Made in London in 1803 by Daniel Pontifex, the George III tureen was among the highlights on the stand of Mary Cooke Antiques where it was offered for £15,750.
Other early stand-out sales at the 47th annual fair included an 1887 Royal Worcester bust of Queen Victoria by maker James Hadley. It was offered for £2500 by ceramics dealer Long Tran Antiques, which reported the buyer was an “expert” on the monarch.
Now self-contained
The fair, which runs until June 28, hosts around 110 dealers. It coincides with the House & Garden Festival, with which it shares both its Kensington venue and its organiser, Clarion Events.
Though the art and antiques fair is now self-contained after briefly being part of the larger festival last year, there is still some ‘cross-pollination’ of visitors. Twentieth century British art dealer Freya Mitton reported selling a painting by Rowland Suddaby to someone who had come to the House & Garden event to buy cheese. A collector bought a small Terry Frost from her, also on the opening night.
Elsewhere, Mark Goodger at Hampton Antiques parted with several tea caddies, including a tortoiseshell and silver one at £4500 and two George III examples, each priced over £2000. Another stand-out George III piece was an unusual c.1770 mahogany cut-corner serving table with pierced flying brackets offered by Robin Martin Antiques.
Joost van den Bergh reported selling a good Japanese bronze to an Asian collector while Hansord sold a Chippendale period mahogany writing table, c.1770.
