Fairs and Markets

Masterpiece London regulars attend Hong Kong event despite civic unrest

Built in the 1960s, the family-owned Bedruthan Hotel at Mawgan Porth, near Newquay on the north Cornish coast, is set in a dramatic clifftop location overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

A 120 million-year-old fossilised ammonite is among the selection of decorative items on offer at the Chester fair following a change in ownership and focus.

'Le vol de pensée' (2010), shown right, is offered for $25,000 at Ink Asia on the stand of Singapore gallery iPreciation. The framed ink-on-paper composition, 2ft 7in x 2ft 2in (79 x 65cm), is by Gao Xingjian, a Chinese-born artist working in France.

The Lostwithiel Antique Fair was started by Lynne and Richard Bonehill (the late actor and sabre champion). The current organisers Anne and Nigel Allen will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the monthly fair on Sunday, October 13, in the town’s community centre.

The 19-acre former South Crofty tin and copper mine in the village of Pool, near Redruth in west Cornwall, closed as recently as 1996 and is now part of a local mining landscape World Heritage Site.

Antiques Fairs Cornwall, which runs a biannual two-day fair at the Royal Cornwall Showground, holds its regular monthly antiques and collectors’ fair at Pensilva near Liskeard. This is the largest one-day fair in Cornwall with up to 74 stands.

The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) is to hold a meeting for members on October 1 to discuss the sale of its fair and other concerns raised recently.

The Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society hosts its annual antique and collectable tile fair on Saturday October 5 at St Jude’s Hall, Mapperley, Nottingham.

The Northern Antiques Fair, run in association with the British Antiques Dealers’ Association (BADA), takes place during Frieze Week, meaning buyers can snap up top objects in North Yorkshire as well as London in early autumn.

BADA sent ATG this statement last week providing further details on the sale of a majority stake in its fair

MADAM – Amid the BADA voices calling for an EGM (ATG No 2409), let me add that one thing is certain: the days of traditional art and antiques fairs are numbered, thanks to changing tastes and an ageing buyer audience.

A group of First World War pastels depicting members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps harvesting peat moss for use in field dressings are typical of the variety collectors will find at the 'British Art Fair' (BAF).

Rare book dealer brings early 16th century Sammelband to eighth edition of Frieze Masters.

MADAM – The decision by BADA’s council to sell a majority stake in the fair was based on reliable information that the event faced making significant losses in the coming years. When we were approached by Thomas Woodham-Smith and Harry Van der Hoorn with an offer to invest in the fair, we had the opportunity to say ‘no’.

MADAM – There are positives about BADA’s decision to sell a majority stake in our annual fair. Not least of these is that the event needs fresh innovation. As an exhibitor for nearly 20 years, I felt it was getting tired and stale. It was time to look at things in a new and open way.

Christopher Jones specialises in 18th, 19th and 20th century decorative antiques, furniture, lighting and porcelain. He next stands at the Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in Battersea from October 1-6.

MADAM – The decision to sell the BADA fair to proven art and antiques fair organisers is an excellent move.