Country furniture dealer and restorer Anthony Keer, who has taken over the well-known Lomax Fairs, busy in his Suffolk workshop.
The first of the Lomax Fairs to be run after organiser John Harbottle handed over the reins to a regular exhibitor takes place from Friday to Sunday, April 7-9.
As reported in ATG No 2555, Harbottle, an art dealer who planned to retire to Scotland, passed the events on to John Keer, a country furniture dealer and restorer.
The long-running high-end biannual antique fairs take place at the St Felix School in Southwold, Suffolk. About 35 dealers from across the country will take part in this month’s event, specialising in fine jewellery, silver, ceramics, paintings, clocks and furniture from the 18th to the 20th century.
These three-day events attract visitors up from London plus local second-homeowners.
Keer, who will be helped in the new venture by his family, including four adult sons, is keen to expand the fairs.
“My aim is to further the excellent reputation of these fairs through advertising and social media, combined with the acquisition of quality dealers and new East Anglian venues to steadily grow this business,” he says.
The Southwold Easter Antiques Fair will be followed by the summer edition on August 25-27.
Harbottle took over the Southwold fair’s organisation in 2006 from Norfolk dealer Liz Allport-Lomax who founded the fair more than 30 years ago.
This high-end datelined, stand-fitted event became the sole fair in the Lomax Fairs portfolio which at one time included Holkham Hall in Norfolk and Hinchingbrooke House, near Cambridge.
