An interesting query (interesting for me at any rate) just cropped up as I noticed that the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair comes up in internet searches for Antique Shows (London).  With some further research, I found that the term is largely American and hardly British (but what is dear, we’re so un-showy).

And I’m wondering if there’s a real difference in the States? I know they use both terms – less show as you get nearer the East Coast though!  But are the two terms entirely interchangeable:  And should the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair mention that it’s an Antiques Show?  Can anyone throw somelight on this?

 Antiques and Fairs: But Never Both in the Plural!

And I’ll tell you something else funny (whilst I’m being all semantic and pedantic), and that  is that people say Antiques Fair or Antiques Fairs and Antique Fair but hardly ever Antiques Fairs.

The Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair With Top  Exhibitors…

… takes place in Battersea Park from 28^th September to 3^rd October 2010. There are over 140 exhibitors at the antique fair (including the Kennel Club who are there to exhibit rather than to sell).

It’s not just numbers; it’s quality and variety too – they are a unique mix of dealers who together make the most interesting antiques fair in London – though I get told off for saying it’s the best (though it is, by “interestingness”).

For a full list of the exhibitors please see the Decorative Fair’s Exhibitors website page.

The Kennel Club is also promtoing our Autumn 2010 London Antique Fair on their website and for a reason ~ they will be showcasing their collection at the Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in London for the first time this September/early October.

As regular visitors at the Battersea Park antique fair will know the Decorative Fair is no starnger to dogs both real (if they behave) and art and artifacts of dogs.  See our earlier piece on the Antiques Interiors Diary. And whilst there’s always a few dog-inspired pieces (I counted over a dozen last time), the Kennel Club Art Gallery will be showing a concentrated selection of its huge collection of dog inspired art and objects, both classic and modern. The Kennel Club has been involved with the welfare of dogs for over 130 years and it  boasts the largest collection of dog paintings in Europe. At the Decorative Fair, The Kennel Club Art Gallery stand will offer visitors the chance to see a versatile, informative and imaginative collection of work on the subject of our canine friends.  The exhibition is just that – it’s not for sale.

Luisa Pontello, Assistant Collections Manager at the Kennel Club Art Gallery said: “We are delighted to take part in the Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair and look forward to opening our extensive collection up to people who may not have previously known about it.” For more information,visit The Kennel Club Art Gallery.

Note: The Kennel Club Arts Foundation welcomes donations of works of art, artefacts or books, relating to the dog.

It seems a little bit paradoxical to talk about newness in the antiques business.  But the truth is that antiques follow fashion as much as almost everything else so there’ always something new  – in the sense of being newly popular or available.  And that’s what you’ll find at London’s Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair (set in Battersea Park’s events marquee from September 28th to 3rd October 2010 and three times next year) – alongside the traditional antiques too of course.

Just like the trad three piece suit, there always classic and permanently admired and desired furnishings and art; from clasic periods, either based on quality of design, quality of manufacture or craft (or it’s folk equivalent) or on the “quality” or provenance of the contemporary history.  And of course what goes in people’s homes, office, hotels and public buildings.  And that’s the key to novelty…

Whilst time keeps moving forward (annoyingly sometimes), more design periods become “old”.  So you do get modern and post-war antiques becoming collectable and desirable. Meanwhile fashions in interior design change and the things that go – or wonderfully contrast – change too:  That’s when you see new trends and design schools evolving.  And that’s why people love the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair with antiques and furnishings from the massive and traditional to the mini and “modern”.  We call it “interesting”.

Caroline has been at many previous Decorative Fairs in Battersea over the years, selling 20th Century antiques, including furniture, seating, lighting, mirrors, paintings and objets. The above seating gives a flavour, including 1930’s modernist French & Dutch  chairs and French ebonised stools.

Varity is the spice of life at the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair.  See the list of all exhibitors at the Decorative Fair Exhibitor list.

