…as ‘always, it is the historical that informs our contemporary world’*
The Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association (AA&ADA) annual Fair will be held in the impressively restored spaces of the Royal Exhibition Building at Melbourne between 24th and 28th April 2013. AA&ADA Fairs offer for sale the finest and most diverse range of fine art and antiques in one place, at one time, in Melbourne. The shows are Australia’s only international quality fairs. They are fully vetted for authenticity and backed by the reputation of Australia’s finest antique and art dealers
Tony Ellwood, Director of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) will be a keynote speaker during the event. The NGV sits at the heart of the collecting art and antiques world in Australia, its historical decorative arts integral to its foundation. Since Tony Ellwood arrived from Queensland to take charge of the gallery and its collections during the second half of 2012, those decorative arts relegated to the basement are being brought back on show.
They are as he says ‘ a reference point to which we refer, often unconsciously, and which provide the foundation for culture in our lives’. Art and antiques he also says, will always have a central role to play in our community. This is something Ellwood truly believes, and is deeply informed and passionate about.
Paul Sumner, Marketing Director for the 2013 Melbourne fair notes that “The market for antiques and traditional arts is changing internationally and it is true to say that as the world globalises the taste of collectors is also becoming more diverse and eclectic”.
Paul has been busy gathering an impressive group of sponsors for this year’s fair, including the fabled Tiffany’s and well known and respected Melbourne based designer Stuart Rattle who has been invited to provide a stand with his take on living with antiques on a daily basis in contemporary Australia.
These days most antique dealers would agree that an ‘antique’ is all about the very best example of a combination of wonderful design aesthetics, quality materials and excellence in manufacture. It adds far more to the value if it is in fine condition, has glorious patina and an equally fine provenance.
Held over the Anzac Day weekend, the dealers will also host the RSL this year as they present a stand that celebrates the role Australian soldiers and service men have played in securing the freedoms we all enjoy today. Anzac biscuits will be served in a café under the great Dome of the historic venue, sure to add to the nostalgia surrounding such an event. RSL Members will be free on Anzac Day itself after 1pm as the fair opens late as a mark of respect.
“It’s going to be a great show” said dealer Jamie Allpress, of Allpress Antiques at Malvern in Melbourne when my son’s partner and I were visiting his store recently. “The list of dealers showing wonderful things is very impressive” Jamie said.
Simpson's Donkey carried many wounded people to safety during World War I, contemporary bronze sculpture courtesy of artist Martin Tighe on show at Allpress Antiques stand at the AA&ADA Melbourne Fair 2013 over the Anzac Day weekend
For those with a love of beauty and an admiration for proportion, shape, style and form, buying antiques offers many advantages over purchasing modern furniture pieces. This is because they have achieved that certain je ne sais quoi, an intangible quality that makes them singularly attractive.
It also helps to know that in times of need antiques and art can be recycled.
Jamie Allpress believes great art and great antiques from any age can work together well and has often proved his point with great photo shoots showing how well they work together. He will be displaying his own wonderful items, alongside contemporary art works including those by Melbourne based artist Martin Tighe, whose bronze sculpture of Simpson’s famous Donkey, who helped his master rescue so many wounded soldiers during World War I, will be on display.
It quite took my fancy at the showroom while we were talking because for me sculpture is art at the pinnacle of what is possible.
A George III English oak dresser base displayed with a work by Bill Henson, courtesy of the artist and Jamie Allpress Antiques, Malvern Victoria
Wonderful pieces, whose design and style provides us with a visual record of private life and of man’s significant achievements in creativity and quality craftsmanship, will suit any setting when viewed as items that stand alone.
Collecting is, and has become an amazing phenomenon and a pleasure indulged in by a vast number of people from different backgrounds and all walks of life and takes place on many different scales of economy.
The good thing for collectors is that today there is an ever expanding number of categories to collect in.
I have deduced the most important aspect of collecting is, for the majority of people, an emotional connection. This is almost impossible for anyone to define, let alone explain or understand.
We are all fascinated, it seems, by the stories attached to the incredible world of antiques and art, which reflect the growth of humankind both socially and culturally.
England is where the whole concept of collecting antiques was invented during the eighteenth century, as learned gentlemen looked back wistfully to the Middle Ages.
