Well known in the trade, he and his daughter Sarah are now concentrating full time on the fairs circuit as well as running a busy online business.
Sarah said: “It’s a hectic schedule. We cover the twice-monthly Kempton antiques market, an event of which Gary is very fond. It’s great to have a local presence and a good way to promote the website so that people know we are still in the trade.
“IACF Ardingly has been the busiest fair for us so far this summer, while we take a very large amount of stock to IACF Newark – as much as we can fit into the van.”
Fairs mainstay
For more than 40 years Gary has been a mainstay of Adams Antiques Fairs held monthly at the Royal Horticultural Hall on a Sunday. Also in London, he is a regular at the monthly Sunday antique fairs held at the Rembrandt Hotel.
Sarah added: “I photograph our stand at every fair for our followers on social media. Doing the larger fairs is a great way for me to learn about the stock and watch my father in his element.
“My father has a keen eye for boxes and his expertise and knowledge is a combination that sells.”
From the online business which Sarah has run for the past five years, a beautiful George III 1810 boxwood and ebony strung tea caddy with a working lock and the original leaded interior is priced at £616.
Ian Russell Antiques Fairs at the Rembrandt Hotel are on 01255 821382 (organiser Paul Byers).
