Ardingly International Antiques and Collectors Fair, April 15 and 16, was the best April show to date in terms of number of dealers and attendance, according to dmg world media senior fairs manager Alan Yourston. Held at the South of England Showground, the event had more than 1,700 dealers, and attendance was the highest for an April fair, with 4,500-plus paid admissions over the two days.
The showgrounds are just an hour’s train ride from London, and can be visited as an easy day trip by train or car. Many of the visitors at this fair are collectors rather than dealers buying for resale, which generally means better business for the exhibitors. About one-third of the exhibitors are set up in the buildings and the rest are outdoors, which this year worked out well, for the weather was excellent.
The inside dealers were let into their spaces at 8 am Tuesday, and in less than an hour the show was ready for the public to view, with sales commencing at a very brisk pace. There was action in furniture at O’Brien Antiques of Cork, Ireland. O’Brien said, “Most of our business comes from selling here in the UK, to foreigners, especially Americans.” His stock is largely hardwood furniture, very well made, from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. He shares a very large tent with six Irish dealers of furniture.
Set up outside with a collection of Jacobean furniture was William Webster of York. His earliest piece was a bible box in elm with original hinges, selling for $490. Nearby there was a primitive harvest table, long and narrow, approximately 2 feet wide and 6 feet long, which had a company end, extending its length to more than 8 feet. Dated before 1800, the selling price was $1,200; add the two rail benches, which were next to it, for $480, and a kitchen would be set for the family.
Max Hubbard and his father were sharing a tent in the open area. Regulars at many of the English fairs, they skipped Newark to be ready for Ardingly. Their home is in Ipswich, North West of London, too far for most commuters, in an area dominated by farming rather than tourism. So they are able buy all the furniture they carry from good sources. One example was an early Georgian chest of drawers, two over three drawers in mahogany veneer over pine and oak with early brass pulls, but installed over holes, which indicated earlier wooden pulls. The price was $1,550.
Across the aisle, Peter Norman from Newmarket was selling more Georgian furniture. Included in his collection was a chest-on-stand dating prior to 1800, which he suggested was a marriage of top and bottom, priced at $3,000; he also had an early three-seat bench in oak and elm he called a church bench priced at $1,500.
The best sales for the day seemed to be in small antiques, and the buyers were, in most cases, Americans and Europeans. They were buying scent bottles from a lady in the big shed; brass was leaving Devon dealer John Hunt’s collection and Chinese Export was selling all over the showground.
Geoffrey Dexter, from Crawley, Sussex, is a collector of antique firearms. He offered pieces from England and the United States, including guns by Enfield and Winchester, and even some Colts. Sale of guns in the UK is very restricted, with licenses and permits and many issues about their status as antiques versus operating weapons, so the trade in them is generally limited to British citizens. Dexter exhibits in the Queen’s Jubilee Building, where there were more dealers of English porcelain, brass and early silver ware.
Ardingly fairs offer a great selection for tourist who happen to be in the area, for collectors and also for commercial buyers. Ardingly is run six times a year; dates for the next two shows are July 22′3 and September 2″. On-site shippers will forward to the States, with packing included in the arrangements. For more information, www.dmgantiquefairs.com or +44 1636 702326.
