This is by far the best specialist fair in its field and there is an extensive waiting list for stands from dealers throughout Europe. This May’s fixture hosts 105 exhibitors, among them the renowned American dealer Jim Megura.
Part of the secret of this fair’s enduring success is the striving for balance among the stock. Mrs Hier estimates that around a quarter of her regulars are general dealers, while the remainder are specialists in such chosen fields as 18th century drinking glasses, pressed glass, studio glass, paperweights and, increasingly, Modernist items with an emphasis on the Scandinavian and Italian glassmakers.
Exhibitors tend to save their best stock up for the event, and news leaks out of some special pieces.
This time around expect considerable interest in a c.1882 white pressed glass wall pocket by Sowerby, modelled as an eagle catching a frog, to be offered by Peter Eagle, and a rare c.1760 ‘whaling’ goblet with an opaque twist stem from William Macadam of Edinburgh. Those with more modern tastes will make for the Retro Gallery whose prize exhibit will be an exceptional piece of glass designed by Giulio Radi for the 1950 Venice Biennale and entitled Yokohama.
Early entry at 9.30am costs £4, £3 after 11am.
Heart of glass in May
AFTER 15 years in the glass business, Cheshire organiser Patricia Hier knows her field well and it shows at her twice-yearly National Glass Collectors Fair, the next of which will be held at the National Motorcycle Museum, West Midlands on Sunday May 11.
