London’s Antique Fairs

One is known simply as the Fair; the other is called the Burlington.

Just about anyone who is anyone on the London antiques scene knows what that means: the lustrous 11-day Grosvenor House Antiques Fair on fashionable Park Lane in June, and the sparkling nine-day Burlington Fair at the Royal College of Art in November. These are the jewels in the crown of the city’s antique season.

For the price of admission you can browse among the treasures in the chandelier-dripping Great Room, the largest ballroom in Europe, at Grosvenor House or in the exhibition halls of the Burlington. But if you are thinking of buying, you had better have a wad of traveler’s checks at hand, for these fairs are a far cry from the bargains of the street markets.

The stalls of the street fair may well be loaded with the bric-a-brac of granny’s attic; the Grosvenor and the Burlington are heavy with the splendors of the leading dealers of the British Isles and the Continent. These are the kinds of places where you can pick up a set of gold English egg spoons, an 18th-Century harpsichord or, if your pockets are deep enough, an Old Master.

It’s all part of the colorful London antiques scene that, in the words of one Paris dealer, has made the city “the antiques mecca of the world.”

There really is just about something for everyone, no matter what the taste or the pocket, whether it be found in the wealth of antique shops throughout the city or in the street markets and covered arcades such as Portobello Road and Bermondsey or the Chelsea Antique Market or Camden Passage, which calls itself London’s antique village.

The Portobello Road Antique Market is London’s leading and largest Saturday antique market, situated in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, about a 15-minute walk from Kensington Palace, the London residence of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and Princess Margaret. For many years, dealers, collectors and the general public have flocked to Portobello Road to roam the stalls and shops that offer an unending source of reasonably priced antiques.

While a development in recent years has been the appearance of the one-day antiques fair (usually on a Sunday) at hotels and halls around the city, the top of the line remains the multiday fairs, with many of them authenticating every item before it is put on display.

It is in June that the quality shows burst upon the scene.

Coming in with the biggest bang of all will be the Fine Art and Antiques Fair at Olympia, a great exhibition hall on London’s Hammersmith Road. No fewer than 320 dealers will display their wares, spread through 10,000 square yards of space in the Grand Hall.

“The selection of items is simply enormous,” says one organizer. “There is a choice of everything: furniture, jewelry, toys, paintings, clocks, clothing, books, scientific instruments, glass, porcelain.”

At one time the fair claimed that the cheapest item was 5 (about $9 U.S.); that has been doubled to 10. The highest price is 50,000, usually for a painting or a piece of furniture such as a breakfront bookcase.

One of London’s specialist fairs, the International Ceramics Fair and Seminar, will be in June at the Park Lane Hotel in Piccadilly. The Ceramics Fair is avowedly more democratic than the high-glitter Grosvenor and Burlington or even the more rambunctious Olympia, with its exclusive invitation lists and high-priced preview days.

“We do not believe in previews,” says Ceramics Fair organizer Brian Haughton. “We don’t have them and never will. We believe that everyone should have the same opportunity to view and buy.”

The Ceramics Fair is unlike other quality fairs in another respect: It has no dateline on articles, the emphasis being on quality rather than antiquity. With leading dealers from throughout the British Isles, the Continent and North America, the fair concentrates on porcelain, pottery, glass and enamels.

When it comes to prices, the Grosvenor House Fair and the Burlington put all the other fairs in the shade. A couple of years ago, within two hours of the Grosvenor House Fair opening, an inlaid cabinet sold for 1.2 million (about $2.16 million).

“I can’t give an average price because the range is so wide,” says organizer Alison Vassiere, “but I can say that an article under 100 is pretty rare.”

The Grosvenor House Fair is customarily very much a British affair, with all 90 dealers being from the United Kingdom. This year, however, because the fair is commemorating the 300th anniversary of the accession to the British throne of William of Orange and Mary, some members of the Dutch Fine Arts Assn. will be exhibiting. The Queen of the Netherlands will also be placing some of her personal possessions on exhibition.

Every item on offer at the Grosvenor House Fair is checked for authenticity by 125 experts from museums and auction houses who serve on 18 committees covering silver, furniture, icons, paintings, antiquarian books and bindings, clocks, glass, jewelry, Oriental works of art, prints, scientific instruments, tapestries and carpets. In the main, the dateline for the articles is 1889; in effect, everything must be 100 years or older to qualify.

Now in its 10th year, the West London Antiques Fair scheduled for August in Kensington Town Hall will feature almost 90 stands of furniture, all pre-1870, with the rest of the items 100 years or older, from 50 ($90 U.S.) to 50,000 ($90,000 U.S.).

This fair, with its accent toward the decorative English country look, is organized by Caroline Penman, an antiques figure who runs several fairs throughout London and has plans for more.

September brings one of Penman’s most popular fairs, the Chelsea Antiques Fair, to be held at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London’s colorful King’s Road. The 12-day Chelsea is small but prestigious, with only 40 dealers.

The theme of the Chelsea is furniture, and as it has set a dateline of 1830 that means Georgian and Regency, resulting in quite a different look from other furniture fairs that include articles from the Victorian Era.

Along with the furniture are the furnishings--everything that can be used in the home from brass candlesticks to papier-mache tea caddies. The dateline on silver and ceramics is 1851, and on paintings, jewelry and carpets, 1887.

Scrollwork From Churches

A major piece of furniture at the Chelsea can cost 30,000, but it is possible to find good 17th-Century carvings--scrollwork from churches, paneling from homes--for 100.

The antiques year basically comes to an end in November, when the big event is the nine-day Burlington that is held in London every two years, alternating with the world-famous Biennale Internationale des Antiquitaires in Paris.

The Burlington is truly international, with dealers exhibiting from throughout Europe and the United States. All are leaders in their fields, be it Old Masters or fine silver.

Says organizer Gillian Craig: “Members of the Royal Family who are among our patrons will be lending some of their private collections for public exhibition for the first time.”

November also brings the City of London Antiques Fair at the Barbican, the massive concrete music and exhibition hall in the eastern section of the city.

A big fair with 140 stands, its furniture dateline is set at 1850. In combination with the fair will be the City of London International Art Fair, with 100 dealers in watercolors and oils. With no dateline, works of art could be modern or 19th Century.

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A selected list of multiday antiques fairs for London, 1989:

June 8-18: Fine Art and Antiques Fair, Olympia, Hammersmith Road.

June 9-12: International Ceramics Fair and Seminar, Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly.

June 14-24: Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, Grosvenor House, Park Lane.

July 5-9: London International Antiques and Fine Art Fair, Connaught Rooms, Great Green Street.

July 14-16: Alexandra Palace Annual Fine Arts and Antiques Fair, Alexandra Place, Wood Green.

Aug. 17-20: West London Antiques Fair, Kensington Town Hall, Kensington High Street.

Sept. 5-10: London Antique Dealers Fair, Cafe Royal, Regent Street.

Sept. 12-23: Chelsea Antiques Fair, Old Town Hall, King’s Road.

Oct. 3-8: Olympia Decorative and Antiques Fair, Olympia, Hammersmith Road.

Oct. 4-9: Park Lane Hotel Antiques Fair, Piccadilly.

Oct. 13-15: London Decorative Arts Fair, Kensington Town Hall, Kensington High Street.

Oct. 23-24: Little Chelsea Antiques Fair, Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Road.

Nov. 3-11: Burlington Fair, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore.

Nov. 21-26: City of London Antiques Fair, Barbican Exhibition Hall.

For further information about England, contact British Tourist Authority, 350 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles 90071.