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After many unknowns and many unanswerable questions about how new conditions will be worked around, finally the organisers of The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair have reached agreement and confirmed that the event will go ahead and will be the UK’s first major arts fair since early Spring, following the turbulent and worrying times that all event organisers have had to face since March 2020.

The opening dates will be Thursday 22 through Sunday 25 October 2020. All necessary social-distancing and safety measures for attendees will be in place, and timed tickets will need to be pre-booked online in advance.  Details of all new arrangements for visitors will be announced on the event website.

The appetite in the trade is strong after the enforced lack of visibility and real life engagement and more than 140 leading specialist dealers in British and European design, decorative and fine antiques and art are booked to gather at London Evolution, the airy double-height marquee in leafy Battersea Park. They will present an exceptional selection of stock, ranging in date from the 17th century to the 1970s. The Fair is a treasured shopping destination for interior decorators, collectors and design cognoscenti looking for unusual and beautiful furniture, lighting, mirrors, accessories, textiles and works of art, at approachable prices.

Jane Juran, Organiser: “As it has been for many in the creative industries, lockdown was tough for the art and antiques trade. We are so glad we’ll be able to offer the first major retail platform in nearly seven months for dealers, all of whom run small independent businesses.  We know our exhibitors have been busy searching for exciting new stock to share with their interiors clients and regular private buyers, and there will plenty of affordable accessories and art for our younger visitors, who love to discover out of the ordinary objects at the Fair to take home.”

“For 35 years, the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair has been a crucial date in the calendar of antiques dealers, and is now the most important event in the UK for the business end of the trade,” adds Darren Hudson, fair director, who also exhibits at the Fair. “Our team is working extremely hard to ensure a safe and happy event for all.”

Virtual Shopping
The event will be filmed to offer a virtual online Fair, walking the aisles and making accessible to view every stand from the comfort of home or office. Favourite stands can be accessed directly from an interactive floorplan, so regular customers unable to attend can browse and buy direct from the dealer. The organisers are also launching a Personal Shopping Service for trade customers, working with experienced agents accustomed to handling shipping and export, and an in-house service* for UK customers unable to attend in person (* this carries a pre-payable booking fee).

Trending at the Autumn Fair…
Homely cottage style – the latest aesthetic buzz during lockdown revolved around cosy cottage style (referred to in the US as “cottagecore”), associated with a simpler, hearth and home-focused life: get the look with pretty printed vintage fabrics in florals and indigo hues, and relaxed antique French linens for dining room and bedroom; pottery flower vases, traditional decorated jugs and coloured glass; creamware ceramics for the kitchen, and copper pots and pans; vintage cake-stands, silver tea pots and Staffordshire platters; decorative rugs, and cosy cottage armchairs; antique milking stools and rope seats (perfect small side-tables); rush-bottomed ladder-backs or the welcome embrace of woven Orkney chairs; vintage churns and washing dollies (great as planters).

Brown is definitely back – yes, traditional, beautifully-crafted antique furniture in woods such as walnut, mahogany and cherry has made a strong come-back. It is a perfect foil to colour and pattern - and perhaps has comforting associations with a grand-parents’ house. Chests of drawers provide generous storage; consoles and centre tables have made a revival (the scent of beeswax and lavender polish…), as well as practical Pembroke and sofa tables (perfect for side-lamps and a drink, displaying a vase of flowers or burgeoning book collections). Prices are often pleasantly surprising compared to contemporary designer furnishings.

Classic country house – many crave the reassurance of old-fashioned ease and remembrances of times past. At The Decorative Fair find china in Willow Pattern or sprigged florals displayed on dresser shelves; French confit jars, stoneware pots and hand-carved burrwood bowls; generous upholstery covered in chintz, and wing-back chairs by the fire; proper wooden dining chairs; the faded grandeur of tapestry footstools and ottomans; whatnots and wall shelves; portraits and country paintings; scrubbed kitchen tables and antique brass candlesticks; vintage florist buckets and Sussex trugs for the flower room.

Garden rooms – spending more time at home has increased demand for a space that brings in the feeling of outdoors. Rattan and wicker furniture is as popular as ever, and vintage examples prove hugely cost-effective compared to newly-handmade pieces, which tend to replicate classic designs in any case. A traditional French patisserie table (scrolled iron base, cool marble top) makes a perfect display area for greenery and herbarium. Or seek out metal étagères and antique bakery shelving to house trailing plants and geraniums. Vintage garden artefacts such as old pottery planters, painted metal urns and cloches, and well-worn wooden implements hung on the wall augment the look.

Admission: In line with current guidelines, admission to the fair will be via timed tickets pre-booked online in advance (from early September). To ensure a reminder the Organisers recommend signing up to the Fair’s mailing list at The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair and an alert will be issued as soon as booking goes live.