It will take place in the Great Hall, part of the original Tudor palace in which Henry VIII spent much of his childhood, and which adjoins the Art Deco mansion built by Stephen and Virginia Courtauld in the 1930s.
Textile millionaire Simon Courtauld and his Italian-Hungarian wife, Virginia, discovered the near derelict palace when searching for a location near London to build a home for their art collection and their pet lemur Mah-Jongg.
Critics described the exterior as resembling a cigarette factory, but the interiors by the Swede Rolf Engstromer were acclaimed. It was also bang up to date, with centralised vacuum cleaning, synchronised electric clocks and built-in furniture, heating and music systems. Virtually nothing was left of the original furnishings when English Heritage took it over in 1995, but working from inventories, an illustrated article in Country Life in 1937 and memories of a family member, English Heritage commissioned new works from craftspeople to match the originals. Even the medieval hall, separated from the house by an antique Chinese sliding door, was restored by the Courtaulds in an idealised 1930s fashion.
For more information on the Art Deco Fair contact Mark Aylward-Greenway at English Heritage on 020 8294 2548. Eltham Palace is located in Court Yard, off Court Road, SE9 5QE.
BY JOAN PORTER
