The Garden Rooms and Cloisters at Tennants in Leyburn, North Yorkshire is the very popular venue for the annual Northern Antiques Fair, taking place for the fourth year from Thursday 26th to Sunday 29th September 2024. Spanning six centuries of art, some 40 of the UK’s leading antiques and fine art dealers are displaying works from the 15th century to the present day. Highlights include a rare sandstone Madonna and child, c. 1400 from Peter Bunting Antiques, an incredibly scarce map of the United Kingdom by Dutch cartographer Johannes Blaeu, 1659 from J Dickinson Maps & Prints, a watercolour painting of a kingfisher from Carnes Fine Art by Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935) and a cheeky oil painting by Fred Yates (1922-2008) depicting a girls’ night out in a Northern pub from Rastall Art.

This prestigious event has been running since 1951, originally in Harrogate before moving to The Garden Rooms at Tennants four years ago. The fair has a very loyal following with many exhibitors returning year on year including Walker Galleries, Howards Jewellers, Solo Antiques, Garret & Hurst Sculpture, Hickmet Fine Arts, Shapiro & Co, Ellis Fine Art, J Dickinson Maps & Prints, Blackbrook Gallery, Mark Buckley Antiques, Stephen Kalms Antiques, Markov, Howell 1870 and Graham Reed Fine Art. Notable additions to this year’s fair include Alderney & Wright with antique glass, Peter Bunting Antiques, Rastall Art, Glass of All Ages, Fine Art Restoration Company and The Oriental Rug Shop. Prices range from a few hundred pounds to five figure sums.

The fair showcases paintings from all genres including drawings of L S Lowry by Harold Riley (1934-2023) who was a friend of Lowry since his student days, c. £8,950. Antique portraits from the 17th and 18th centuries adorn the stand of Peter Bunting Antiques and a Donald McIntyre (1923 – 2009) oil painting of Calf Island, Iona is available at £14,495 from Rastall Art who is also showing paintings by Fred Mayor (1866-1916), founder member of the Staithes Group. Walker Galleries, a long-standing gallery based near Harrogate, specialises in French Impressionist oil paintings including The Franco-American Canoe Club in Le Touquet by Marcel Dyf (1899-1985), £20,000. More choice is available from Berlin Walls Gallery, Bink Fine Art, Blackbrook Gallery, and Ellis Fine Art.

Whitby has long been, and still is today, a favourite spot for artists. Admirers of local Yorkshire views must head to Graham Reed Fine Art’s stand to check out two interesting paintings, an oil by William Samuel Horton (1865-1936) entitled Whitby by Moonlight (£4,500) and Whitby Harbour dated 1899 by Frank Rousse (1897-1917), £1,100.

Dealers take great pride in designing their stands to a very high standard and none better than Peter Bunting Antiques. Peter Bunting has been dealing in antique oak furniture, portraits, tapestries and decorative pieces for over 30 years. For 17 years he worked as a fashion photographer collecting antiques before eventually becoming an antiques dealer. Stand-out pieces include a rare sandstone Madonna and child, having five fingers on the right hand, possibly Italian, c. 1400, £22,000, a portrait of a lady in pearls, 1680, £6,000 and a wonderful Windsor chair in figured yew and burr wood, c. 1860, £2,200.

The Art Nouveau and Art Deco eras produced extremely collectible pieces that are still very much in vogue. There is plenty to choose from around the fair including a Daum Summer landscape pillow vase, French, c. 1900-1910, £7,950 from Solo Antiques, a Georg Jensen silver bracelet designed by Georg Jensen himself, c. 1910 from Dansk Silver, an aquamarine and diamond brooch in its original fitted box, c. 1910 from Markov, an Art Deco bronze ballerina by Samuel Lipchitz (1880-1943), c. 1925, £3,785 together with a further selection of bronzes from Hickmet Fine Arts, a beautiful pair of Art Deco ruby and diamond earrings, c. 1930 from Howards Jewellers along with yet more stylish pieces of Art Deco jewellery from Billy Rae. There is plenty more sparkle dotted around the fair from Victorian to contemporary pieces from S Greenstein & Co Ltd, Howell 1870 and Shapiro & Co.

Hispanic Antiques is showing a rare pair of high quality Spanish Slipper chairs designed by Pierre Lottier for the Valentin contemporary store. Dating to the late 1950s they have a dark oak neo-classical X-frames and rich dark-brown latticed leather seats. Pierre Lottier was a French designer based in Barcelona whose clients included Ava Gardner and his Slipper chairs have become a European design icon. These chairs come from the Umbrian villa estate of a famous British architect and designer, £3,250.

Highland Antiques of Aberdeen displays a fascinating range of rare and collectible antique silver and this year is bringing a Scottish Victorian piano jewellery box by James Aitchison, Edinburgh, 1883, £3,795 and an exceptional rare and gold fishing reel hip flask made by Hamilton and Inches, 2008, £1,495. For the horse racing enthusiast there is a steeplechaser in sterling silver from Stephen Kalms Antiques.

Frodsham Clocks, owned by Simon Frodsham, a great-great-great grandson of the famous clockmaker William James Frodsham, who established the firm in 1801, is showing a late 19th century Parkinson & Frodsham carriage clock with the enamel dial signed by the renowned Parkinson & Frodsham firm in around 1880, £2,750.

Provenance always plays a big part in the history of an antique and for someone looking to enhance their wall space The Antiques Bazaar has the perfect solution in a pair of bronzed angel wall brackets made by Jean Louis Phillips c. 1840 and purchased from the Chatsworth Estate Attic Sale held by Sotheby’s in October 2010. They are mentioned in the Chatsworth Inventory 1859 p.121 in the State Drawing Room (formerly the Tapestry Room) described as a pair of bronzed angel brackets. These were sold to the 6th Duke by the Parisian firm Sussé which from the 1830s was run by Victor Sussé (1806-1860) and by his brother Amedee (1808-1880).

Joining the fair from its Cumbria office is Fine Art Restoration Company, the UK’s leading conservation studio. Their mission is to restore and preserve the art of the nation, from historically significant paintings to sentimental family heirlooms. Offering a bespoke approach to restoration for almost 40 years, the specialist team consists of conservators and experts from a wide variety of disciplines, including paintings, paper, sculpture, furniture, gilding and ceramics.

As well as serving many influential private clients from across the country, Fine Art Restoration Company is the studio of choice for many public institutions, businesses and insurance companies. Examples of restored items will be on display on the stand, and visitors can discuss their requirements with members of the team.

The Northern Antiques Fair is an excellent opportunity to plan a visit to the Yorkshire Dales, meet up with friends, enjoy chatting to the knowledgeable dealers, making a purchase as well as savouring the delights on offer in the popular café, bistro or bar at Tennants. There is ample parking on site.

RABI, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution is continuing its successful charity alliance with the fair.

Admission: £7.50 including programme & re-admission. Tickets available on the door & via Eventbrite

For more information visit The Northern Antique Dealers Fair