Last week we wrote about differing demand at fairs along the lines of a north-south divide – but this week the trend is about big and small.
Sharon Blagrove’s flagship event in her Bentleys Fairs portfolio is held at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire, with the next coming up on Saturday and Sunday, July 28-29.
This decorative, salvage and vintage fair has been run by Blagrove since 2014 when the location was vacated by the long-running Salvo Fair, which subsequently moved to Fawley Hill for three years.
She said: “When I started at Knebworth the architectural salvage dealers were bringing huge pieces to the fair, but over the past few years the trend seems to be statuary, gardenalia, pots, mirrors, ironware, and all sorts of other interesting decorative items.”
Summer days
That trend ties in with Arthur Swallow Fairs’ views last week that its southern decorative and salvage fairs experience more decorative demand.
It may be largely down to the summer date, encouraging buyers for antique and salvage gardenalia such as tin baths and stone urns.
That demand is reflected in the range of stock on offer from the 70 exhibitors at Knebworth, which includes traders from France, Belgium and the Netherlands this staging. The majority will be selling decorative pieces, with 18 dealers offering architectural salvage and “ever-popular industrial items” coming from eight stallholders.
Blagrove said: “It’s great to see newcomers entering the industry and this year there is a flurry of new stallholders at my fairs, including at Knebworth, Mud Mountain with large terracotta pots from Tuscany.”
The fair attracted 5000 visitors last year.
Italian olive jar
This weathered Italian terracotta giara (jar) with festoon decoration, stands at 2ft 7in high (80cm), is about 15 years old and will cost £645 from Lorrayne and Stewart Scott of Mud Mountain at the Knebworth Park decorative, salvage and vintage fair.
An Italian terracotta giara (jar) offered at the Knebworth Park fair by Lorrayne and Stewart Scott of Mud Mountain, priced at £645.
Based in Somerset, the Scotts will be bringing a range of pots they import from Tuscany including more giaras in different sizes priced from £395-950.
Lorrayne said: “The star of the show for us though will be some of our collection of antique orcios (olive jars) from Impruneta in Tuscany, some of which date to the 1800s and were produced by famous artisan kiln dynasties of the time. These are huge at one-metre plus in height and range from £2900-6700.”
