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The Olympia Summer Fair - is it still the pinnacle?
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Having trumpeted our successes at the BADA Fair in March and Harrogate in May, the Olympia Summer Fine Art & Antique Fair was a little more subdued. Despite what the organisers said the total gate certainly felt as though it were down on last year.
The super rich Russians seemed to be less in evidence, with again the majority of
(primarily UK) visitors interested in either top end pieces or practical less expensive pieces of particularly good colour & patina.
One notable thing was that it appeared that our American visitors were coming back, with many more conversations and sales to US and Canadian buyers, particularly decorators and interior designers.
We, I'm afraid, were let down by our previous successes, the previous two
exciting events having depleted our stock somewhat, leaving us a little short
for the highlight of the UK's summer fair scene.
Back to the question originally posed. Olympia is still one of the top events in
the country in our eyes (but perhaps not in those of the organisers), it comes a
close third to firstly Grosvenor House and secondly the BADA fair in March. Lets
hope they keep it within the goalposts of most British enthusiasts and
collectors.
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Sainsbury makes money again!
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London 18th June - Christies auctioned the collection of the late Simon Sainsbury,
netting £13.6m.
Sainsbury, scion of the famous retailing family, who died in 2006, was a true amateur d’art and generous cultural benefactor. Along with substantial bequests to major UK museums, the proceeds of this auction were destined to benefit The Monument Trust, the charity he established.
The collection was built to furnish and complement Woolbeding House, the Georgian home that Simon Sainsbury leased from the National Trust. It was this, plus his personal taste, that determined its distinctive nature: understated English Georgian furniture, British pictures and arguably the biggest and best collections of English delftware in the country.
Buying was we understand predominantly private, whether it was trade acting for clients or collectors bidding in person.
The sale produced a slew of strong prices, records for artists, cabinetmakers and classes of furniture. But not everything flew. There were some patches where demand faltered for the delftwares and some higher estimated pieces of furniture either failed to get away or went some way below estimate.
This may be a reflection of the economic climate, but more probably of estimates that were a little too aggressive and, in the case of the delftwares, the sheer volume offered in a narrow market.
But any sluggishness in some quarters was balanced by much higher than predicted prices in others.
The most expensive piece of furniture was classic Sainsbury taste, a late George
II mahogany side table set on six square profile legs carved with purest
neoclassical acanthus and bell flower motifs. Competition for this blue-chip
example of early Georgian cabinetmaking was exclusively telephone-based and the
hammer fell to one of their number for £720,000.
This was more than six times the £115,000 paid by the London dealers from whom Sainsbury acquired the piece at Christie’s 1991 Samuel Messer auction.
Similarly a Mayhew and Ince attributed commode of c.1773-5 in finely figured veneers of fustic, wenge and mahogany, commissioned for Burley on the Hill, commanded a double-estimate £570,000. This is a new high for a piece by this cabinetmaking partnership.
A pair of mahogany hall chairs by William and John Linnell, c.1760, of the
monumental proportions associated with this form of seat went to a private buyer
for £380,000, towards the upper end of a broad and bullish £250,000-400,000
estimate.
Who says no one wants brown furniture?
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Antiques for Everyone - July 2008
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A regular for us normally, but not this year. Due to other commitments we will
not be exhibiting at the NEC's July event this year. With a lot going on this
summer it has proved impossible to co-ordinate. We will next be out in force at
this years BADA backed autumn Harrogate Antique & Fine Art Fair which runs from
26th to 30th September. We some new very nice pieces of furniture that we hope
to have ready for then, together with a couple of new clocks and some new
pictures, keep an eye on the next couple of months news letters for links to
them.
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Recent Acquisitions
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Along the left hand side of this newsletter are shown our most recent acquisitions, these have been added to our web site
www.millingtonadams.com since our last newsletter in
May. Click on any picture or the text below it to go to our site and view the piece in more detail, with full descriptions, pricing and zoom-able pictures. |
This newsletter is produced by Millington Adams Ltd, if you would like to unsubscribe please click the link below, if you require any further information on any of our current stock then please e-mail
sales@millingtonadams.com and we will answer any questions you may have. Visit our web site via any of the links included in this newsletter or all of our most recent acquisitions can be viewed by clicking
here.
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