A view of The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair.
The piece, a classic work by Cain who specialised in avian sculptures, was offered by Garret & Hurst for £2400.
The piece was one of a number of sales made at the fair which ran from January 11-14 at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square. Kicking off the year for Antiques Dealers Fair Limited and its director Ingrid Nilson, it won the usual acclaim from exhibitors for organisation and running.
Margaret Cowley of Garret & Hurst said that since they have stood at the fair “I have never had as many people really seriously interested in our pieces”. One attendee returned for his first fair since the pandemic after receiving a ticket from the sculpture specialist. Enthused by the experience, he decided to head for the Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in Battersea later that month (review to follow in future issue).
Garret and Hurst sold this bronze Heron by Auguste Cain for £2400 at The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair.
Better still was the report from glass specialist Mark West who said that the first day “was the best day we have ever had and I have done a lot of fairs”. Among his sales was a quantity of 18th century glass priced around £200-600. One item sold for £800.
Other sales across the fair included a 1970s silver gilt octopus bangle from the stand of Sue Brown which sold over the phone to a woman in Florida who had seen it in the fair publicity. She made the purchase after seeing it modelled – by fair director Ingrid Nilson.
Jeroen Markies Art Deco, meanwhile, sold a pair of Fuji Meibo Second World War naval binoculars ticketed at £8900, a Heal’s side table priced at £2200 and a pair of Harry & Lou Epstein cloud chairs offered also for £2200.
This Art Deco table lamp went from the stand of Jeroen Markies for a price in the region of £850 at The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair.
Sophisticated printing
Elsewhere at the fair, art dealer Simon Hearnden of Berlin Walls Gallery dubbed it an “excellent fair,” selling every day. Among several returning clients was a new customer who bought a large woodblock print by the German artist Helmut Göring (who used to disguise his signature), which was ticketed at £1900. Hearnden said the woodblock print was “produced to demonstrate woodblock printing to the artist’s students. It is quite sophisticated as he wouldn’t usually have used two colours”.
Simon Hearnden of Berlin Walls Gallery with a woodblock print by Helmut Göring snapped up by a new customer for £1900 at The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair.
On the other hand, despite attracting a good selection of visitors, clients were described generally as interested but reluctant to commit. Doubtless there is an air of uncertainty hanging over the whole market at the minute. As a rule, the more uncertain the times economically and politically, the slower the sales of art and antiques.
But for some exhibitors, this fair proved better than other recent events beset by the same problems. Clock specialist Richard Price was among that number, selling well in the early days of the fair and more than covering his costs.
The next ADFL fair is The Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair, which runs from May 17-19. n
