PETWORTH.- The Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair is opening in just a few weeks in the grounds of Petworth House in Petworth, West Sussex from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 June 2021, since lockdown delayed its usual slot in May this year. This is the second time the event has had to be rescheduled due to the pandemic - last September the fair was successfully and safely held in its purpose-built marquee in the National Trust’s 700 acre deer park to much acclaim.
One of the main highlights for sale at the fair has an impressive provenance, as it was owned for many years by HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and comes complete with a folder of documentation from Kensington Palace. The 19th century Qing dynasty Chinese export Dehua porcelain blanc-de-Chine figure seated on a Buddhist lion, probably Manjusri bodhisattva of wisdom, is amongst the 15th to 19th century Chinese porcelain objects for sale from renowned international dealer Santos London, exhibiting for the first time at this fair. Jeroen Markies Art Deco, from Forest Row, also joins the fair for the first time selling Art Deco furniture by Harry and Lou Epstein and mid-century accessories. The Epstein brothers’ designs were recognised as amongst the finest and innovative in the British Art Deco style. Most of their furniture items were special order and custom made using the finest quality materials such as burr maple, sycamore or walnut veneer. Amongst the items for sale at the fair are a Harry and Lou Epstein burr walnut and bird’s eye maple veneer cocktail cabinet, 1930s, £8,500; an Art Deco bleached burr walnut nest of tables by Harry and Lou Epstein, c.1935, £2,850, as well as some elegant Josef Lorenzl sculptures of female dancers, from the 1930s, priced in the region of £11,800 to £16,500. Jenna Burlingham Fine Art returns with an impressive array of art amongst which is Banksias and other Australian Plants by Elizabeth Blackadder (born 1931), one of the most popular and respected artists at work in the UK today. The vibrant watercolour was painted in 1999 and would breathe life into any interior, £22,000.
There are a number of remarkable works of art for sale by well-known names. Created for and donated to the St. Ives theatrical programme Kidz R Us is a mixed media collage Dancing Figure by Terry Frost (British, 1915-2003), £5,100 from Ottocento. One of a couple of Mary Fedden’s paintings for sale at the fair is Bottle and Shells, a gouache signed and dated 2008, £4,800 from Kaye Michie Fine Art. A most unique Fedden creation must be Still Life with Flowers and Bee, part collage and part painting with an interesting provenance to be found on Thomas Spencer Fine Art’s stand, £4,200. The flowers, vase and bee are made from cut up tickets from The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House. Mary Fedden (British, 1915-2012) attended the ballet and sent this artwork to Sir Peter Wright, the famous choreographer, who had invited her to the event.
Some of the art for sale has a history with Sussex and even Petworth itself. Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979), whose work hangs in the Tate, moved to a caravan in the woods near Petworth when his London home was bombed during WWII. He and his family were drawn to the quintessentially English setting of Terwick Mill, near Midhurst, as a break from the cramped caravan. Jenna Burlingham Fine Art is showing Autumn Woods, Terwick Mill, oil on canvas, c.1944-45, £97,000 plus ARR, whilst Thomas Spencer Fine Art is bringing Hitchens’ Reclining Nude on Cushions, pen on paper, dated 1966, selling for £2,200. Rountree Tryon Galleries has View from the 5th tee at Cowdray Golf Club by Claude Muncaster (British, 1903-1974), watercolour, 1927, selling for £1,650. Muncaster became President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists (1958-1974) and painted for the Royal family, often spending time at Sandringham. Two Sussex landscapes by Frank Wootton (1911-1998), probably better known as the finest aviation artist of all time, Beddingham Nr. Lewes, East Sussex oil on board, £4,750 and Berwick Church and Firle Beacon from Milton Street, oil on canvas, are for sale on Burlington’s stand. The Hunt Gallery sells contemporary paintings by Michael John Hunt, who you can meet at the fair. One of his paintings for sale is an acrylic on canvas Petworth Park that looks through the trees, with some of the park’s deer, at the National Trust’s Petworth House, £15,000.
A number of artists have been inspired by birdlife over the years. Herring Gull is a lithograph from Seabirds, 1974, by Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993), signed and numbered 11/150 in pencil, £4,500 from Jenna Burlingham Fine Art. Autumnal Wrens is an oil on board by Sean Jefferson (born 1957), £2,800 from Kaye Michie Fine Art. Amongst the work by Sussex artist Anna Pugh (born 1938) for sale on Lucy B Campbell Gallery’s stand is Henry Watching Herons, acrylic on board priced at £14,500. Petworth dealer Ottocento is showing Gulls at St. Ives Bay by William Holt Yates Titcomb (British, 1858-1930) and another Petworth gallery, Rountree Tryon Galleries brings Cock and Hen Pheasant, watercolour signed by Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935), £14,000 and an original pen and ink design for an exhibition poster, £4,950, by British ornithologist, conservationist, painter and founder of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge, Sir Peter Markham Scott (1909-1989). Blackbrook Gallery has a handsome Game Cock, oil on canvas, signed and dated 1916, by H. Atkinson, £6,500. Hickmet Fine Arts is showing Femme avec Oiseau in bronze and marble signed by French sculptor Auguste Moreau (1834-1917), £6,850.
