26 21st January 2012 dealers’ dossier
Anna Brady reports
email:
annabrady@atgmedia.com tel: 020 7420 6625
New venue and new dates for burgeoning book fair
THE 55th London International Antiquarian Book Fair will this year take place for the first time in May, from May 24 to 26, in the new, larger, venue of the National Hall at Olympia, in West London. Organised by the Antiquarian
Booksellers’ Association (ABA), last year the fair had more exhibitors than ever and it became clear that the event had outgrown its old venue, the smaller Olympia 2, next door to the National Hall. The fair also has a new chairman
– Brian Lake of Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers in Great Russell Street, London. He hopes that the 2012 fair will be the biggest yet and, commenting on early applications, said: “Among new exhibitors are dealers from Sweden, France and Germany but also one bookseller from Australia, Richard Neylon. There has also been a good take-up of graphics stands as, for the first time in many years, we don’t clash with Map Fair.” The ABA’s new partner is the
National Trust, which will use the fair to promote the libraries under its management. See
www.olympiabookfair.com
for full details.
Battersea blooms amid gloom
■ Decorative formula chimes more with modern tastes
DESPITE these gloomy economic times, the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea seems to have hit upon a formula that chimes with the way people live and buy antiques today.
Choice is now often less constrained
by discipline and date, and is guided more by achieving a certain eclectic aesthetic with pieces from all periods. Some liken it to a sort of modern-day
Right: as usual at the Battersea Decorative Fair, there will be a themed selling display in the foyer. This year the subject is Italian design of the past three centuries, featuring stock from various exhibitors. Included in the display will be this small Venetian centre table, with the original painted finish, c.1750, which is from Robin Cox and has a price of £4800.
kunstkammer approach. The stylish triannual fair is always
held in a marquee in Battersea Park, South West London, and the Winter edition is from January 24-29. The location, while not the most central of London venues, benefits from a good amount of free parking and is surrounded by the homes of some pretty prosperous and style- conscious Londoners. Although each fair varies slightly in size, it is quietly bucking the trend of
dwindling fair sizes, with average exhibitor numbers in the past few years rising from 125 to 140 – the last Autumn fair was the biggest ever at 142. Visitor numbers, too, are healthy and have seen a steady rise, a mix of private home-owners, trade and interior designers, with the latter looked to for the more substantial sales for current projects. For the next event there
are roughly 135 exhibitors, four of whom exhibit here for the first time. Although Sue Killinger
from Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, is well known on the UK fairs circuit, this will be her first Battersea, and she will take her usual eclectic mix of smaller antique furniture and accessories. Another newcomer is Jenna Burlingham Fine Art, who opened her gallery in Kingsclere, Hampshire, in 2010 and deals in 20th century British paintings, sculpture, prints and ceramics, as well as work by contemporary artists working in a similar tradition. Also at Battersea for the first time is
James Holiday from Oxfordshire, who has a varied stock of Continental and British furniture, alongside accessories and pictures, and maintains a strong export business to the USA, where his father and brother are based as dealers. Ted Wolter, an American dealer now based in Paris, brings period Continental
Left: new exhibitor at the Decorative Fair, Jenna Burlingham Fine Art will ask in the region of £3500 for Window Still Life, 1989, by Clive Blackmore (b.1940), 19¼in x 2ft 6in (49 x 75cm), a signed and dated oil on canvas. Also in the photo are a Hans Wegner lady’s desk and a ceramic piece by William Marshall, both of which will also be on Jenna’s stand at the fair.
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