Nice-based jewellery dealer Charlotte Roper, exhibiting at Dijon for the 12th year, rates the fair a “very beautiful show” and believes it is one of the best in France.
It is certainly one of France’s best-established provincial fairs, now in its 29th year, with 75 dealers exhibiting in the spacious main hall plus another 35 in the adjoining brocante section. French furniture and objets d’art are to the fore; pictures and Nouveau/Deco something of a rarity. This year’s fair attracted just over 12,000 visitors and saw a busy trade day on May 17, with a reported 800 buyers including many from outside France (including the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and the US).
Dijon may be the capital of sleepy Burgundy but it has an extensive catchment area: Paris is just three hours up the motorway (rather less by TGV) and Alsace, Germany, Switzerland and Italy are all within striking distance. This year’s fair paid tribute to the Swiss with a display of clocks on loan from two Swiss museums, the Musée International d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds and the Musée d’Horlogerie at Le Locle, along with watches from the Musée de la Montre in Villers-le-Lac (Franche-Comté).
Exchange rate: £1 = Fr10.8
Dijon cuts the mustard
FRANCE: THESE intricately patterned boxes in straw marquetry were offered by the Rouen dealers Hervieux & Motard for between £500-£1500 each at the recent Dijon Salon des Antiquaires (May 18-27).
