The event has run for more than 25 years and has an “immense following,” says organiser Sue Ede of Cooper Events. “Over the last four or five years the fair has shifted its identity as Tetbury has changed. It’s now more decorative rather than just traditional antiques.”
Both were available at the fair’s recent staging where items such as the bust, offered on the stand of Paul Burnett Antiques & Interiors for £680, rubbed shoulders with furniture, fine art, porcelain and much more.
A total of 40 exhibitors stood at the event, such as Candice Horley, Brian Ashbee and newcomer Malthouse Collective. Lindsey Butcher, who owns the collective in nearby Stroud, said that the fair was spent meeting members of the trade and public. She said: “We had so many new visitors on the Monday afterwards and we really hope that continues.”
Regular exhibitor David Harvey of WR Harvey also did good business following the fair. The next week, a couple came to his shop to purchase a Regency period mahogany dining table priced at £12,000. It had been too large to fit on the stand, but he showed them a picture of it during the fair.
Like the rest of the Cotswolds, the fair is advantageously located, regularly drawing visitors from Wales and west London alike, and the school setting makes for particularly easy access with ample parking.
Various dealers observed that the fair was marked by buyer hesitancy – put down to continued political uncertainty – and the lower numbers typical of summer events.
However, according to 20th century British art dealer Freya Mitton: “People will travel some distance to come here and are keen to buy. Visitors will make a trip to visit the fair and combine it with seeing the arboretum, Tetbury and the surrounding area. This fair is well worth doing.”