Many collectors and dilettante such as Horace Walpole (1717-1797) and his contemporaries Richard Bateman and William Beckford first began to acquire old furniture mainly because of its emotive romantic historical associations.
Furniture and objects of great design made from quality materials from the past and keeping them, like us moving forward, makes good sense and good business in a world that needs to recycle its goods to aid its own continuing sustainability.
The antiques trade in Australia, as watched over by the dealers of the AA&ADA, is all about running an ‘elite’ establishment, while safeguarding a heritage industry that should never be elitist.
Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2013
*Tony Ellwood, Director NGV
AA&ADA Fair 2013
Nicholson Street, Carlton, Melbourne, 3053
OPENING TIMES
Wednesday 24th April 6pm – 9pm (Gala Preview) Thursday 25th April 1pm – 7pm (ANZAC Day) Friday 26th April 11am – 7pm Saturday 27th April 11am – 7pm and Sunday 28th April 11am – 5pm
2013 AA&ADA FAIR EXHIBITORS
Detail Nurata Suzani Bokhara, Uzbekistan, c1800 courtesy Nomadic Rug Traders
New South Wales
Abbott’s Antiques
Brian Abbott
English 18th and 19th century furniture, sterling silver, porcelain, glass, jewellery, Sheffield plate, 18th century drinking and table glass, bronzes, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and paintings. Established 1931.
Alan Landis Antiques
Alan Landis
English ceramics, specialising in Wedgwood, Royal Worcester, Doulton, Australiana.
Ancanthe
Jane Lennon
Australian & European 18th, 19th & early 20th Century decorative arts, paintings & Australiana.
Anne Schofield Antiques
Anne Schofield
18th, 19th and early 20th century fine quality jewellery, including Australian jewellery.
Blake & Angel
Robyn Carmody
Antique and estate jewellery. Collectables & ceramics.
Day Fine Art
Vincent Day
An eclectic interest in Australian works and Old master Drawings and Prints.
Elizabeth Kwan
Elizabeth Kwan
Specialising in Victorian and Edwardian jewellery.
Greengrass Antiques
Derek Greengrass
Ethnographica, works of art, objects of virtue.
French Bronze signed E Picault courtesy Page Antiques
Karen Deakin Antiques
Karen Deakin
Fine antique and vintage jewellery.
Lee Hardcastle Antiques
Lee Hardcastle
Fine 18th and 19th century English furniture and decorative arts, taxidermy and natural history.
Nomadic Rug Traders
Ross & Irene Langlands
Dealers in oriental rugs and carpets, tribal art. South East Asian and European textiles, restoration, cleaning and conservation. Established 1975.
Simpson’s Antiques
Andrew Simpson
Australian colonial furniture and decorative art.
Queensland
Lavin Antiques
Gary Lavin
Importers of the finest English, French and Italian antiques and fine furniture dating from the 17th to early 20th century
Lynzay Antiques
Peter Martin
Jewellery, silver, porcelain, pottery and bric-a -brac, English & Australian furniture and the unusual.
The Goods Fine Jewellery
Martha Good, T.C. Good
Vintage, Estate and antique jewellery, objects of vertu. Jewellery design and repairs.
Tasmania
Leven Antiques
Craig Broadfield
Antique sterling silver, jewellery, Georgian glass, porcelain, English and Colonial furniture.
Richmond Antiques
Todd Baird
Fine quality 18th – 19th century English and European furniture, silver, porcelain, clocks and objects of virtue. 19th century Australian colonial furniture and pottery. Established 1989.
Victoria
Advance Australiana Antiques
Jane Lennon
Australian decorative arts, paintings, natural history, books, ephemera, postcards, militaria and items of historical interest dating from the Colonial period through to the early 20th century.
Allpress Antiques
Jamie Allpress
Unique English and French town and country furniture from the 16th to 19th century. Also, engravings, botanicals, watercolours, oils, drawings, silhouettes, maps, globes, photography, contemporary art, early cartoons and exceptional ceramics.
Detail late 19th century Japanese Imari Umbrella stand courtesy Lynzay Antiques
Behruz Studio
Behruz Aligorgi
Oriental carpets and related textiles.
