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The event was fully booked five months ahead of the opening date in March 2010 and organiser Robin Coleman said how pleased he was that support for this unique event has never wavered.
A large number of the 45 exhibitors have been with the fair since it opened in 1989 and each year there is a sprinkling of new exhibitors who are welcomed to what has become something of a club over the years. The friendly atmosphere and the familiar setting of the Pavilion in the elegant city of Bath, together with a stellar line up of some of the best dealers in decorative antiques in the UK, draws a large queue outside the building on the Opening Day who come to feast their eyes upon country and painted decorative furniture from the UK and Europe, decorative accessories for the home, lighting, folk art, naïve paintings, needlework and textiles, pottery both decorative and homely Staffordshire pieces, unusual decorative items for the garden and much more.
It is part of the tradition that coffee is served to queues, many of whom arrive before breakfast time on what is usually a chilly March morning to be sure to get first dibs of the concentrated exhibition of the best in decorative antiques and accessories outside London.
The Fair has embraced the move towards mixing 20th century art and design with period antiques and decorative pieces. New exhibitors and WEADA members, Gray Modern & Contemporary Art will be arriving on the Somerset Art scene this spring with their West Country launch at the Bath Decorative and Antiques Fair. The husband and wife team hold an impressive and constantly changing stock of work from respected Modern British artists such as Elisabeth Frink and Frank Auerbach to cutting edge Contemporary artists such as Tracy Emin and Andre Butzer in addition to decorative paintings, drawings, prints and posters from 1900 including Dodo Burgner, Averil Mary Burleigh and Roger Perot, a selection of which they will bring to the Fair with a collection of sculptural busts. Ashley Gray commented: “Having worked privately for many years, the time has come to take take our passion for the arts to the next level.”
New exhibitors for 2010 include Jonathan Swire Antiques of Lancashire who deals in antiques for a contemporary setting together with fossils and natural history fragments. Upholstery and lighting are a particular speciality. First time visitors Andrew Seccombe and Sarah Yates of Blighty deal in furniture and accessories for the library and country house together with Colonial furniture and accessories. Blighty has recently relocated to Cheltenham where there is plenty of room to display their range of large scale bookcases and library tables.
From Tetbury, Jacqueline Hall returns to the fair for 2010 following a short sabbatical and will be bringing original painted furniture from her native France together with decorative accessories for the home and garden. Fontaine owners, Kiel Shaw and Stuart Atkinson will travel from their home in France to exhibit for the first time following a two year wait for their stand. Their very decorative and informal furniture and accessories will be a perfect addition to the Fair. Loran and Company from Bath will be bringing a selection of period and decorative painted furniture and accessories for the home and garden, including a number of country house dressers and housekeepers’ cupboards. Based on the border of Wiltshire and Dorset at Dairy House Antiques in Semley, Hossack and Gray will bring an eclectic collection of antique furniture, sympathetically restored, imaginatively upholstered and decorative, interesting smalls that aim to inspire and delight.
Red Fox Gallery, who are also based at Dairy House Antiques, will bring a range of hand-knotted Persian and Afghani rugs and carpets. From Winchcombe in Gloucestershire, Mark Newsum exhibits at the Bath Fair for the first time. Mark is well known for his country oak furniture and treen and metalware collection which contrasts with his extensive stock of 20th century Art Glass including Mdina from Malta and a number of Scandinavian makers. Harley Antiques, formerly of The Comedy at Christian Malford and now at Pickwick End in Corsham, Wiltshire, will join the fair for the first time this year bringing with him some of the extensive collection of accessories from candlesticks by the hundreds to inkwells, footbaths, table lamps, caddies and boxes to ice pails and napkin rings with a selection from his collection of boxes, including wood, inlaid with ivory, mother of pearl and tortoiseshell together with a wide range of mirrors, decorative paintings and prints.
John Davies from Piccadilly Antiques in Bath will be returning to the fair with a selection of country furniture and accessories including Spanish pottery Jill Palmer from Brighton will be joining Denny and Arthur of Ark Angel in Tetbury and completes the list of new exhibitors for 2010. Jill is is one of the most respected decorative dealers in the UK and and is sure to draw a large audience with her stock of English and continental furniture and an eclectic range of decorative accessories.
Seasoned Bath exhibitors Lorfords of Tetbury will once again fill their triple stand with a range of English and continental decorative painted furniture and accessories for the home and garden. After exhibiting for many years, Richard Nadin and chairman of WEADA Patrick Macintosh felt the need for even more space to add to their triple stand where they display wonderful country house furniture, upholstery and fine Colonial pieces so this year they have an additional stand facing their original space which will allow them the opportunity to include the large painted Bath basement dressers they have become known for at the Fair. Organiser Robin Coleman finds time to source wonderful pieces of quirky country furniture, folk art and accessories from the naive to the sophisticated while managing the organisation of this busy event.
More information about all exhibitors can be found via the Fair web site
www.bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk
A visit to the Fair may also be easy on the pocket - exhibitors donate £25 to the Fair’s chosen charity, Rowdeford School for Children with Special Needs, and as a non-profit making event prices are kept to a friendly level to encourage trade and public alike to visit the splendid Georgian city of Bath each year. All told it promises to be an exciting event, retaining its position as a premier Fair in the antiques calendar.
• Some free tickets available in West of England Antique Dealers’ Association www.weada.co.uk shops and from the office
• Free entry to trade on Thursday with business card
• Public Entry £3.00, concessions available
• Easy Disabled access please contact office
• On site bar which also serves sandwiches and hot drinks. Many excellent world class restaurants and bars within easy walking distance of the Pavilion
Planning restrictions in the World Heritage City of Bath prevent road signs,
so please follow signs for the Sports Centre.
Press information and images from:
Gail McLeod Telephone: 01225 333130 / 07915 606118
Email: bathdecorativefair@ukonline.co.uk
Web: www.bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk
Office: West View, 5 Church Hill, Bromham,
Wiltshire SN15 2JQ
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Bath Decorative Fair antiques georgian city uk pr355.com press release
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