Some people think of the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair as work.  They labour to plan it and makeg sure it happens and that it’s a success again.  That really starts the day after the last fair finishes.  Others – the exhibitors – book their spaces and as the fair approaches, they start to think about presentation and what pieces to show to best represent their wares and of course to sell.  And all that’s work.

Then the day arrives and some visitors want to be there first and they make sure they are at the front of the queue.  Others – including some of London’s finest interior designers – take their clients or at least carry their schemes in their heads as they “shop”.  So it’s real life – and it’s business for a lot of people.

Others treat it as a treat. It’s a very sociable affair – our Decorative Antique Fair – with dealers, exhibitors, clients, regulars, designers and friends meeting, greeting, drinking and chatting and also doing business. If you are in the trade, there’s not a better place to be at the end of September/early October than in Battersea Park’s Marquee at the “Decorative Fair”.  Some do both depending on the day and how much business they have already done.

And then there’s our foreign visitors (I can tell you the web site has a fascinatingly international audience). Most as above, are looking to find that piece that makes everything just right.  And I guess that some just come to look at the interesting antiques, textiles, fine art, modern design, etcetera.  Hopefully their fancies are tickled somewhere along the way… and they take home (or have shipped) a souvenir of a relaxed day out.

And as the PR wheels start to roll, we see the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair appearing as something “to do” as listed by hotels. One such is the Rubens, round the corner (and over the bridge) close to “Buck House”. They have the Decorative Fair on their site now.  Good.  Their guests will be very welcome…

I have just read that London is the place for antiques in Europe above all comers, including Paris.

Make what you will of that but we’re proud to be part of that proud number one slot!

Please do come and see our antiques (and textiles of course) in September.  Free tickets at the Decorative Fair site.

Following a recent press piece about more and more antiques being sold through antique fairs, I wonder if there are statistics published in the trade press (which I’m afraid I don’t read) which put some flesh onto this particular bone.

And I wonder if this is driven by the trade or by the clients – if indeed it is a fact…

Lastly while I’m doing my thinking in public, I wonder if it’s all antiques or moreso with antique furniture or with other antique categories that are seemingly making this shift.

Just thinking out loud really… but how many people go to how many antique fairs in London a year and how do they choose them?  I’d be really interested if anyone wants to reply to this query.

And does London have antique fairs in excess or just about the right number?  I know that the visitors at the 2010 Decorative Antiques & Textiles fair at Battersea so far this year have been well attended by visitors (as well as exhibitors) and that the next fair in September 2010 is all set to be another good one.  But I see other fairs in the press and on-line and many are changing their colours and there’s new ones and old ones gone… So how does the discerning antiques hunter – particularly those after quality pieces to help with interior design schemes – manage their diary? 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

An antique dealer mentioned on his website about the fashions after the great 1666 fire -  to have new furniture rather than the old style and I thought that it’s all antique furniture to us now of course  – albeit of varying styles and materials. In the 17th century and similarly at other times throughout history (the home of antiques) people have wanted the new to match their new homes and often imported styles to be copied, adopted and adapted to suit Europe iffromfurhter afield or the British Isles if the influences were say Dutch or French.

So we are delivered from eternal similarities by fashion and technologies and this gives us our modern and 20th Century furniture and will give collectors and interior designers of the future 2st Century pieces in due course.  How long before what’s new now becomes collectible? Probably quicker than ever, looking at and comparing to the speed of art markets – let alone motor cars/appliances.

It’s all a bit like having babies… as Yeats pointed out, what mother imagines her baby as a decrepit 60 year old.

Now, not being so fully immersed in antique furniture as some of our readers, I wonder who’d think me foolish if I wondered whether anyone else ever got temporarily confused between Restoration pieces and restored pieces?!  Are there people who specialise in restoring restoration furniture?  There isn’t one listed o an internet search. Maybe they avoid the confusion by staying well clear of it.  “Jacobean” would be easier.