A table is measured up for size at a recent Lomax Fair in Southwold.
It’s back to school for dealer, furniture restorer and fair organiser Anthony Keer of Lomax Fairs who is relaunching an event near Norwich.
The antiques fair takes place at Langley School in the market town of Loddon from Friday to Sunday, October 25-27.
This is a return to a location that was one of the stable of venues for Lomax Fairs organised for 16 years by art dealer John Harbottle from 2006 to 2022, when it was taken over by Keer.
“The last fair at Langley School was held about nine years ago and I’m so pleased to be back there,” said Keer. “Bookings are well up with still a few stands available.”
Meanwhile, the second of Lomax Fairs’ biannual three-day high-end antiques fairs at St Felix School in the much visited Suffolk coastal town of Southwold is coming up this month.
Some 40 dealers including newcomers silver dealer Daniel Cotton and Hassan Alabaf, with Persian rugs and carpets, will be selling period furniture, fine porcelain, bronzes and the rest at the fair which runs from Friday to Sunday, July 19-21.
Regular customers for No6 Southwold
This c.1920 unsigned oil on canvas portrait was recently bought at No6Southwold by the curator of Sissinghurst Castle in Kent for her personal collection. She was struck by its perceived likeness to the novelist and poet Vita Sackville-West, who bought the castle in 1930 with her husband, diplomat Harold Nicholson, where they created their now famous gardens.
Staying on the theme of Southwold, four years ago we wrote about three friends including Caroline McCarthy who opened a pop-up antiques and vintage shop in a former off-licence in the town, calling it No6 Southwold.
“It’s just me now,” said Jenny Cook, one of the three. “I sell mainly paintings and specialise in Modern British art. Lamps are another good seller. Southwold has been quieter than normal this year, in part due to the terrible weather and people going abroad in search of some sunshine. But we are lucky here that trade is pretty good compared to other places.
“I’ve built a good reputation and have a loyal following of local customers and second home owners, as well as holidaymakers. I also sell a lot of Mochaware and have a large collection in the shop, along with Sunderland lustreware.”
Instagram: @no6southwold
Caroline McCarthy pictured in her antiques and interiors shop in Southwold.
A former location manager for film and television companies, McCarthy is now the owner of the intriguingly named Red Eyed Dove.
By way of premises in Hitchin in Hertfordshire followed by a relocation in 2015 to Suffolk and the market town of Halesworth, she opened her shop in Southwold last year.
She said: “I love Mid-century and antiques and the shop has a selection of curated pieces across the different eras including furniture, vintage textiles and my biggest love which is art.
“I love to mix it up so an Ernest Race chair will be found sitting happily beside a Georgian dresser.”
McCarthy first came to the town when she was a child and has returned ever since.
“Many of my customers feel the same. Having once experienced the magic of Southwold they return generation after generation.”
