… enjoyed a significant rise in visitor numbers – with over 500 more people than  the Spring Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair. And the good news is that this is accompanied by a tremendous level of business being done by the majority of dealers.

Selling well were all items of decorative and painted antique furniture such as display cabinets, bookcases, large tables and mirrors.  Twentieth century accessories – lighting, mirrors and art – also sold very well.  Comments from exhibitors ranged from “a feeding frenzy” to “bumper sales” and “best opening day ever”.  A number of dealers sold practically every item displayed on their stand… (Fully replenished of course.)

Here we show some examples of large mirrors sold on opening day….

And below left is exhibitor Lee Wright who had a very successful opening on Tuesday. Here he is busily re-stocking his stand at 8am this morning!

The Festival Foyer feature has been extremely well received, and plenty of sales have included these c1960 Terence Conran-designed wicker chairs (the table is still for sale)… More on this later…

If you don’t have visitor details check the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair main site. Come to the festival…

Yesterday saw the start of the first Decorative Antiques Fair in Battersea Park marquee with it’s record number of exhibitors. See a full list of the antique fair exhibitors here.  It’s the first one of the year – to be followed by antique shows in May and in September. We haven’t any photos yet but please be assured that the range, breadth and depth of the antiques and modern design pieces on offer is as magnificent and as unusual (as well as usual!) as usual.  What an unusual amount of un/usuals!

The foyer theme for this winter’s antiques and textiles fair is “let there be light!” with mirrors and illuminations. And illuminating it is too. If you haven’t yet been please get there today or any day this week up to and including Sunday – till 6pm.  This fair is definitely going to be a good one.  As the report in last week’s telegraph says, this is the time for antiques!

Our regular exhibitor at the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, Guy Trench was recently featured in the Independent on line.

” ‘I turn vermin traps into wall lights and galvanized water tanks into coffee tables,’ says Guy Trench, founder of Antiques By Design (www.antiquesbydesign.co.uk), who has just opened his second shop. Later this month, he will show at the Battersea Decorative Antiques Fair (18-23 January). ”

In Trench’s Essex workshop and on his stand at the Decorative Fair, you can see, as Annie Deakin puts it… “redundant fishing rods and battered trumpets that have become lamps while shabby Victorian and Regency iron windows are repurposed into mirrors. Even pheasant feathers don’t escape his beady eye – they are painstakingly hand-stuck onto parchment lampshades to perch above his shotgun standard lamps”.

Follow this link for a full list of  scores of exhibitors at next week’s Decorative Antiques & Tetxiles Fair.  There are over 120 exhibitors showing fine pieces right across the spectrum of antique furniture, decorative antiques, textiles, interior design highlights and even jewellery.

Hector Finch at The Decorative Antiques Fair

Trends at London’s latest Decorative Antiques Fair pointed towards “quality luxe” – smart traditional furniture with a twist (decorative finishes, burr veneers, walnut, and unusual woods); glossy C20th furniture incorporating glass and mirrored or coloured surfaces; lots of useful upholstered furniture of all periods including pairs of chairs and sofas; chic C20th accessories such as lamps and lighting; large Venetian mirrors; much modern art, and a good mix of traditional decorative/collectable objects such as candlesticks, textiles and glassware.

New exhibitors at the last fair including Anthony Hepworth (modern & contemporary art), 52 meters (C20th design), Pars Rug Gallery and Hector Finch (lighting) reported they were delighted at meeting so many new customers, and were very pleased with sales.

At the next Battersea, London Antiques Fair in January – see details at the Decorative Fair  - the foyer theme will be “let there be light“, using mirrors and lighting to “illuminate” the theme.

A few interesting dealers at the next Decorative Fair to tickle the fancies of the collector and designer…

52 Meters ~ from their antique shop on the Lillie Road, London, specializing in 20th Century design, furniture and lighting – see left

Matthew Cox Antiques ~ decorative furniture, lighting & accessories.  Matthew describes himself as “a resource for antique dealers, interior designers and discerning private buyers who are looking for ‘hard to find’ decorative pieces for the home and garden”. His stock always has an architectural theme running through it and at the Decorative Fair he says his stand will have a country house feel.

Angelika CJ Friebe Ltd ~ antiquarian maps, prints and books: See mapwoman.com. Dealers in antiquarian maps and prints, covering most areas and subjects from 16th to early 20th century with emphasis on World maps and maps of American interest as well as highly decorative prints.

Watercolour Design for Cartier jewellery, c. 1930/40

The owner, Angelika C. J. Friebe, worked for various dealers in London and Paris before setting up her own company in 1997 . From 2002 to 2006, the company was based in Vienna, Austria but is now situated in the UK again.

Angelika says “We are very excited to exhibited at the Battersea Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair this year for the first time.  Amongst a variety of exhibits, we will be showing a collection of beautifully executed watercolours as well as only one of two maquettes created by the renowned French interior designer Claude Cochard (1886 – 1973).

Our other exhibits include designs for Cartier jewellery, prints from Napoleon’s Description de l’Egypte, a set of six very rare silver ware lithographs and, amongst other things, a set of four glass pictures of sporting scenes”.

More New Dealers Exhibiting At Next Week’s Antique fair To Follow…

Click on the image to visit their site for further info.

If you are a big textiles fan, then you may already know that there’s an Antique Textiles Fair in London two days before the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair – not to be confused!  This is said to compliment the long running Antique Textile Fair (now the the Textile Society’s Manchester Fair) – with a similar theme and content.  It will feature 60 stands “piled high” with both textiles and garments from from the 17th century to the 1970’s as well as conservators and second-hand booksellers.

The Textile Society is for all textile professionals and enthusiasts and the London – & Manchester - fairs are especially for the collector side of those enthusiasts.

Obviously it might make sense for those collectors to be able to visit both their and our event…

Meanwhile look at the mirror by Huw griffith who will be exhibiting at The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, alongside Malcolm Gliksten of Relic. Huw specialises in highly original old mirrors, giving them a new lease of life by incorporating vintage fabrics behind the glass or using textiles to bind the frames. 

PS Welcome back to the Decorative Fair to Malcolm Gliksten (Decorative & Architectural Items, Furniture, Folk Art & Paintings: Carousel & Marine: All things Historic, Visual & Inspiring)

At the Fair In January I managed to spend a little bit of time talking to a lot of the exhibitors ~ trying not to get in the way of customers.  And when the exhibitors have the time… I ask questions.  It’s one of my annoying habits, but it does mean that I know a little more than I knew before – and it means that they know no less – so why not.

One thing I know very little about is mirrors (especially Venetian) but I did manage to squeeze a little extra knowledge into the grey stuff, thanks to the On-Reflection stand. So thank you to them.  And naturally when this happens, you like the things that you’ve talked about more than before. Next time I might even buy one.  And On-reflection will be at the next Decorative Fair with their decorative, Venetian, painted and classic antique mirrors, in April 2010.

Pair Up With Mirrors At The Decorative Fair

Mirrors framed in mirrors, painted mirrors, carved, gilded… see yourself and your decor & your design perfectly matched by the quality and by the unusual.