Formerly known as the London Ceramics Fairs, run by Prestige Fairs from 2004-17 and recently lapsed, the event is now branded the Kensington Ceramics and Glass Fair.
It is run by Stephanie Castell and Ben Cooper of Two C’s Antiques Fairs, with the display-case company Casemate as adviser.
In less than a month they have pulled together this new fair which will take place on Saturday, January 13, at Kensington Town Hall, the former fair’s recent venue.
Early and rare ceramics
Castell said: “The well-attended Kensington fair has always offered the best in early and rare ceramics and we do not want to lose any more of these specialist fairs.
“So many have gone by the wayside due to difficulties with venues and costs. The addition of glass, we hope, will give us a wider audience and goes hand in hand with ceramics, with many dealers offering both, as will be the case here, along with a few specialist glass dealers including Jeanette Hayhurst.”
Cooper, an Oriental ceramics dealer, added: “While there are still glass fairs held at the National Motorcycle Museum and so on, many of the ceramics fairs have now gone due to spiralling costs, which is why three years ago we absorbed the Worcester Ceramics Fair into our Worcestershire Antiques Fairs at the Chateau Impney Hotel near Droitwich.”
Brad Dover of Jupiter Antiques was a long-time exhibitor at the London Ceramics Fairs, which started its life at the Cumberland Hotel in London in the mid-1980s, running until 2002. It was organised by Fred Hynds of Wakefield Ceramics Fairs.
Dover is looking forward to the new event. “Due to the uncertainty around whether the January 2018 fair would take place with less than a month to go, some faithful exhibitors now have other obligations,” he said.
“We hope ceramics and glass collectors will understand that for the organisers and the exhibitors this is a new horizon, a start that will continue to grow into the fair collectors love and expect.
“As an exhibitor at this new fair, we find it very exciting and are filled with confidence of success.”
