The Cotswolds Art & Antiques Dealers’ Association Fair returns to the elegant setting of Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1PP from Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th April 2014. Now in its third year the fair has cultivated an ardent following of collectors, art consultants, museum experts, interior designers and the public alike making the fair a ‘must-visit’ destination.
1stdibs, the leading online marketplace for the best antiques worldwide, is sponsoring the fair for the first time in recognition of its position as the pre-eminent antiques fair held outside London. 29 of the Association’s 51 members are taking part in the fair and Philip Adler Antiques from Tetbury, Trinity House Paintings Ltd of Broadway, Brian Sinfield Gallery from Burford and Clive Morley Harps from Lechlade are the four new exhibitors for 2014. All works are for sale with prices ranging from £100 to £100,000.
The Cotswolds Art & Antiques Dealers’ Association (CADA) is the pre-eminent of the regional trade associations and the majority of the dealers exhibit at the top London fairs. A comment heard time and time again at the two previous fairs is ‘this is a London fair in the country’. The very best of every discipline is showcased including furniture, pictures, silver, early needlework and antique boxes, sculpture, bronze, clocks and barometers, carpets and textiles, jewellery, harps, Oriental and English ceramics, garden ornaments and statuary and many other decorative items.
The fair is the perfect opportunity to hunt for the best antiques the Cotswolds has to offer and highlights include a magnificent companion pair of English Medieval Revival throne chairs made by the firm Crace Royal decorators of the period, c 1845, with ivory and gilt decoration, bejewelled with panels of blue, green, lilac and scarlet and upholstered in their original needlework. These chairs would grace the most opulent of residences and are to be found on David Pickup’s stand for £14,000. Equally outstanding are a set of six English giltwood chairs, made in 1770 in the Chippendale manner bearing a provenance from Fingringhoe Hall, Colchester from Witney Antiques who are also bringing an English panel from an embroidered decorative apron from the 1720s. Such costly items of clothing, professionally embroidered, would have been included in the wardrobes of clothes worn by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough and her ladies at that time.
Music lovers are sure to be excited by the addition of Clive Morley Harps whose family firm have been serving the needs of harpists for nearly 200 years. Two outstanding pieces are a rare Barry Hook harp from 1796 incorporating Chinoiserie and gold decoration with elaborate scroll work for £17,500. The second harp, an Erat single action pedal harp made between 1800 and 1820, is for sale for £14,000. At that period, stately homes such as Blenheim Palace would have invited professional musicians to play when the family met for musical entertainment in the afternoons.
There is ample choice of ceramics throughout the fair : John Howard, the antique English pottery specialist as well as Chairman of CADA has sourced a Staffordshire pottery tureen with a view of the South East aspect of Blenheim Palace originally engraved by William Radclyffe from an original study by John Preston Neale for £1,450; from Andrew Dando is a very scarce set of 18th century Derby porcelain figures depicting the ‘Tithe Pig’ story, c1760 for £3,200; a pair of Martin Brothers stoneware vases decorated in the Japanese taste with fauna and flying birds, dated February 1889 from Hall-Bakker Decorative Arts for £6,500; Kinghams Art Pottery are bringing a ruby lustre mythical beast charger, c1890 by William de Morgan for £6,000 and from Catherine Hunt Oriental Ceramics a Kangxi period famille verte rosewater sprinkler.
Fine art is well represented with Brian Sinfield Gallery showcasing the works of contemporary artists such as ‘ Portrait of Eli’ by Antony Williams for £22,000; original prints from the 15th century from Elizabeth Harvey-Lee including ‘Les Vieilles Histoires by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec (1864-1901) for £6,500; ‘The Last Gleam’ by Benjamin Williams Leader, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1879 from Haynes Fine Art of Broadway for £70,000 ; and an oil, Notre Dame du boulevard Quai des Grands Augustins, by Jean-François Raffaëlli (1850-1924) from Trinity House Paintings.
The charm of this fair is to hunt for the many highly decorative works of art such as a very rare tortoiseshell tea caddy with silvered ball finial and stands on silvered ball feet for £9,500 from Hampton Antiques; a late 19th century silk embroidered ikat coat from Bokhara, Uzbekistan from Legge Carpets; a 6-inch diameter English universal equinoctial ring sun dial dating from the second half of the 18th century priced at £2,450 from Jeffrey Formby Antiques and a George I ebony table clock signed Francis Gregg, London c 1725 from Montpellier Clocks. Architectural Heritage, creating a garden effect to illustrate their garden ornaments include an early 20th century garden gazebo; and a sparkling Art Deco diamond and emerald brooch pendant from the 1930s from Howards Jewellers of Stratford who are also bringing a good selection of silver.
An exceptional highlight comes from W R Harvey & Co (Antiques) Ltd who is bringing an early William & Mary period two-door cabinet on chest attributed to Thomas Pistor of London at a price of £90,000. And finally, the most quirky item must be the original 17th century carved oak staircase from Crakemarsh Hall in Suffolk for £64,000 from Architectural Heritage.