Ceramics sold well last September, which has obviously influenced Julian Ede Antiques’ decision to return, having been a new recruit last September, this time bringing classic Worcester pieces such as early 20th century vases and jardinière by John Stinton featuring Highland cattle and a garniture of three vases, painted by W. Hale in 1907, selling for £3,500. Petworth Park regular, Jupiter Antiques, has a rare and fine example of a very early Worcester Snake in a basket pattern teapot and cover not normally found in such good condition, c. 1753-55. An Art Nouveau hand painted porcelain vase decorated with highly stylised flora made at the former French Royal factory Sèvres near Versailles, c.1906, can be found selling for £695 from Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts. Bringing us right up to the 21st century, Tom Rooth Fine Art is exhibiting again having completely sold out of his contemporary handmade, hand-finished and signed Oceanic Collection of tableware in September, bringing new designs, like Prawnography and Salmon Spiral this June.
Sussex base Fileman Antiques is a five-generation family business specialising in antique glass. Offering a wide range from chandeliers and other lighting to drinking glasses, decanters and paperweights, Fileman Antiques is bringing a rare pair of Victorian red flashed globe decanters with 18 matching glasses, English, 1880, £3,000 the set and a fine pair of silver plated and cut glass electroliers by F&C Osler,1900, £4,950 the pair. M&D Moir exhibits for a second time with an amazing Ruba Rombic Cubist topaz vase designed and produced by Rubin Hailey, c. 1927-32, £1,250. An Art Nouveau iridescent blue Papillon Loetz glass vase in pewter mount with stylised acorns, Austria, c.1900, is priced at £2,950 from Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts. An important and sought after example of the great artist René Lalique’s finest glass work is Calypso, an Art Deco clear glass salver decorated with raised figures of swirling naked water nymphs, signed, 1935, £6,500 from Hickmet Fine Arts. Timothy Millett Ltd is returning to exhibit his historical medals and works of art for a second time, amongst which is a scent bottle, £1,450, that commemorates the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between Great Britain and the French Republic during the Napoleonic wars of 1 June 1794, with the British forces commanded by Admiral Earl Howe. The Napoleonic Wars broke out in 1793 and did not go well to start with, so this extremely significant early battle was important to decide who controlled the seas. Another record of British valour can be found in twelve framed coloured aquatints by I. Porter & E. Orme depicting the Duke of Wellington’s victories in the Peninsular War, with biographical details on the reverse, 1815, £485 the set, also from Timothy Millett Ltd.
BEAR Petworth has a pair of thirties’ original mohair, velvet and brass studded Bo-Point armchairs by Modernist architect and designer Otto Schulz for Boet, Gothenburg, £2,950 and a pair of Austrian red ‘Gothic-form’ no. 38 steam bent beech side chairs by Thonet, c.1880, £2,600. Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts plans to show Modernist, Arts & Crafts, Art Deco and Art Nouveau items, including a Modernist silver plate toast rack by Christopher Dresser for Hukin & Heath, c.1880s, £1,200 and a signed Art Nouveau gilded bronze figural lamp by Hjördis Nordin-Tengbom, Sweden, c.1900, £2,950.
Walton House Antiques from Mere in Wiltshire returns with a late 17th century geometric oak coffer with ebony and holly bandings, £1,675. William Cook always has an eclectic mix of old and contemporary desirable decorative accessories to mix with elegant pieces of antique furniture, showing how they can happily sit together in an interior. Amongst the items destined for his stand in Petworth Park are a William IV gonçalo alves period centre table by Gillow, c.1843, £8,800 and an elegant set of eight decorated dining chairs, 19th century, £2,850.
Clocks bring interiors alive and BBC Antiques Roadshow horological expert, Richard Price returns with a selection of fine period clocks. Other clocks from different decades in various styles can be found on stands around the fair, including an Art Deco modernist chrome and lacquered wood clock, £895 from Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts. William Cook has an elegant Victorian period gilded brass ship’s wheel clock with decorative agate handles, c.1860, £1,485. Timewise Vintage Watches is exhibiting with smaller timepieces, including an early example of the original Patek Philippe Calatrava model sold in June 1945, just after the end of WWII, which comes with archive papers from Patek Philippe and a period PP box, priced at £11,500. The 18ct. gold case and the manual wind movement calibre 12-120 are in excellent condition, fitted with a PP crocodile strap and PP buckle. The first Calatrava model was introduced by Patek Philippe in 1932 and was made until 1973. Early examples are hard to come by and highly sought after by PP collectors.
