Antique Fair

There's an article in today's Daily Telegraph entitled Art Sales: the market for celebrity memorabilia. It starts by making a statement and then asking a question. 

The annual auction market for rock and film memorabilia has grown from about £200,000 in 1982 to £20 million today. Are celebrity mementoes the new antiques?

Well of course the mementos are not the new antiques, they are by and large just another area of the collectables market. There is no doubting the rise in interest as can be seen by the increasing amount of space given over to such things in the new Miller's Collectables handbook. And in all honesty I think that the increase quoted is way under what the market is worth today. I would estimate that the market for rock and pop memorabilia is vastly in excess of £30 million, without the addition of the film area. Nevertheless it's good that there is such strong interest.

The article is, in part, about the British Antique Dealers' Association fair which starts next week in Duke of York Square, Chelsea, more details HERE

Just wanted to give you some advance warning of a new glass and ceramics fair that promises to be an exciting event for London. Called SE21 it is to be launched at Dulwich College in the light-filled modernist setting of the Christison Hall on Sunday 28th March 2010. This event with up to eighty exhibitors represents a new concept in specialist fairs, bringing together antique and contemporary glass with ceramics from both the secondary market and directly from the artists themselves.

Visitors will be able to browse all types of decorative and collectable glass and ceramics; from Powell to Poole, Moorcroft to Keith Murray and Faience to Fat Lava. Specialists in 18th century drinking glasses, stylish Scandinavian and Italian pieces, antique continental glass such as Gallé and Lalique and British art glass will exhibit alongside trusted quality ceramics experts and contemporary glass and ceramics makers.

In addition, a glassblowing demonstration will be given in the courtyard by Ed and Margaret Burke of E&M Glass and Mark Hill will be signing copies of his books.

The fair will be open from 10.30am until 4.00pm and admission is £5 with free entry for accompanied children under 16. For more information click HERE

Just a quick reminder that this week it's the 21st Bath Decorative & Antiques Fair. There's a trade preview on 4 March and public days on March 5 & 6. You can get all the details HERE

It's been a while since I visited he Newark Antique and Collectors Fair, but it's always somewhere I have so much fun. It is one of the best fairs in Britain and everyone with an interest in collecting should definitely try to visit it just once. It is a huge fair covering somewhere close to 100 acres and it has around 4,000 stalls so no matter what your interest you'll find something to buy. Dealers from all over the country go there and many of them will be trying to get there before first light; I know of one famous dealer who has been known to climb over the fence to beat the competition. The next fair is on 4 & 5 Februaty and you can get more information from their web iste if you click HERE

I have to say that I have not enjoyed the snow this winter. With my broken ankle it has meant that I've been very nervous when walking on icy surfaces. Even so I could not help but be captivated by some photographs that are on sale at the American antiques show in New York. They are the first photographs that were ever taken of snowflakes and the images were captured by Wilson A Bentley, an American farmer.

Bentley took his first successful photomicrograph of a snow crystal in 1885 at the age of 19 and went on to capture more than 5,000 images. There are ten on sale and they are being offered by Carl Hammer, whose Chicago art gallery is showing 20 other Bentley photographs. By rigging upa microscope with a bellows camera, Bentley was able to capture the exquisite delicacy of a snowflake which were shown in more than 2,500 images in his 1931 book, 'Snow Crystals.' As he said at the time "Every crystal was a masterpiece of design, and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost." Tragically just weeks after his book was published Bentley died after walking through a blizzard and later catching pneumonia.

The images are on sale for $4,800 (£2,950) at the American Antiques Show which ends tomorrow