Treasure hunting at the BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair

At BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair

Hello my lovely, I hope that you had a wonderful weekend!  I sure did, as I visited BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair together with a friend on Saturday, before going for the most yummy chai tea latte on Duke of York Square, at a café that I think was called Startisan.  I am really into  lovely food that you can eat with a good conscience, so their sugar and gluten free Banana and Maple Bread was the most wonderful treat!

Oh and I am SO sorry that last week was just a mess here on the blog, with only a blog post on Tuesday!  The reason for this is that I am preparing for a very special day and so I am a bit behind on all things at the moment, so thank you my dear for understanding!

Everything from paintings to jewellery and furniture in the most stunning designs…

Okay let’s hop back to the BADA fair!!  It was buzzing with people – from the general browsers and admirers to antiques dealers – and all the stands were obviously covered in stunning antique furniture and jewellery.  First I briefly popped by Wakelin & Linfield Antiques – you might remember the blog post about their stunning 19th century Italian oak table with a trompe d’oeil Pietra Dura marble top:  Wakelin & Linfield Antiques at LAPADA 2014

Richard Ogden – diamond Ring BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair

… and soon we found ourselves at Richard Ogden, where my friend lots her heart to this stunning 3ct cushion cut diamond, which I have the pleasure of looking at every day in the shop:

3 carat cushion cut diamond ring from Richard Ogden at the BADA fair

You can see the beautiful range of diamond bracelets from Richard Ogden as well above: from the thinner tennis bracelets on the left to the more elaborate 1930’s Art Deco diamond bracelet on the right… how much do we love!?

Johnson Walker at the BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair

We then continued on to Johnson Walker Ltd, where a friend of mine was working behind the counter – such a lovely small world it is, the antique jewellery business in London!  Some stunning signed gold pieces above…

Johnson Walker at the BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair

… not to mention the glorious gemstones – Burmese Rubies, stunning sapphires and dazzling emeralds.  Do you see any new favourites?

So if you get a chance to visit the fair their last day is tomorrow, but it is so worth popping by!

BADA Antiques and Fine Art Fair 18-24 March 2015

BADA Antiques and Fine Art Fair 18-24 March 2015

Oh I am so looking forward to the rest of this week and the weekend, as the BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair is taking place in beautiful Chelsea!  We will get to enjoy the remarkable collections of Members of the British Antique Dealers’ Association and the art and antiques for sale range from 16th century works of art to contemporary furniture.

It all takes place in the beautiful Duke of York Square, just a hop and a skip away from The Saatchi Gallery, Cadogan Concert Hall and of course all the glorious shops on the King’s Road!  I hope to see you there dear!

BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair 

18-24 March 2015, Duke of York Square, London SW3

Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair 2014

They do such a wonderful job setting up the LAPADA fair in Berkeley Square every year – making it so beautiful and inviting!

There was one stand at the LAPADA fair that I just had to stop at because of its pure beauty of colours and design:

Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA fair

I had reached the Japanese Gallery; traders since 1977, who bring us a wide selection of genuine Japanese art and artefacts, and showcase items like ceramics, Katana (traditionally made Japanese sword) and Ukiyo-e, that we are looking closer at below.

Exquisite porcelain cups and saucers from Japanese Gallery

The Japanese word for describing porcelain and pottery is Yaki.  The history of porcelain-making in Japan is quite a brutal one, as a Japanese army invaded Korea in 1598, in the very beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868).  They kidnapped a few families that had learnt the art of pottery making from the Chinese, brought them back to Japan and set up their own porcelain production.  The continental influences remained in the art, even after Japanese artisans took to porcelain making and applied their artistic license many years later.

The famous tea ceremony culture gained ground in the late 16th century in Japan, which increased the porcelain production further.  Another increase in the demand of these exquisite pieces came with the baroque époque in Europe in the 17th century, when many people became wealthy and demanded oriental and unusual things.  (1)

This is a just a small extract of this fascinating history, and you can dig deeper into Japanese history on the Japanese Gallery website.

