes Molly and Maud’s Place with a Victorian horse carriage at £3600 (and who might be bringing their 1920s wooden prosthetic legs – not their own, of course – at £220).
Nikki Page Antiques is offering a 19th century marble angel at £665 and Fontaine is bringing a number of architectural pieces including some 1930s Spanish gates.
Down to earth
At a more earthy level, there may well be what are delightfully described as items of “off-sewer sanitary interest”. An example of the Rev Henry Moule’s (1801-80) earth closet could make an appearance, plus early water filtration systems, cooking ranges and examples of battery power.
The Dorset vicar patented a dry earth closet toilet system in 1860. His motives were to save his Victorian parishioners from the cholera epidemics of 1849 and 1854 by devising a sanitary but simple set-up suitable for homes where there was no indoor piped water. First, you fill up the hopper, which releases a dollop of earth or ash at the right time, and then you empty the bucket.
Salvo 2017 includes a charity gala preview and late night shopping on Friday, June 23 from 5-8pm.
