46 12th March 2011 dealers’ dossier
Anna Brady reports
email:
annabrady@atgmedia.com tel: 020 7420 6625
Will LAPADA and BADA support broaden Summer Olympia?
FOR the first time in the fair’s 38- year history, this year’s Olympia International Fine Art & Antiques Fair, organised by Clarion Events from June 9 to 19, will be run in association with both the BADA and LAPADA. The two trade associations will
promote the fair to their members and encourage them to exhibit there, and will formally endorse the event, with their logos appearing on the fair’s marketing materials. But what will this association mean in practical terms for exhibitors and dealers? Mark Dodgson, secretary general
of the BADA spoke of encouraging as many of his members as possible to take part “and help create the buzz that makes for a successful fair” while Sarah Percy-Davis, chief executive of LAPADA, commented; “We will support Clarion in re- establishing Olympia as a broader- based market place and essential trading platform for dealers in June”. Perhaps most telling of all was
the statement made in tandem with the announcement from Clarion that stand prices will be lowered to accommodate a greater breadth of dealers and budgets at the fair. Organiser Chris Gallon said:
“Our strategy with the 2011 June fair is to make it easier than ever for both small and large dealers to exhibit. We have reduced our prices from 2010 and we’ve created our most flexible stand sizes yet to suit different budgets. We want to give our visitors a wide range of stock at different prices from £100 upwards.” After a gradual move upmarket
– that reached its zenith last year with a David Lester makeover – the positioning of the Summer Olympia fair continues to be the subject of hot debate. With the input of our two leading trade associations could the Olympia fair again become an affordable trading platform?
Above left: at just under 6in (14cm) long, this pair of c.1720 Lambeth delft shoes are slightly smaller than life size and they will be priced at £6800 from Martyn Edgell Antiques of Cambridge at Antiques For Everyone. Above right: at the NEC the early English pottery specialist John Howard Antiques of Woodstock will have this c.1820 pearlware advertising model for Atkinson Bears Grease, attributed to Wood and Caldwell of Staffordshire. The 17in (43cm) long figure is in original condition and carries the address of the shop at 24 Old Bond Street, London, and is priced at £4500.
Even more for Everyone
■ Dateline changes aimed at broadening audience for NEC
AFTER last October’s Antiques for Everyone fair, organiser Tiffany Pritchard of Clarion Events announced that in 2011, she aimed to broaden the appeal of these events and attract a younger audience.
And at the first of this year’s three
Antiques for Everyone fairs, in Halls 17-19 at Birmingham’s NEC from March 17 to 20, the datelines have been extended to embrace mid-century and vintage pieces. “We have undergone a review of the
datelines for each discipline and we are delighted to confirm that the majority of Section One datelines have moved forward to pre-1940 (previously pre-1914), while in Section Two it will be pre-1970 (previously 1950),” says Tiffany. “However, there are exceptions and additional requirements are included in the rules to ensure we maintain our standards”. She continued: “The changes have
been made with a view to encouraging new exhibitors to join the fair with stock that would previously have been outside these datelines.” The dateline change will probably not be immediately noticeable, and the organisers anticipate that this will be a gradual evolution, with more mid- century items appearing at future fairs as the idea catches on. Antiques for Everyone is now in its
26th year and changes to an established event often cause consternation among its many loyal exhibitors and visitors. But, it must move with the times and a younger attendance is needed to ensure this event can carry on for another 26 years, and datelines must be extended at some point. Many remark that the very word ‘antiques’ is an instant turn-off for
from Derbyshire with a mix of ceramics and reference books. Making a return to Section One this year after a few years away are Ashleigh House from Essex with oil paintings and original illustrations, and cartoons specialists The Rae-Smith Gallery of London. Of course there are the regulars, and
here is a brief summation. Starting with furniture, S.&S. Timms from Bedfordshire with period furniture, Peter Bunting from Derbyshire with oak and country pieces and Sue Killinger from Buckinghamshire with a mix of furniture, silver, clocks, objects of vertu and collector’s items. Pictures of all periods are well
Above: at Antiques for Everyone furniture specialists S.&S. Timms from Ampthill will ask £3350 for this c.1820 Regency period gilt convex mirror, with original candle arms and pendants.
younger buyers, but equally the use of popular labels such as vintage, retro and decorative, which hold different connotations for us all, often provokes fierce debate amongst the trade. Known for the breadth of stock on
offer, the NEC fair is the largest vetted, stand-fitted antiques event in Britain. The event is well down from its heyday of 600-plus stands but there will be 300 dealers on 250 booths (a number of them sharing). The normal format of two sections remains. There are two newcomers to the
smarter Section One: Jane Khurana Fine Arts from Suffolk with early English paintings and drawings and collector’s items and A&M Antiques, all the way from New South Wales in Australia with porcelain, predominantly Royal Worcester. The three first timers in Section Two
are Cheshire specialistsMoorland Majolica who will bring a Minton model of a fawn by Paul Comolera (£48,000), Oxpen Antiques from Lincolnshire with bronze sculpture, and RMJ Antiques
represented, with Rowles Fine Art from Welshpool bringing a range of 19th century to contemporary British and European pictures, London-based Saunders Fine Art with Modern British and European pictures and Art of the Imagination (previously Books Illustrated) from Salisbury with their stock of original illustrations and contemporary sculpture. Also returning are London silver dealer
Mary Cooke, Alan Walker Barometers from Newbury, the London Art Nouveau, Deco and Arts & Crafts specialists Titus Omega, Cynthia Walmsley with portrait miniatures from Nottingham and Jean A. Bateman from Broadway with jewellery and objects of vertu. During the vetting process the TV
personalities and authors Judith Miller and Mark Hill will select their ‘Top Picks’ from the exhibits, photographs of which will be displayed in the entrance along with their reasons for choosing them. Whilst this will probably go unnoticed
by trade and seasoned visitors, it is all part of the fair’s marketing strategy to foster an unintimidating atmosphere for new visitors. And, although the fair has been brought forward this year to avoid a clash with the big event itself, there will be a display of Royal wedding commemoratives to celebrate the forthcoming nuptials.
www.antiquesforeveryone.co.uk
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