AS we noted in our February 19 Leader, the art and antiques trade is surprisingly buoyant and, at present, its mood is positive. Evidence from the first fairs and auctions of the year supports our assessment.
When I visited the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, W1, for the opening event of the London year, the Mayfair Fair, I was greeted with the heartening news that one of the items featured in my January 1 preview had sold off the page and that there had been six enquiries about it before the fair opened. This was the rare Paul Storr silver cheese-toasting dish with Mary Cooke.
The Art Nouveau and Deco glass specialists M & D Moir sold a complete shelf-full to one regular client and another Art Deco dealer, Jeroen Markies, took £1,450 for a Swiss Jaeger- LeCoultre brass and glass clock (Fig 3) dating from the 1950s.
On the opening day of the Decorative Fair in Battersea, Stuart Atkinson of Fontaine, a Ledbury-based dealer, reported: ‘Overall, it has been pretty good. We’ve had such a high footfall and one private customer purchased every painting on our stand—all 43 of them.’
Large and traditional items also did well at this event. Vagabond Antiques of Fittleworth, West Sussex, for instance, parted with a collection of 18th-century staddle stones priced at £3,500 to a new customer; a life-sized 18th-century carved stone figure of Apollo on its original plinth (Fig 1), ticketed at £32,000; an 18th–century Italian painted chest of drawers at £4,600; a reclining leather Victorian armchair; several upholstery items; and ‘a really nice George III period lacquered chinoiserie chest at £5,500’.
Denne historien er fra March 04, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 04, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery