Latest News Articles by Joan Porter
Diss is not the end: shop shuts but showroom opens
02 July 2018The owner of an antiques shop in the Norfolk town of Diss which has been in his family for nearly 50 years is closing the business and relocating a few miles away.
Salvo organiser keeps busy
02 July 2018Thornton Kay, long-time organiser of the annual Salvo fair, has been in touch to say what he’s been doing on his year’s sabbatical from organising the event.
The UK calls to arms: a selection of militaria fairs
25 June 2018Saturday, June 30, is Armed Forces Day in the UK, an annual event which the contributions of men and women in the armed forces are celebrated through countrywide events in villages, towns and cities. This includes The Battle of Britain Air Show on June 30-July 1 at Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent. A number of militaria fairs also take place during the weekend and the following week – here is a focus on a few.
Summer vintage fair supports castle stuffed with relics
25 June 2018Denys Eyre Bower (1905-77) bought for £6000 the 17th century Chiddingstone Castle, near Edenbridge in Kent, filled it to the turrets with his collections of Japanese swords and lacquer, Egyptian antiquities, Stuart and Jacobite history and Buddhism pieces and opened the place to the public.
Buxton Halcyon fair postponed again
25 June 2018The long-awaited return in Derbyshire by Halcyon Fairs to the newly restored Octagon ballroom in Buxton’s magnificent Victorian pavilion has been delayed again due to ongoing works.
Society lays its cards on the table to boost fair numbers
25 June 2018The long-running Antique Scientific Instrument Fair has been given a boost by the Scientific Instrument Society (SIS).
Oxfordshire fair is now cancelled
18 June 2018A two-day fair set for June 23-24 has had to be cancelled.
Blueberry books place in the trade
18 June 2018In the books, maps and prints supplement in ATG No 2341, Pom Harrington of Harrington Rare Books observed that millennials are now looking at books and thinking they are “cool”.
Dorking has a lot to offer
18 June 2018On September 15-16, Macclesfield auctioneer Adam Partridge will be hosting an antiques-hunting weekend based at Hartsfield Manor, just outside Dorking.
Textile mill the place for vintage
18 June 2018Trading as Rose & Brown, organiser Caroline Brown’s 50-stand vintage home and fashion fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, June 23-24, at the Victoria Hall in Saltaire, West Yorkshire.
Wilton House hosts 1000 car boots at historic venue
18 June 2018Country house car boots held in aid of charities are part of the summer season.
Jaguar back at Kedleston
18 June 2018The seat of the Curzon family, the present Kedleston Hall, near Derby was designed in 1759 for Sir Nathaniel Curzon by the Palladian architects James Paine and Matthew Brettingham.
Glass fair reflects rise in dealer numbers
11 June 2018With an increase in exhibitor numbers, the second outing for the reborn Kensington Ceramics and Glass Fair is on Saturday, June 30, at Kensington Town Hall in London.
A material world: vintage and textile dealers in the spotlight
11 June 2018Spotlight on textiles fairs, dealers and a two London exhibitions covering designers...
Around 100 dealers to attend 'saintly' Paris brocante
11 June 2018In Paris later this month? As well as marvelling at the beauties of the vast and ornate 18th century Église St Sulpice in Paris’ 6th arrondissement, pictured below, with its chapel murals by Delacroix, you can peruse antiques delights on offer at the Place St Sulpice Antiquités Brocante.
Harleston is streets ahead
04 June 2018The pretty market town of Harleston in Norfolk’s Waveney Valley is getting ready for its busy annual community-led antiques and vintage street market, now in its fifth year.
West Somerset mansion with an impressive hall hosts antiques fair for the second time
04 June 2018One of the many beauties of the Grade I-listed Crowcombe Court in the Quantock Hills of west Somerset is the Great Hall.
Anonymous fair firmly on the map
04 June 2018Church Street in Marylebone, north London, looks like a good place to be on Sunday, June 24, with the return of the second annual Antiques Anonymous fleamarket which last year welcomed 5000 visitors.
Organiser expands event from Hampshire to West Sussex
04 June 2018Jackie Edwards knows all about crowds, as she is in her third year of running a busy biannual antiques and vintage fair in five indoor/outdoor locations throughout the market town of Romsey in Hampshire.
Story of French stove innovator and his burning ambition
28 May 2018From dealers Charlie Bates and Matthew Nellist of Jeffrey and Day comes a story about Jean-Baptiste Godin, a 19th century French industrialist and enlightened innovator.