A special world of interiors
For the fourth year in succession, The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited presents its flagship event, The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square, London W1K 6JP.
Taking place over four days, from Thursday 7 until Sunday 10 January 2016, in association with Mayfair property specialist Wetherell, this boutique event comprises some 44 specialist dealers, exhibiting a superb and diverse array including many unique and rare items.
Ingrid Nilson, director of The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited, said, “We are fortunate that the first three fairs have been extremely well received by an international audience, members of the trade, interior designers, the media and other discerning people, since we launched in January 2013. We are also supported by the British Antique Dealers’ Association and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers and, of course, by Wetherell and the hotel itself, all of which help us in our aim to provide an accessible event full of choice with high quality art and antiques, in a friendly atmosphere.”
Haynes Fine Art of Broadway has chosen this January’s event to unveil five original one-off celebrity photographs taken by Andy Warhol (1928-1987).
Antique paintings include ‘Merriment’ by Charles Désiré Hue (1825-1883), oil on canvas, French, signed and dated 1869, £25,000 from Cambridge Fine Art; a 16th century Italian school Study of a Dragon’s Head in red chalk, c1570, to be found on Charles Plante‘s stand, selling for £8,750. Charles Plante‘s eclectic mix of artworks, always painstakingly hung cheek by jowl, is a sight to behold and warrants careful study.
Three items mark historic occasions: a French silver pendant depicts the first air-to-air ‘kill’ with a machine gun on 5th October 1914. The forward gunner (French Corporal Louis Quenalt with pilot, Sergeant Joseph Frantz, behind) leans over his machine gun, on a WW1 fighter plane, to shoot down the enemy over a blue plique-à-jour sky, c1914, £1,450 from T Robert. A large mantel clock of the Eiffel Tower, with striking movement by Japy Frères, c1890, was probably made to celebrate the opening of the Eiffel Tower in Paris the previous year and is priced at £8,450 from clock specialist Richard Price. Historic to London comes an 18” tall silver and parcel
gilt neo-Grecian presentation urn, signed R. HODD & SON 30 & 31 HATTON GARDEN LONDON EC, 1871, £5,750 from JH Bourdon-Smith Ltd.
An extremely rare Commonwealth silver wine taster, made in London in 1659 and stamped with the maker’s mark of ET, with a crescent below, comes from Mary Cooke Antiques, selling for £6,500. Very few wine tasters were made by English silversmiths because wine was not a national product and the production of decorative silverware, especially a wine taster, would have been severely frowned upon during the puritanical rule of Cromwell, which adds to the rarity of this example.
Fine antique furniture includes a 19th century oak and parquetry centre table with applied carving to the frieze, 62” diameter, c1815, £30,000 from William Cook. Art
Deco and mid-20th century specialist, Gazelles of Lyndhurst, is bringing an extremely rare early British sideboard credenza, designed by Robert Heritage and made by GW Evans with artwork design by Dorothy Heritage. The sideboard was originally sold by Heals, c1950, now priced at £12,500.
Pars Rug Gallery has an extensive collection of hand-woven antique Oriental rugs, including a large selection of kilims, and amongst which is a square wool and cotton example, made in north-west China in 1817 (£2,200).
Royal connections include a watercolour of ‘The Strelizia Reginae Lily’ by William John Chaberlayne (1821-1910), which was drawn in Mauritius in the 1870s, also to be found from Charles Plante, priced at £3,800.
Manya Igel Fine Arts returns with a selection of paintings by Royal Academicians and members of the New English Art Club, including Fred Cuming RA, NEAC, DLitt (b 1930); Diana Armfield RA, RWS, NEAC (b 1920) and Neale Worley (b 1962), who sometimes accompanies Prince Charles on trips and whose
paintings can be found in the heir to the British throne’s collection.
19th century and contemporary sculpture specialist, Garret & Hurst Sculpture, is bringing Running Giraffe, a bronze study of two giraffes in action side by side, set on a black marble base, signed by Kenyan born Robert Glen (b 1940), edition 2 of 10 and priced at £15,500. Glen’s sculpture is owned by HM The Queen and HH the Aga Khan. First time exhibitor Brian Watson Antique Glass proudly presents a pair of high quality sulphide plaques, probably by Baccarat, depicting Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI with gilded bronze hangers, c1820, priced in the region of £3,000.
Ceramics specialist Carolyn Stoddart-Scott has a very rare Spode blue gilt decorated porcelain pineapple stand, 1815, selling for £675. Only wealthy landowners could afford to grow pineapples, a symbol of welcome, as they could afford gardeners and greenhouses.
Glass spans the centuries from Mark J West, M&D Moir and Brian Watson Antique Glass. Hickmet Fine Arts has some fine and rare early 20th century René Lalique hand frosted glass car mascots: Grenouille, modelled as a seated frog with good hand fin---
ished detail, signed R Lalique, introduced on 3 May 1928, priced at £11,500 and Victoire, fashioned as the Spirit of the Wind, the most iconic of all René Lalique’s car mascots introduced on 18 April 1928, signed, c1930, priced at £21,500.
A plethora of sculpture from different eras includes a bronze ‘Baboon’ by Dame Elisabeth Frink RA (1930-1993), conceived in 1976, commissioned by the Zoological Society of London, signed and numbered ‘Frink 8/9′, 20cm high x 27.9cm long, POA from Jeroen Markies Art Deco, as well as a 19th century bronze Le Grand Jockey, a richly patinated bronze group by Isidore Jules Bonheur (1827-1901), signed and stamped Peyrol Foundeur, French, c1880, selling for £29,500. An Art Deco Panthère en Marche bronze study of a panther with deep black patina, walking down a marble slope, signed M Prost and inscribed with foundry mark Susse Frères Editeurs Paris, c1930, can be found on Hickmet Fine Arts‘ stand, with a price tag of £22,000. Hickmet Fine Arts is also bringing an important parcel gilt bronze inlaid miniature cabinet on self-stand, signed by the maker, 12cm high, c1900, priced at £8,850. This splendid kodansu is emblazoned with four panels depicting a landscape image of Kyoto, floral scenes and a highly intricate view of a minka (detached house). The golden door latch opens to reveal three drawers decorated with scenes from nature and imperial dragons on the reverse of the doors. Six jewellery specialists, including first time exhibitor Matthew Foster, offer antique and designer pieces from names like Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Hermès.