Doing the Sculpture Walk at The Treasure House Fair.
Last year, The Treasure House Fair emerged from the dust left by Masterpiece, which dazzled for years, then disappeared, both taking place on the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Thomas Woodham-Smith and Harry Van der Hoorn were co-founders of the original Masterpiece in 2009, so they have the requisite experience for such ventures. The hurried arrival of The Treasure House Fair in 2023 was an impressive feat of optimism and organisation. That quickly hatched event boasted around 50 dealers, but for 2024 they managed to attract 70 (70% UK, 30% international).
Among the dealers returning for a second crack of the whip were Ronald Phillips, Adrian Sassoon, Richard Green, Frank Partridge, Osborne Samuel, Wartski, Butchoff Antiques, MacConnal-Mason, Godson & Coles, Koopman Rare Art and Adrian Alan.
Willoughby Gerrish curated a Sculpture Walk at last year’s fair, but did not take a stand. This year, the firm embraced both and it appears to have paid off. It sold a Henry Moore Recumbent Figure bronze for £220,000 to a private collector. Unlike many Moore creations, this one is small enough to fit on a bedside table.
Henry Moore, Recumbent Figure, conceived 1938, cast 1938-48, bronze, 3¼ x 5 x 2¾ in (8.3 x 12.7 x 7cm), edition of nine, sold for £220,000 by Willoughby Gerrish at The Treasure House Fair.
When ATG visited the fair Gerrish grabbed it from a cupboard so we could admire its petite but awesome form. Designed as a maquette in 1935 by Moore, his larger Recumbent Figure was a site-specific sculpture, created for the terrace of Russian émigré architect Serge Chermayeff’s modernist villa, Bentley Wood in East Sussex. In addition to this maquette, eight others were created in preparation for the final sculpture, which is now in the Tate collection.
Coincidentally, The Holburne Museum in Bath is staging the Henry Moore in Miniature exhibition, a survey of sculptural output from his earliest works through to his last years, in which nothing is more than 12in (30cm) in size. It runs until September 8 and features works from every decade of Moore’s career, covering the 1920s-80s - including another Recumbent Figure. The exhibition is sponsored by auction house Dreweatts, with extra support from Osborne Samuel.
Go Weston
Also returning to this year’s Treasure House was William Weston Gallery (St James’s, London) which sold works on paper by David Hockney, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí, as well as a gorgeous original etching in black ink by Alberto Giacometti (Buste d’Annette, 1964) which sold for £14,000.
SmithDavidson Gallery sold a work by Australian Aboriginal artist Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri for €65,000 (Marawa, 2019).
Jonathan Cooper did well with a large canvas by Australian artist Tim Storrier, Heat Line & Haze (2022), which went to a UK-based collector for £115,000 (+VAT).
Long-Sharp Gallery was one of many American exhibitors at this year’s fair, joined by first-timers from New York: À la Vieille Russie, SJ Shrubsole and Phoenix Ancient Art. Long-Sharp sold over a dozen works including an Andy Warhol unique polaroid print titled Flowers from 1982. The photo may be small with its proportions of just 3½ x 4¼in (8.6 x 10.8cm), but Warhol always looms large with regards to cultural cachet and investment opportunities. This work was stamped by artist’s estate, authenticated by the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts (stamp and archive number on verso) and sold for $14,700 (inc VAT).
Sold for $14,700 inc. VAT by Long-Sharp Gallery was this Andy Warhol unique polaroid print, 3½x 4¼in (8.6 x 10.8cm), Flowers, 1982, from the Estate of Andy Warhol.
European integration
The curses of Brexit continue to stymie Continental European dealers. With this in mind, The Treasure House Fair cut a deal with logistics firm Momart, which effectively softened the double slap of paperwork and costs.
Rather like Britain’s departure from the EU, negotiations for this arrangement took longer than hoped for, so this year’s cohort of dealers did not have time to fully enjoy the benefits of this smoother proposition.