Satsuma maple design plate 1868-1912 from the Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA fair

Japanese Gallery art at the LAPADA fair

Ukiyo-e means “pictures of the floating world” and the world referred to in the name was one free from worries and concerns of life.  (1) and is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that were popular in Japan from the 17th until the 19th century.  The artists would often paint beautiful women, sumo wrestlers, historic, landscape and travel scenes, as well as flora and fauna (2).

Japanese Kimono and Obi, Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA fair

There was also a lovely lady dressed in a traditional kimono among all these beautiful treasures.  I will be writing a blog post about vintage kimonos soon, so I was absolutely delighted to get a few photos of her!

 

Japanese Gallery

66D Kensington Church Street

London

W8 4BY

 

Sources:

(1) Japanese Gallery

(2) Wikipedia

The Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, October 2014

How beautiful is this autumn afternoon sky above the Esher Hall?  

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, October 2014

You might remember that I told you about the antiques fair in Esher Hall the other week, in the blog post: Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, 10-12 October 2014?  Well, I went with some friends and it ended up being one of the loveliest antiques fairs that I have visited to date!  The atmosphere was so welcoming and everyone was delighted to tell us about their pieces – and believe me, there were a LOT of nice things on display!  This was the first fair in Surrey that Richard Ogden attended and our stand looked a little something like this:

Richard Ogden at Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair

Some of the exquisite pieces from the Richard Ogden collection at the antiques fair  

Richard Ogden at Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair

The most unusual artwork of Tanzanite creates this unique bracelet – from Moira Fine Jewels at Richard Ogden 

T Robert Antique Jewellery from Norfolk 

We then continued on to a stand where a beautiful moonstone necklace from circa 1910 caught our attention – we had reached T Robert from Norfolk.  This elegant collection can mainly be viewed at antiques fairs, as they travel across the UK to show us their range of exquisite  pieces.

T Robert Antique Jewellery Norfolk Moonstone Necklace ca 1910

Above is the piece that my friend fell in love with: a 15ct gold Ceylon sapphire and moonstone necklace, which displayed a range of different colours, depending on what light we viewed it in.

I am sure you can guess which one of these beauties caught my attention…! (hint: the Decades of Elegance logo)

There were so many wonderful stands to visit, with everything from 18th century furniture, to unique pieces of glassware, to the most divine Art Deco furniture.  If you haven’t yet had the chance to visit an antique fair, there are still some very exciting ones coming up before Christmas and I would so warmly recommend that you pop by one them!  It really is the most enjoyable way of spending a few hours, and you always learn so much, which is definitely my favourite part!

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, 10-12 October 2014

Happy Friday dearest!  I know that some of you guys live out in Surrey and so I wanted to let you know about a lovely antiques fair which is on next weekend, 10-12 October at Esher Hall.  The reason why I am extra excited about the fair is that Richard Ogden, where I am currently working, will be exhibiting there for the first time – and they will be bringing some glorious pieces along:

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, 10-12 October

The fair was launched in 2008, and features around 30 specialist exhibitors who will bring us the finest town and country furniture, jewellery, silver, paintings, oriental carpets, glass, mirrors, and lots of other decorative works of art!

Vintage aquamarine and diamond brooch Harvey & Gore

I was delighted to see that one of my favourite pieces from the Harvey & Gore collection that we showcase here at Richard Ogden is featuring on the front page of the exhibition brochure!  It is an exquisite 75 carat (!) aquamarine and diamond clip brooch, where the aquamarine displays an exceptional colour.  The brilliant cut diamonds and graduating tapered baguette diamonds are also doing their best to woo us with their incredible sparkle and fire and the back of the brooch reveals an intricate platinum mounted honeycomb structure, which acts like a grid to hold the diamonds.  The origin is almost certainly 1950s America.  We swoon!

So I do hope to see you at the fair, I for one can’t wait to see what else it holds!  And the admission is £5 or you can print your own free ticket from their website here: The Esher Hall Antiques Fair.  I do hope to see you there!

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair

Esher Hall, Sandown Park Racecourse
Esher
Surrey, KT10 9AJ