LONDON.- In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant cancellation of the inaugural KCSADA Summer Showcase with concurrent exhibitions planned by the fine art and antiques dealers in Kensington Church Street, London, the Kensington Church Street Art & Antique Dealers Association is planning a Virtual Summer Showcase to run at exactly the same time as originally planned – Friday 19 to Sunday 30 June 2020. The KCSADA Virtual Summer Showcase will take place online at www.antiques-london.com and also on Instagram @antiqueslondon.

The theme of Fit for Royalty reflects the high calibre of works to be displayed, in many cases with regal connections, and the proximity to some of the royal borough's inhabitants. Despite not being able to welcome visitors to the individual galleries in Kensington Church Street, the planned exhibits will make an impressive show with items spanning the ancient to the contemporary, all for sale.

Rich in history and offering many differing disciplines, highlights on the theme of Fit for Royalty include a gothic revival oak centre table designed by A.W.N Pugin for Morel & Seddon, commissioned by King George IV for Windsor Castle, to be found at Butchoff (154 Kensington Church Street) for the exhibition: English Royal Furniture: A Curated Collection.

An important palace quality George III period mahogany table clock, with a brass mount bearing the Royal Coat of Armsis for sale at Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (123 Kensington Church Street) from the showcase In celebration of King George III, a passionate patron of clockmakers. It is possible this clock was a royal gift to a member of the Swedish aristocracy where the clock resided for many generations.

A number of the exhibitions cover the Georgian and Regency eras. Patrick Sandberg Antiques, (150-152 Kensington Church Street) presents the Glitz and Glamour in Regency England with Regency period furniture, many made of figured rosewood decorated with elaborate brass inlay and other exotic woods including a fine side cabinet in figured rosewood and intricate pierced brass motifs by the celebrated cabinet maker, John McLean. To whet the appetite further, there will be fine ormolu and bronze objects epitomising the extravagant styles and taste of this stimulating period in British design history. Denton Antiques, (156 Kensington Church Street), stages Revival of the Regency, a detailed study of chandeliers and lighting from the Regency period, from a Regency gilded and patinated bronze twelve branch chandelier with acanthus leaf decoration to a pair of late Georgian ormolu and Blue John candlesticks, c.1820. Reindeer Antiques (81 Kensington Church Street) plans The House of Stuart - English furniture from 1603 to 1714 with an exceptional pair of William III period japanned and lacquered armchairs and a profusely carved 17th century oak wainscot armchair.

With numerous Asian art specialists in the street, David Brower Antiques (113 Kensington Church Street) stages The Lockdown Exhibition – 19th Century Pets, Wildlife and the Natural World amongst which is a Meiji period Japanese jizai okimono of a hawk and snake, circa 1880 and a Meissen porcelain Italian greyhound of Catherine the Great’s favourite dog Zemira, first created in 1766 by Johann Joachim Kändler, modelled from drawings sent to him from Moscow by the Empress of Russia. Fleurdelys Antiquités (based at Patrick Sandberg Antiques, 150-152 Kensington Church Street) offers Chinese Scholars’ Objects, a unique selection of antique Chinese stands, carved in different exotic woods, as well as some Chinese ceramics, works of art and other scholars’ items including a late Ming period bronze paperweight depicting Liu Hai sitting on a toad holding a string of coins, which is an auspicious sign of prosperity. J.A.N Fine Art (132-134 Kensington Church Street) spans the centuries with Wonders of the Orient, a collection of Chinese, Japanese, Korean ceramics, paintings and works of art from as early as the 11th century B.C. to the 21st century. Highlights include a fine and rare Qingbai stoneware ewer, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), topped with a seated shi-shi dog lid and an extremely powerful and unique 18th century boxwood root sculpture of Daruma or Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk, possibly from central Asia or India, in the 5th-6th century, who is believed to be the first transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China. Gregg Baker Asian Art (142 Kensington Church Street) presents a solo exhibition honouring one of Japan's most important post-war artists, Suda Kokuta (1906-1990), at the height of his artistic expression between 1949 and 1970, entitled Suda Kokuta: A Lifetime of Mandala – 30 Years Later. Following two museum exhibitions held earlier this year in Japan, we believe this to be the only selling exhibition dedicated to Suda Kokuta held outside of Japan during this anniversary year.

Amir Mohtashemi (69 Kensington Church Street) celebrates Indian Art with a rare mother-of-pearl large hand washing basin. Basins, and their matching ewers, played an important role in the life of early modern European courts, where they were used for the ceremonial ablutions of the hands. Jorge Welsh Works of Art (116 Kensington Church Street) is organising Chinese Armorial Porcelain for the West. Highlights include a Qing dynasty porcelain meat dish from an armorial dinner service comprising Chinese enamelled copper and porcelain pieces made for Dom Gaspar de Saldanha e Albuquerque (born ca. 1720). A number of items from this service are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Stanley Jewellery (Kensington Antiques Centre, 58-60 Kensington Church Street) concentrates on British 1970’s Jewellery with signed pieces from such names as Kutchinsky, Gerald Benney and Charles de Temple.

There is a wealth of experience along the Kensington Church Street thoroughfare filled with the finest collection of specialist antiques and art dealers in London. The twelve involved in the Virtual Summer Showcase are an impressive introduction to what can be found along the street that is London’s hub for top quality antiques and fine art.

At approx. 888 metres (971 yards) in length, Kensington Church Street stretches from Kensington High Street in the south to Notting Hill Gate at the northern end, just south of Portobello Road. When life returns to normal and we are all allowed to visit, a wander up one side and down the other should fulfil any collector or interior designer's desires.