Woodham-Smith, co-founder and director of The Treasure House Fair, said: “For the fair to underwrite this cost is unusual but we see this as a great offer to reunite us with our European friends and neighbours.”
Next year’s event, scheduled for June 26-July 1, looks likely to be even more tempting for galleries which were wearied by the Byzantine admin and economic anguish.
Natural appeal
Perhaps the most notable addition to this year’s fair was Stone Gallery from the Netherlands. Previously shunned in some quarters for not qualifying as a ‘purveyor of art’, it landed with a bang at the event like a glinting asteroid. The stand featured a hand-crafted skull sculpture created with metal from the Gibeon meteorite field in Namibia, the fossil of a pregnant dinosaur and a 50,000-year-old woolly rhinoceros skull.
The fact that very few of the items were crafted by human hands did not seem to bother the crowds that huddled around their array of ancient bones and rocks from outer space.
Institutional buyers
As an indication of the prestige and impact of Treasure House, several exhibitors reported institutional buying, including leading Tokyo contemporary art gallery A Lighthouse called Kanata which sold works to the trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and the V&A, among others.
Rountree Tryon Galleries sold the first ever topographical view of Tobago - The Battle of Tobago (1677) by Jan Karel Donatus van Beecq (Dutch, 1638-1722) - to a European museum.
E&H Manners was pleased to see a Bow ceramic pheasant fly out the door for £65,000. It is one of the largest and most accomplished of all early Bow models, c.1748-51. The sculptor captured the alert posture with the bird’s wings primed for flight with impressive naturalism.
Sladmore Gallery also enjoyed sales from both its modern and contemporary departments, in particular futuristic geometrical works by Johnny Hawkes, one of which greeted visitors at the entrance and sold for £65,000. Nicola Theakston’s animal sculptures were a hit and her study of a hare head hopped off at £3200.
Hare Head Study 3 by Nichola Theakston, bronze, from an edition of 24, height 14in (36cm), sold by Sladmore for £3200.
Gallery director Edward Horswell said: “Treasure House is in each edition becoming stronger and a more definitive marker not only of the season in England but also in the art calendar.
“Nicola Theakston’s works, all finished by her own sympathetic patination, have sold well at the fair, which is a strong indication for her first solo show with Sladmore next year.”
In addition to selling the ATG front cover star (edition No 2651), a Hanover Tompion clock for £3.5m, the horological dealership of Carter Marsh was on hand with several other notable timekeepers.
At The Treasure House Fair it sold 11 clocks and seven watches, including The Palumbo Tompion ebony and guilt month table clock with quarter repeat, c.1695, at £390,000, a Joseph Knibb Charles II figured walnut Phase I striking table clock, c.1675, at £195,000 and a Christopher Gould, Londini fecit, quarter repeating table clock, c.1695, at £35,000.
Carter Marsh director Darrell Dipper said: “What makes The Treasure House Fair so important to us is that we can showcase our world heritage items to a global audience, making new connections with people who might never have previously considered buying an antique masterpiece.”
Carter Marsh director Darrell Dipper with the £3.5m Hanover Tompion at The Treasure House Fair.
Image: Carter Marsh & Co
Wider and wider
The Treasure House Fair has evolved into an event that has cannily widened its appeal to position itself as a high-end social event, a day out for the family and a retail experience for people who flew into the UK on a private jet.
First and foremost, it is a thriving showcase for serious dealers and collectors, but further growth may require steps into less traditionalist quarters.
The outfit that Sienna Miller wore to open the fair was discussed in detail in the Daily Mail and while one could ponder a print by Grayson Perry for £50,000 (Piano Nobile), it was also possible to daydream about snapping up the Riva Aquarama Special, a classic yacht from 1984, offered by Ventura for close to £1m.
Crafted with five timbers, it was a beauty to behold, and like the vintage sports cars on sale at the entrance or Maldon rock oysters being shucked at the Seafood Bar, The Treasure House Fair is selling aspirational fantasy to the public and exquisite antiques to serious collectors.
The rich cocktail of options is proving to be a winning formula.