Jewellery from differing eras is always popular and there are several jewellery dealers exhibiting with their own eclectic mix. Vintage Danish silver has gained in popularity with a number of the jewellery dealers specialising in selling pieces, particularly Dansk Silver by Jane Burgett. Shapiro & Co returns with a selection of Georg Jensen silver pieces and a Tiffany & Co platinum and 14ct. yellow gold sapphire and diamond stone set brooch, c.1920, £5,750. In the 1920s, brooches were worn on the shoulders, belts and sashes or pinned on to the fashionable cloche hats. The most typical designs consisted of an open centred circle, hexagon, square or rectangle. T Robert has taken part in most of The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited’s fairs. For this June, he brings an extremely rare and fine silver gilt and amethyst Jugendstil Secessionist necklace by Gustav Hauber, handmade, signed and marked DEP (French import marks), c.1910, £2,850. Greenstein Antiques exhibits again, proving popular last year with people buying rings, this time bringing a seventies’ fancy baguette and round brilliant diamond cocktail ring set in 18ct white gold, £8,950, as well as a Victorian amethyst and diamond pendant, £895.
Dreaming of trips and holidays abroad? Hill top Village in the Provence Alps, Côte d'Azur, oil on canvas, £15,850 on Haynes Fine Art’s stand and New York, a study for a curtain in the Operetta Manhattan Mary gouache on paper by Romain de Tirtoff aka Erté (French/Russian, 1892-1990), £4,000 from Ottocento could hang on your wall to remind you of past visits or to help plan future foreign travel. Alternatively, if staycations are still the immediate plan, there are a number of inspiring paintings like Autumn Light over Gribun, Isle of Mull an oil on canvas by John Lowrie Morrison aka JOLOMO, signed and dated 2016, £6,900 from Haynes Fine Art; Michael John Hunt’s Cotswold landscape, oil on panel, £5,000 from The Hunt Gallery; Boxted, watercolour and pencil on paper by John Northcote Nash CBE RA (1893-1977), showing a view between Bottengoms farm, where Nash lived, and the village of Boxted in Essex, £5,800 from Thomas Spencer Fine Art and A Reedy Nook on the Thames at Streatley an oil on canvas, signed and dated 1877 by Benjamin Williams Leader R.A. (1831-1923), £11,750 from Burlington.
The retailers in the market town of Petworth are great supporters of the event, led by the Petworth Business Association, as the fair brings an increased buzz to the shops and galleries, as well as hotels, restaurants, pubs and cafés over the three days. They will be throwing open their doors to welcome visitors again, who often head into town after they have been to the fair. Local exhibitors include Augustus Brandt, Ottocento, BEAR Petworth, Petworth Antiques Market and Rountree Tryon Galleries, the latter putting on a special exhibition within its Petworth gallery of recent works by Peter Symonds of Sussex and Surrey views (as well as a few of Scotland thrown in for good measure), to coincide with and encourage clients and potential customers at the fair.
Fair organiser, Ingrid Nilson, of The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited, said, “Dealers are so keen to get back to work and meet their clients and other visitors that I am pleased to say that the fair is at full capacity with some 60 experts congregating in our spacious and airy marquee. Last year, we were fortunate enough to be granted permission to hold the fair in September by the National Trust and the local council, so we know how to put all the necessary safety measures in place and are supported by the enormous work and help from Petworth Marquees and Cloudtree with its architectural plants; our security team, who brought the latest technology to help ensure we held a safe event, our other supporters, the dealers and my team, all of whom loved the opportunity to be outside in the good weather interacting with each other and the public.”
“We have wide one-way gangways, masks are worn and we adhere to test and trace. Our visitors were really understanding last year; some had to queue at busier times, but everyone was so happy that the fair was taking place. Basking in sunshine, it had a really jolly atmosphere. Our caterers worked hard to ensure we had socially distanced tables and chairs outside, so visitors could enjoy take-away refreshments including delicious cakes whilst overlooking the wonderful ‘Capability’ Brown scenery and impressive house, some also enjoying a Brilliant gin. Once again, visitors will be able to visit the mansion and its national treasures, provided they have booked in advance.“
There is ample free parking for antiques fair visitors just outside the marquee and they can enjoy the fresh air and deer park. During the fair, Petworth House and the gardens will be open to visitors by pre-booking online only.
