Newark Antiques Fair

[Sonyaclegg]

I'm off to Newark Antiques Fair tomorrow in search of treasures for the house now that most of the major work is finished inside. I just need a few pieces of interest. Has anyone been? Any tips that I should know about?

 

[LadyArowana]

Don't wear any expensive jewellery etc appear disinterested and haggle over the prices, take plenty of cash. Assume that most stuff is newer than what they tell you, apart from silver where the hallmark is definitive they usually err on the side of older if they are not sure. Check very very carefully for defects. Take your smart phone/ tablet and do a sneaky check online in terms of price etc etc. Some dealers are very knowledgeable, some just sound knowledgeable. I never manage to do the sensible thing though, I go all "ooooooh I love that" and look really excited if I find a treasure. Still I maintain it's better to have something beautiful that you love rather than a piece where the best thing about it was that it was a "bargain".

The last big fair I went to was the Detling one near Maidstone. I carried home a nice sack full of elephants and also found a big set of the vintage china pattern we have for our "everyday". I had gone on the train and couldn't carry the china home but the dealer said her husband could bring it next time he had a job in London, and she said he was there most weeks. Of course he then wasn't for a fortnight and it got closer and closer to the day I was leaving. I thought she had maybe sold it to someone else, but she assured me it would arrive, and indeed we managed the delivery half an hour before the cab arrived to take me to H'row. So happy to finally get it I gave the chap an extra £5 tip, it solved all the problems of my missing pieces much cheaper that going through somewhere like chinamatchers.com I didn't even have time to put it away!

.... and because I like any excuse to share an elephant, here's the rest of the haul. Nothing valuable or even very old, but they fit my London "mid-century modern" brief. Dumbo and Rupert's friend live in the kitchen and the deco one is a living room resident.

Have an excellent day at the fair, and don't forget to show and tell here.

 

[philpjuk100]

Stay out of newark!,by election! already had one at the door and two phone calls,pics on the local news of party members piling off the trains,another pile of leaflets just came through the letter box.The showground should be ok but stay out of the town!.

 

[philpjuk100]

Just returned from a trip into newark,traffic all snarled up mobs of folk milling around with different colored rosettes,TV crews with sattelite dishes and spotted one of the candidates, "bus pass Elvis" (no I did not vote for him!).phil,hope you had a good day at the fair.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Didn't go to Newark this time, but I gather from a friend that the Fair was not so productive today

 

[Sonyaclegg]

Thank you for the advice and the pics of your haul! My daughter and I went and arrived at 0600 and paid £110 to get in at 0630 and we won't be doing that again. There were not many stall holders set up at that time. We milled about and had a cup of tea. It only really got going about 0830. Next time, we will pay the £20 fee for admittance at 9am! Jess picked up some mounted horns for a good price and a mounted deer which is in good condition. Most of the taxidermy for sale was quite poor, comical even. I picked up a good sized wall mounted brass bell. I won't have to shout so much for everyone to come to the kitchen for meals when I can ring the bell!

We were just about to leave when I spotted two large box frames which contain massive polished oyster shells. I have a thing for large shells, so they came home with me and I am really pleased with them.

I went armed with a pocket full of notes and came home with most of them. I went to buy a 14 seat dining table but none to be had. I think I need to start going to auctions to pick that sort of furniture up.

All told, we had a good day. It was an experience and we will go again, just not arriving at 6am. We were up at 3am! And I will get to grips with flicker so I can post pics of the lovely things we bought.

 

[philpjuk100]

Glad you had a good time but £110 to get in! there are usually vouchers available for far less but usually are not valid until 9pm,I`m not too sure where they are from,I usually find them in my spam folder but last time it cost us £5 for a double voucher,I did notice that in the queue to get in most were holding printed off vouchers.

 

[88v8]

14 seat... 12 footer at least then. Not many of them around. Also depends how wide your chairs are.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-foot-Italian-Marquetry-Extending-Dining-Table-/261216543827?pt=UK_Antiques_AntiqueFurniture_SM&hash=item3cd1b82453

They are out there however
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-foot-English-George-III-Walnut-Dining-Table-/261216543826?pt=UK_Antiques_AntiqueFurniture_SM&hash=item3cd1b82452

and
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-Foot-English-Victorian-Mahogany-Dining-Table-/271097943790?pt=UK_Antiques_AntiqueFurniture_SM&hash=item3f1eb256ee

When we had a flock to Xmas lunch, up to twenty in our 4-bed terraced, my mother used to compile a collection of tables and dignified them with an assembly of table cloths inherited from various aunts. I seem to recall sitting at a paste table one year.

Bit more space around this one but how old, errrm
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14-foot-Victorian-Dining-Table-10-Queen-Anne-Chairs-/370808546090?pt=UK_Antiques_AntiqueFurniture_SM&hash=item5655e9632a

This one only 3ft wide so perhaps more of a buffet
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stunning-Long-Antique-Oak-Table-with-Tooled-Leather-Top-/400714025220?pt=UK_Antiques_AntiqueFurniture_SM&hash=item5d4c6ac904

Wanna push the boat out?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Georgian-Pedestal-Dining-Table-In-Walnut-16-ft-Long-Luxury-Diners-Furniture-/370545118382?pt=Antiques_Furniture&hash=item564635ccae
Not very old, I suspect.

Glad that the ridiculous prejudice against taxidermy seems to have faded. No doubt the chattering classes have found some over revisionist cause to espouse. Our local auction regularly has nice specimens, which I have to resist due to a complete lack of space.

Ivor