Portobello Road

Concerns have been raised that Portobello Road antiques shops could be under threat under new English planning laws that will make it easier to change the use of a retail building.

MADAM – I was astonished to learn that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has specifically decided to refuse any grants under the Discretionary Grant Scheme to antiques market stallholders in Portobello Market.

Joan Dunk (1930-2019) was a Portobello Road market stalwart. Her stall, for decades an outside pitch on the corner of Westbourne Grove, was affectionately known as IDA – the trade name of an early 20th century German kitchen equipment manufacturer which she adapted to mean ‘Interesting Domestic Appliances’.

MADAM – Following on from ATG news articles (issues 2447 and 2448), it seems clear to me there is a group of Portobello Road traders who simply do not want to pay their rent during lockdown despite being in receipt of government grants.

A Chinese silver dealer is searching for a new home on Portobello Road after a dispute with his landlord, Portobello Group.

As Portobello Road market dealers come under financial pressure following the lockdown, the owner of many of its arcades has defended its stance on rent payments.

For the first time in more than a decade a new antiques shop has opened on Westbourne Grove, close to the famed antiques district Portobello Road.

For close to three centuries buyers of art and antiques have been spoilt for choice in London. A city synonymous with archives, galleries, museums, conservators and curators, it continues to support long-standing streets of antiques dealers, centres and a plethora of regular fairs and markets. As this guide to the hotspots suggests, most of them are complementary rather than in competition, and all budgets are catered for.

Buyers of art and antiques are spoilt for choice in London. It’s a city with long-standing streets of antiques dealers and a plethora of fairs and markets, despite the challenges posed by rising rents and rates. Most are complementary rather than in competition with each other. Roland Arkell and Kate Quill report

MADAM – Laura Chester’s article ‘Rising to the Portobello challenge’ (ATG No 2295) accurately describes how the antiques section has been, and still is, the backbone of Portobello Market.

Antiques dealers of Portobello Road must jostle for space with souvenir traders. But a new breed of seller is determined to maintain the area’s antiques heritage.

Alexandra Alfandary specialises in Meissen ware and other European porcelain, with a particular concentration on 19th century Meissen. She is a regular exhibitor at fairs and is a member of BADA and LAPADA. Her shop is in Portobello Road.

A notice to our friends in the trade: I am sorry to have to inform you that Steven Hyder recently passed away, Angela Hyder writes