Organised by Petra Curtis and Lucy Ryder Richardson, the first Midcentury South fair at famous cricket club takes place on Sunday, May 15. The launch will add to their other London venues at Dulwich College, also in the south, and Haggerston School in the east.
Curtis said: “It’s a great space, with an industrial feel, in one room and all the 50 or so dealers have plenty of space. It’s a great location, with free Sunday parking around The Oval and good transport links on the Victoria and Northern lines and the Vauxhall bus depot.”
New dealers to the 50-strong exhibitor list at Midcentury South include Gazelles of Lyndhurst, selling modern design and Art Deco furniture, and Fifties Art & Design with mid-century art.
History of the Oval
The site of the Oval was once a market garden owned in 1844 by the Duchy of Cornwall.
In 1845 the Duchy granted a lease on the land to “convert it into a subscription cricket ground” for 31 years at a rent of £120 per annum, with SCCC subsequently being established the same year at The Oval.
The cricket-mad multi-millionaire Paul Getty (1932-2003), a one-time Surrey CCC president, loved the place so much that he built a replica of it on his estate at Wormsley Park in Buckinghamshire.
