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The BADA Fair

by Lita Solis-Cohen

The prestigious British Antique Dealers' Association (BADA) fair in London celebrated its 11th year March 19-25, pitching its tent on the parade grounds of the Duke of York's headquarters on the King's Road in Chelsea. The association of about 400 members has been and remains a presence at Grosvenor House in June where it puts on a loan exhibition every year. "As Grosvenor House became more international, there was a need for an all-British fair," explained Gillian Craig, who organizes the BADA fair for the dealers' association.

The fair accommodates all BADA members who apply for space, about 100 each year. Of the exhibiting members, about half were from London and the rest from the shires. It is a British fair for British taste, and there are plenty of British collectors, despite the fact that dealers say they are looking for American buyers. (American buyers who aspire to British taste flock to London in June. Many forget that spring comes early in Britain, with drifts of daffodils and cherry trees in bloom in the parks, and do not put London in March on their travel schedules.)

Fifteen dealers showing at BADA this year also exhibited at Grosvenor House in June, including Alistair Sampson, Norman Adams, J.H. Bourdon-Smith, Paul Champkins, Sandra Cronan, Rupert Gentle, Peter Lipitch, Richard Philp, Stair & Company, Mark West, Mary Wise & Grosvenor Antiques, Witney Antiques, and Christopher Wood. Three dealers—Jonathan Horne, Robyn Robb, and W.F.A. Buck of Steppes Hill Farm Antiques—exhibit at the ceramics fair. Some dealers show at the three large Olympia fairs. There are plenty of dealers at BADA not seen at other London fairs.

They show an abundance of English furniture from the 17th century to the 19th century, more clocks and barometers than at any other show, and plenty of silver to brighten the dining table. There was a selection of British ceramics, paintings in oils and watercolors, prints, maps, caricatures, and miniature portraits.

In years past dealers counted on Americans and their decorators. Although few Americans came this year, Gillian Craig said that several called ahead for lunch reservations at the Cellini restaurant at the fair. Dealers said they missed their American customers.

During one of the most difficult weeks in recent history (the war in Iraq began the day the fair opened, and there was a worldwide economic downturn), attendance was nevertheless up 10% over the year before. The opening day, which began at 11 a.m., was crowded. Many had received invitations from dealers, but those without an invitation could purchase tickets for  £10 each or a double ticket for  £15. The price included one reentry and the useful BADA handbook, which also served as the catalog for the show.

The BADA handbook is not only a show catalog with plenty of advertisements, it lists all the BADA members, not just those exhibiting, and it lists them alphabetically, by region, and by category of expertise. There are maps with the locations of dealers' premises marked by number. It is a useful reference book, not just a souvenir of a show.

The handbook offers essays, and the one titled "Sir Hans Sloane: Patron Saint of Collectors" by Simon Owers is most informative. Sloane, whose remarkable life stretched from 1660 to 1753, succeeded Isaac Newton as president of the Royal Society, was physician to successive monarchs, president of the College of Physicians, brought the cocoa bean to Britain, and discovered a treatment for eye infections. He studied botany at the Chelsea Physic Garden and traveled to the West Indies, where he made notes of the flora and fauna, about which a natural history of his findings was published.

In 1713 Sloane bought the Manor of Chelsea as a property investment. In 1722 he leased the land in perpetuity at a rent of  £5 per annum to the Society of Apothecaries for their Physics Garden. All the while, he was building his private collection displayed in his house in Bloomsbury. There were shells, butterflies, costumes, weapons, agates, coins, birds' nests, Egyptian antiquities, fossils, and pearls.

Collecting, the desire to inquire and acquire, has been part of the British psyche for more than 250 years, and Sloane's collection epitomized the urge. His collection was acquired by an Act of Parliament, the British Museum Act passed in June 1753, which allowed for a state lottery to raise  £20,000, a vast sum in those days. That sum was, however, £30,000 less than what Sloane believed to be the collection's real worth. It was fitting that Sir Hans Sloane be celebrated at the BADA fair.

Unlike American shows, where many who buy tickets to the charity benefit preview are there to get first pick at what is for sale, the BADA charity gala was held on the second evening. This year the proceeds went to The Children's Trust, which provides care, therapy, education, and rehabilitation for children with profound disabilities and complex medical needs. Approximately 1000 guests attended, including Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. In excess of  £120,000 was raised for the charity.

The fair's floor plan has diagonal gangways, as they call the aisles in Britain, so stands can be viewed without entering them. The plan allows for many corner stands that can be approached from two aisles and avoids a line of stands like so many boxes with walls interfering with the line of sight.

According to the organizers, more people from London attended the fair than from elsewhere in Britain. Londoners come to dealers who come from the shires. Some dealers offer catalogs illustrating their stock. Several mentioned their Web sites. Claudia Hill of Ellison Fine Art, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, a portrait miniature specialist, put her stock on CD-ROMs, which she gave to any interested customer. It is a cheap way of getting inventory out there to the computer literate public and might become a trend, although those with or without computers say they prefer catalogs, which have served dealers as a good selling tool for a long time.

Two loan exhibitions were well received. The exhibition of clocks organized by the Antiquarian Horological Society featured the earliest surviving English long-case clock of eight-day duration, striking hours. The other exhibition of insect-form jewelry, Gilded Beauty: Butterflies, Bees and Bugs in Jewellery 1645-1945, was immensely popular.

Dealers who came expecting little business were surprised to make sales. Although some complained that business was slow and a few did no business at all, several reported good sales. London dealer Brian Rolleston, new to the show, reported selling a William and Mary double-domed walnut bookcase. Furniture dealer G.D. Blay of Surrey sold a set of six Chippendale chairs. Richard Fredericks of C. Fredericks & Son found a buyer for a mahogany sideboard table, close to a design in Chippendale's 1754 Director.

Ceramics dealers said collectors were buying. Despite competition from ceramics dealers Garry Atkins and Simon Spero, both of whom were holding successful selling exhibitions at their shops on Kensington Church Street, Jonathan Horne, who had held a selling exhibition earlier in the month, reported sales at the BADA fair better than the year before. Horne sold a very rare Delft punch bowl with a figure of an Oriental man holding a gun, illustrated in his catalog, for a five-figure price.

Robyn Robb of London and W.F.A. Buck at Steppes Hill Farm Antiques reported no lessening of interest by collectors and good sales. Gillian Neale, a specialist in transfer-printed wares, said her sales included a platter from the British views series showing Compton Verney in Warwickshire. Clive and Lynne Jackson sold a number of pieces of Parian, including a very rare figure, Night by Raphael Monti for Copeland, circa 1860.

The clock exhibit, a preview of the exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford, produced interest in clocks. London dealer John Carlton-Smith reported his best BADA fair in three years, selling a number of long-case clocks for over  £10,000 each and a George III red lacquer bracket clock to an American. Campbell & Archard Ltd. of Kent were delighted to sell a Viennese wall clock. The Jillings of Newent, Gloucestershire, said that business was ticking along in these tough times and that their prices were negotiable.

Richard Philp, who had shown at Maastricht but was not invited back "because of politics," as he said, had a good fair. He made several sales on opening day. He continued to sell medieval sculpture and pottery made by his brother, Paul, throughout the fair. Rupert Gentle sold some brass, including a circa 1800 whistle for £65 and 19th-century door knockers for £950. There are things to buy at this fair in a broad range of prices.

Some complained that this fair went head to head with Maastricht, which siphoned off some good customers. There will be no conflict next year. The Maastricht dates are March 5-14, and the BADA fair will be March 24-30.

For more information about the British Antique Dealers' Association, see the Web site (www.bada.org).