Eaglemont Antiques
Dawn Davis
Select items of furniture, porcelain, silver and decorative objects.
John D. Dunn Antiques
Francis Dunn
17th – 19th century European and English furniture and objets d’art, 17th and 18th century French tapestries and early European sculpture.
Kevin Murray Fine Silver
Kevin Murray
Provides consultancy service on buying & selling Antique Sterling Silver.Specialising in fine English, Irish & Scottish Antique Sterling Silver from the 17th – 20th centuries.
L.J. Cook and Company
Greg Cook
Fine quality 18th and early 19th century English furniture, including important items from the 19th century.
Martin Gallon International Art
Martin Gallon
Specialising in British and European pictures.
Moorabool Antique Galleries
John Rosenberg
Specialist ceramics covering 6000 years from Neolithic to Nouveau,. Fine 18th and 19th century Furniture, Glass, Silver, Prints and Paintings, Textiles and unusual items.
Mossgreen Collection
Paul Sumner
Australian art, Chinese, Asian and International tribal arts, European and Australian decorative arts and design.
Online Antiques
Dianne Pickett
Specialising in Art Nouveau, Art Deco and 20th century decorative arts. Porcelain, glass, jewellery, bakelite, furniture, figurines & lamps.
Page Antiques
Guy Page
19th to early 20th century English, French and European furniture, clocks, spelter and bronze figures and objets d’art. Specializing in antique French beds.
Pentimento
Jill Roberts
Dutch miniature mahogany staircase decorated with an array of interesting collectibles courtesy Pentimento Pty Ltd
Vanity and sewing items, portrait miniatures, ceramics, vintage glassware, collectables and curios. Specialising in small items of tortoiseshell and pique jewellery.
Rutherford Antiques
Wesley Rutherford
Specialists in fine antique jewellery, Art Deco jewellery, diamonds, English silver from the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries as well as South Sea Pearls.
Sebra Prints
Dafydd Davies
Fine 18th, 19th and early 20th century decorative, architectural, marine, sporting, natural history and historical prints. Art Deco graphics. Early Australian prints and printmakers.
Snook and Company Antique Dealers
Christopher Snook
Fine quality traditional 19th and 20th century furniture, clocks, barometers, and decorative items. Always a jaunty selection of unique gifts.
Valentine’s Antique Gallery
Peter Valentine
Specialising in 19th and early 20th Century English & Australian Furniture, porcelain, glassware and important decorative items. Established 1947.
Virtanen Antiques
Kent Virtanen, Sharen Virtanen
Specialising in Scandinavian furniture and decorative arts From C1780 to C1960 Including Biedermeier, Art Deco, 20th Century and Gustavian.
Westbury Antiques
Harvey Wilkins, Carol Wilkins
17th, 18th and early 19th century oak and mahogany furniture, Staffordshire pottery, English Delft and other decorative arts.
Woodshed Antiques
Graeme Davidson,
Specialists in quality early Australian Cedar furniture, imported French and English furniture and decorative items.
Outstanding Cameo Glass vase detail of a pair by Thomas Webb & Sons courtesy Richmond Antiques
Western Australia
Brans Antiques & Art
Clive Brans, John Brans
Fine quality furniture sculpture and works of art from the ancient to the 20th century, specialising in the 17th and 18th centuries. English, European and Oriental.
ADMISSION PRICES
Gala Preview $30
General Admission
Single Ticket $20
Concession $15
Children under 16 free’
RSL Members Free on ANZAC Day
Tickets available at the door
PARKING
Undercover parking is available at the Melbourne Museum Car Park. For more information visit the Melbourne Museum Car Park page.
Entry is from either Nicholson Street or Rathdowne Street.
Wheelchair access is available on all levels of the car park.
INFORMATION
Telephone: 03 9576 2275
Email: [email protected].
For further information: www.aaada.org.au/melbournefair
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we are interested in to take part of your auction sales in your country,2015, since we are antique collectors, we would like to see furniture and porcelain and jade and so on , we would like have the schedule for easy to arrange our itinerary to Australia
Thank you
I am sorry but we are not antique dealers or an auction house – just information providers. You could try contacting http://www.mosgreen.com.au