ENGLAND.- This year’s Cotswold Art & Antiques Dealers’ Association Fair, sponsored by art insurance specialist Hallett Independent, is taking place for three days from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 November 2023. Some 27 dealers, mainly CADA members along with some guest exhibitors, are exhibiting for the third year in succession at Compton Verney in Warwickshire. The Association’s annual fair is taking place in November this year coinciding with Compton Verney’s exhibition 'History in the Making: Highlights from Woburn and the Crafts Council Collections'.

A couple of dealers are planning specific exhibitions on their individual stands: Mayflower Antiques is putting together a special exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese colonial pieces, rare items from a period not really known about these days. Christopher Hamlyn of Mayflower Antiques is currently working on a book to accompany the exhibition. Amongst the items coming up for sale on Mayflower Antiques’ stand is a fine and rare Spanish silver bernegal, marked on the side of the bowl for Zaragosa, circa 1650, £31,500. This form of drinking vessel, with handles and lobed edges to the top of the bowl, would have been passed around the table; the central spike designed for a bezoar nut, believed to possess magical power to prevent poisoning.

Guest exhibitor, Shaw Edwards Antiques returns to the fair and is “planning a small exhibition of primitive chairs, mostly Welsh”. There will, of course, still be some carvings on the walls. Examples of chairs for sale include a very rare late 18th century chair with a half-moon sycamore seat and a single wide splat for the back priced at £6,950. Also bound for Shaw Edwards Antiques’ stand at the fair is a primitive comb-back chair with wonderful patination and surface quality with a thick two section seat of oak, circa 1780-1800, selling for £4,950. Similar chairs are shown in Tim Bowen's book ‘The Welsh Stick Chair’.

Textile and carpet specialist Legge Carpets is exhibiting again with a rare Persian Tehran rug, a very high quality part-silk rug in a prayer format with a classical design of vines and florals emanating from a vase on a desirable white ground, priced in the region of £1,900. This particular piece has spent its life hanging on a wall and is therefore in perfect condition. A plethora of paintings and illustrations are available from different dealers, including an original etching of The Ringball Player or The Kolf Player by Dutch master Rembrandt Harmenza Van Rijn (1606-1669). The plate, signed and dated 1654 with this being a later impression of that date, £6,500 from Elizabeth Harvey-Lee. This plate is variously known as The Golf Player, The Kolf Player and more recently, The Ringball Player; all games where a ball is hit with a stick with a curved end. The game was a very popular pastime in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Around 1625, Avercamp did a number of paintings with kolf being played on ice but, until Rembrandt’s etching, Elizabeth Harvey-Lee has found no depiction of the ‘pub’ version, often being played in alleys outside Dutch ale houses. Strachan Fine Art brings a handsomely striking portrait of Major Charles John Richardson, in the service of the East India Company by Samuel Drummond A.R.A. (1765 or 1770-1844), oil on artist’s board, £6,500. A charming and unfinished portrait, this time of the artist Robert Fagan’s baby daughter Esther (Estina) Maria Fagan held by her nurse is an oil on canvas, circa 1794-5, POA. Strachan Fine Art is also bringing more contemporary works amongst which is The Topiarist II oil on panel by John Boyd (b. 1957), 1995, £3,500.

Bronze sculpture for sale at the fair include Diana La Chasseresse by Mathurin Moreau (French, 1822-1912) showing Diana the Huntress with her bow on a revolving red marble base, signed M. Moreau, 45cm high, £4,275 from Garret & Hurst Sculpture.

Other CADA members exhibiting include Bink Fine Art, joining the fair for the first time, with returning furniture specialist W.R. Harvey & Co. (Antiques) Ltd, clock restorer and expert Tobias Birch, Sarah Colegrave Fine Art, Jacksons Antique, Houlston after a successful first fair in 2022, Howards Jewellers, Newman Fine Art with watercolours, David Pickup Antiques, Haynes Fine Art, box specialist Mark Goodger Antiques, Neil Schofield and Freya Mitton, both showing Modern British art, Hickmet Fine Arts, silver specialist Stephen Kalms Antiques and returning guest exhibitor Blackbrook Gallery.

This year’s fair is supported by Hallett Independent, a small firm of specialist art insurance brokers with considerable expertise in placing insurances for both private clients and dealers. Elena Carofyllakis from Hallett Independent said, “As a supporter of the arts and other arts businesses, we are very pleased to be involved in The CADA Fair for the second year.” Tickets for the fair are free. To register for a complimentary ticket for two people, visit www.cotswolds-antiques-art.com or email info@thecada.org. In addition, Compton Verney is kindly allowing the Fair’s ticket holders access to all its galleries and exhibitions for a special price of £7.50.