Latest News Articles by Joan Porter
Cabaret in Polish showcase
15 January 2018This is Liza Minelli as you might never have seen her – in this Polish poster by Wiktor Górka for the film Kabaret, which was created in 1973 for the first year of the film’s release in Poland.
Mask fits among items for sale in Deco masterpiece
15 January 2018A restored wall mask made by and indeed featuring the famed Art Deco ceramics designer Susie Cooper is one of the intriguing pieces for sale at Style 1900’s '20th Century Decorative Arts Fair'.
Glass joins revamped London ceramics showcase
08 January 2018A long-running biannual specialist fair has been renamed and will launch its first edition in London under a new organiser this month.
Dovehouse fair flutters into extra space at Dorking Halls
08 January 2018Jane Alexander of Dovehouse Fine Antiques Fairs is doing so well with her 70-dealer monthly fairs at the Dorking Halls in Surrey that she is taking extra space at the venue.
Leap at the chance to visit Amsterdam's 'First Art Fair'
08 January 2018The Morren Galleries in Utrecht is bringing this striking bronze Springende Haas (Leaping Hare), pictured , to Amsterdam’s First Art Fair. The work of Rotterdam sculptor Evert den Hartog, it is priced at €6750, and measures 19 x 20 x 5in (47 x 52 x 12cm).
Two pop-up vintage fairs in focus
08 January 2018Maxine Stonehill of Pop Up Vintage Fairs has launched a new vintage fair, this time at the Art Deco Grade II-listed Walthamstow Assembly Hall.
Aviation and militaria fair lands at former London airport
02 January 2018The former main London airport is an appropriate venue to hold the annual Croydon Aviation and Military Collectors’ Fair.
Marvellous Malvern is B2B flagship event
02 January 2018Mulling over her 2017 experience, B2B Events’ director Helen Yourston said Malvern is proving to be a marvel.
Fairs & Markets 2017 review: Young get in on the deal
18 December 2017Young dealers made a welcome appearance this year including 16-year-old Tom Hurst, the youngest member of Antiques Young Guns.
Fairs & Markets 2017 review: Racing ahead to the new year
18 December 2017It has been another bumper year of art and antiques fairs and markets announcements, news and views. Here is a selection of highlights.
Fairs & Markets 2017 review: The stranger things on sale
18 December 2017Two dealers in more unusual material also featured in the column. Bill Neal’s specialist subject is antique Chinese mother-of-pearl gaming counters, in which he deals online and at Adams Antique Fairs events. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of this arcane and fascinating subject.
Fairs & Markets 2017 review: Centre new owner is on a high
18 December 2017Dealer Vincent Page, the new owner of Antiques on High in Oxford, which was saved from closure earlier this year thanks to a tweet from ATG news reporter Laura Chesters regarding its sale, has been busy since his purchase in August.
Fairs & Markets 2017 review: Tokyo duo in Notts tie-up
18 December 2017IACF came up with some interesting leads this year and featured stories included Joe Mitchell, an event administrator for IACF who is an embroiderer, working for international costume designers.
Fairs & Markets 2017 review: International relations
18 December 2017In Europe we covered antiques markets in France and Italy plus those across the pond in the US. In December this column ran a profile on Frenchman Nicolas Martin, founder of an influential global fleamarkets website. In August I visited and wrote about the buzzing Foire de Chatou outside Paris.
Fairs & Markets 2017 review: A springer into action
18 December 2017Monmouth dealer John Read Smith is a multi-exhibitor at fairs, his sole dealing source, standing at around 60 venues a year together with Jools, his springer spaniel.
Léa Stein jewellery design sparkles at Grays
11 December 2017One of the most innovative vintage costume-style jewellery designers is Frenchwoman Léa Stein.
Cracking idea now providing esoteric collecting field
11 December 2017Tom Smith (1823-69) was the man who made Christmas go with a bang. His entrepreneurial invention of the Christmas cracker delighted Victorian families with the sheer variety of the crackers’ contents as well as the decorative boxes they came in.
Old textiles fuel folk art
11 December 2017Folk art has many admirers. Kent-based Anne Kelly specialises in recycled textile folk art, much of it inspired by nature, particularly birds, and her world travels.
Plate on offer at Welsh fair recalls the elephant in the court room
11 December 2017A child’s plate that celebrates a performing elephant which was bizarrely accused of murdering her keeper will be an unusual highlight at Towy Events’ last antiques and fleamarket of the year.
Father and sons provide family value as toy events keep on track
04 December 2017Barry Potter is surely the king of toy fairs: he and his sons Ellis and Simon run toy, train and model collectors’ fairs in seven venues across the country – in Surrey, Bolton, Coventry, Doncaster, Birmingham, Stafford and Rugby.