Surrey’s answer to the Parisian brocantes, Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Park is also the well-established hunting ground for interior decorators on all kinds of budgets.
What decorative pieces could designers find at this week’s fair? Antiques Trade Gazette went along to Kempton Park Racecourse, on a cold but sunny Tuesday, (January 28) to find out.
Mid-Victorian sampler, in original frame, £100
Collecting samplers is a scholarly pursuit for their age, rarity and social history. For the rarest examples – many from the Quaker religion – prices can go into four figures and beyond.
They are also highly decorative.
At Kempton, buyers could acquire this mid-19th century sampler by Ann Wilson, dated 1859, featuring a stitched alphabet, numbers and a prayer.
Available from Kempton regular dealer Gary Langley for a mere £100, this counted as one of this week’s ‘Kempton bargains’.
Key to the decorative appeal of this sampler is that its colours are still vibrant: many older samplers can be faded if they were hung in direct sunlight.
Gary Langley stalls outside at Kempton every second Tuesday
Danish tiled teak coffee table, £20
Another bargain of the morning was this tile-topped teak Danish coffee table, with handy magazine shelf underneath, dating from the 1970s. About 2ft 10in (85cm) long, there was some colour fade in the teak, though not on the tiles.
But for £20, this slice of Danish mid-century design from dealer Feliz Andrews would form a cost-effective centrepiece for the budget-conscious interior designer.
Feliz Andrews is a Kempton Park regular stall holder.
Pair of ‘festoon of fruit’ finials, £375
Reclamation and antiques restorers Goods Yard Pompey had travelled to Kempton from Portsmouth, bringing these large reconstituted concrete finials dating from post-1950.
Destined to decorate gate posts or garden plinths, and featuring a fluted vase with a cornucopia of fruit, gadrooned stem and waved top line, the asking price at Kempton for the pair was £375.
Facebook: @TheGoodsYardPortsmouth
Italian gilt metal floor lamp c.1950, for £450 (€500)
In obvious need of TLC, not least some serious electrical work and PAT testing, this Italian light gilt metal floral gold floor lamp nonetheless has that vintage Hollywood look.
With large flower heads arranged on branches around the central post, the lamp stands at approximately 4ft (120cm) high.
This one had travelled from Northern France on the very morning of the market, in the care of Kempton regular dealer Stephane Inard, who was asking £450 for it. You can buy similar in working order, but for a whole lot more, on sites such as 1stdibs or Pamono.
Instagram:@abcdunkerque
Four 1950s teak chairs by Arne Hovmand Olsen, £1400
Danish design at its most functionally stylish is evident in these four 1950s Model 71 chairs by Arne Hovmand Olsen.
Designed by Olsen for Mogens Kold Møbelfabrik, the armrests have black plastic grips, the legs are tapered, branch-like, and the seats are attached by brass fittings.
At 19in (48cm) wide and 2ft 6in (77cm) high, they were for sale at Kempton from Old Mill Antiques in Manchester for £1400.
Website: Oldmillantiques.co.uk
Click here for Sunbury Antiques Market’s 2020 dates at Kempton Park.
