Bronze Koi carp signed Maruki sei, Meiji period (1868-1912), offered for £6500 by Laura Bordignon at Art & Antiques Fair Olympia.
The event, organised by Clarion Events, took place on the gallery level of the Spirit of Christmas Fair from October 30-November 5.
Offered for £6500 on the stand of Laura Bordignon, the Meiji Period (1868-1912) carp featured eyes inlaid in shakudo and gold and was signed Maruki sei.
Bordignon was among nearly 40 standing at the event, which was attended by both returning collectors and new visitors from the sprawling event downstairs.
On Jeroen Markies Art Deco’s healthy sales sheet was a 10-seater dining suite by Waring & Gillows in satinwood with green leather upholstered dining chairs, priced at £15,000, a pair of 15 x 80 Second World War naval binoculars by Fuji Meibo sold to a new US client for £8000, and a pair of Morris Adams chairs for £6000.
Pair of Art Deco pâte de verre bookends in the form of stylised dolphins designed by Auguste Houillon (1885-1954) for Amalric Walter, Nancy, France, which Jeroen Markies sold from its stand at Art & Antiques Fair Olympia with an asking price of £4500.
Returning to Olympia for the first time since lockdown was The Old Corkscrew, which met several familiar clients, including one who had been looking for a specific silver piece since 2019 and was able to pick it up at the fair.
Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts and glass specialist M&D Moir reported selling steadily all week.
Several reported strong interest from new buyers venturing up from Spirit of Christmas. David Hickmet reported that 50% of his sales went to these buyers. Picture dealer Sarah Colegrave said she had “quite a lot of Spirit of Christmas people buying the smaller things I took in for that very purpose but also old and new customers buying more expensive pieces”.
Many of the dealers that spoke to ATG were weighing up options for next year’s events. In the past 18 months the UK calendar has lost fairs such as 2Covet Fairs, Art & Antiques for Everyone, Masterpiece and Summer Olympia. But things are not as bleak as they once seemed, with new events popping up from LAPADA and Classic Antique Fairs as well as the new Treasure House Fair.
Results from Winter Olympia even after the lost of its summertime counterpart suggest that there is still reason to stay positive about a shifting schedule of events.
For example, Garrett and Hurst made a major sale of an alabaster for a five-figure sum, and also had the pleasure of picking up new buyers from the Christmas fair.
The gallery’s Margaret Cowley said: “Olympia brings in people who can afford to buy, some we saw returning from pre Covid. We believe this fair is among the most important and affordable of all exhibition spaces.”
