Cheshire

CHESHIRE remains a favoured county for fair organisers and Somerset-based Cooper Antiques Fairs are no exception, their premier event in the north being The Cheshire County Antiques Fair, held three times a year at Arley Hall, near Knutsford.

EXPECT around 45 dealers at Cooper Antiques Fairs’ popular Cheshire County Antiques Fair this weekend from June 20 to 22. This is Somerset-based organiser Sue Ede’s premier Northern fixture and is held three times a year at Arley Hall, near Knutsford.

WHAT business there was came on the final day of the Cheshire County Antiques Fair, staged by Cooper Antiques Fairs at Arley Hall over the weekend of March 14 to 16.

A company condemned by the Information Commissioner for misleading businesses into paying unnecessary fees for registering under the Data Protection Act is still targeting antique dealers across the country.

THE first quality fair of 2003 is one of Robert Bailey’s strongest events, the 11th Cheshire New Year Antiques and Fine Art Fair at Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire. It runs from January 3 to 5.

Shrewsbury–based Halls Fine Art have agreed to sell their Chester saleroom business to manager and auctioneer Adrian Byrne as a going concern. The decision was made as Halls’ lease on the saleroom came up for renewal. Halls Fine Art director Richard Allen said: “It was considered prudent to consolidate our existing expertise in areas where Halls already has regional offices, particularly in the Shropshire border towns and Central Wales.”

“Black lacquered papier-mâché is back in vogue after a couple of years in the doldrums,” said Bonhams’ David Houlston, hailing one of the most successful components of November Chester sale on 6-8 November. This material was a decorative complement to the crepuscular interiors of Victorian houses and Mr Houlston believes that its resurgence is due to the ingenuity of modern decorators who have found brighter uses for the black.

Some dealers believe that the market for plated silver has never been the same since the Italians ducked out in the mid 1990s, and while it is true that types such as entrée dishes and tureens have gone off the boil, there is still (always?) demand for candelabra, anything set with mother or pearl or ivory (American interest here) and table centrepieces like the three examples illustrated here which were offered at Bonhams Chester (buyer’s premium 17.5/10 per cent) on November 6.

For those who can’t afford paintings by L.S. Lowry, the Manchester townscapes of Arthur Delaney (1927-87 appear to be becoming an increasingly popular substitute.

SOME regular exhibitors have been standing at Cooper Antiques Fairs' premier autumn event, the Cheshire County Antiques Fair, for 14 years and not many have been doing it for less than five.

TATTON Park in Cheshire is the National Trust’s most visited property, but not only is it the country’s favourite, it is also a big favourite of Essex organiser Robert Bailey who holds four Tatton fairs a year.

IN A July 15 Golfing Memorabilia sale held by Bonhams Chester (17.5/10% buyer's premium) a scarce copy of C.B. Clapcott’s The History of Handicapping, a 10pp booklet of c.1924, secured in cream card covers by now rusty staples, was sold at a ten-times-estimate £4000, and one of 500 limited edition copies of a 1935 book by Clapcott, Rules of the Ten Oldest Golf Clubs from 1754-1848, a near fine copy in glassine wrappers, reached £1350.

WITH the furniture trade in a selective mood after a patchy round of June fairs, Bonhams relied upon local private buyers and international shippers to purchase the top pieces of furniture at their three-day Chester sale from 26-28 June.

In the week before the world’s leading golfers competed for a silver claret jug on the Muirfield links outside Edinburgh, a much older prize from the Leith Links of the Honourable Company of Golfers of Edinburgh was being contested in Cheshire.

THE success of the Regency mahogany bookcase, right, contributed a large chunk of the £86,000 hammer total taken at Hall’s (15% buyer’s premium) of Chester on May 31.

A veteran of golfing sales, Bob Gowland has been involved in this specialist field for the past 30 years. With stints at both Phillips and Bonhams under his belt, he has been acting independently for the past 18 months as Bob Gowland International Golf Auctions.

WITH 452 lots bringing around £43,000, this was a satisfactory enough Cheshire sale if sometimes hard work for Patrick Cheyne on 23 March.

THE policy of these Cheshire auctioneers, Maxwells, to hold a decent sale in January rather than in the crowded period before Christmas generally pays off, and did so this year although, that said, the local associations of the top seller would probably have resulted in a good price at any period.

Furniture was strong at this Cheshire sale at Patrick Cheyne on 26 January where the top seller was a set of eight (six and two carvers) and two near-matching George III style bleached walnut dining chairs.

UK: THE current strength of the market for anything by L.S. Lowry (1887-1976) has often been reported in these pages. On February 23 it was the turn of Chichester auctioneers Strides (15 per cent buyer’s premium) to experience the lure of the Salford-born artist when Old houses, the 15 by 19in (38 x 48cm) oil on plywood shown here, came under the hammer.