Cotswolds Fair set for summer

Historic paintings of Gloucestershire and Bath, plus a wide range of vintage, Mid-Century Modern and period furniture are highlights of The Cotswolds Decorative Antiques & Fine Art Fair at Westonbirt School, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire from 12th to 14th August.

A view of Bath, circa 1800The popular summer event takes place in the charming setting of private school Westonbirt House and offers a wide variety of pieces for collectors, home furnishers, interior designers and anyone looking for unusual decorative items. With more than forty-five exhibitors, it offers exhibits from £20 to more than £10,000 in price.

A view of Bath as Jane Austen would have seen it will be a feature on the stand of exhibitor Derek Newman Fine Art from Gloucestershire, who specialises in watercolour paintings and drawings. Seen from a distance, the Abbey and outline of the city can be seen, circa 1800, in a charming depiction. Whilst the artist is unknown, it is clearly by a professional painter from the time. This rarity is priced at £695.

Derek Newman also has a watercolour painting of the well-known Painswick Beacon on the edge of the Cotswold Escarpment above the Severn Valley by the well-respected artist Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942). This dates from 1915 when Steer stayed nearby in Painswick. It is priced at £1,750.

A Georgian doll’s houseOther key pieces at the fair will be a charming Regency doll’s house on the stand Elham Antiques. At 63cm high, early doll’s houses like this are always sought after. The ticket price is £695. Elham Antiques also has a range of Irish country furniture, mirrors, garden statuary and a very decorative painted Hungarian mule chest dating from the 19th century, priced at £895.

Among the many regular exhibitors will be Jo Brayshaw with decorative lighting, glass, ceramics and furniture; Melody Antiques specialising in English and Welsh country furniture; Cherie & Michael Todd have country pieces and domestic bygones; Steve Bentley Decorative Arts & Lighting return with a collection of Arts & Crafts furniture, silver, brass and accessories; Not Wanted On Voyage offer an eclectic range of unusual decorative furniture, mirrors and collector’s pieces; Paul Burnett Antiques & Interiors specialise in decorative accessories for the home; Brian Ashbee & Wesley Wotruba show 19th and 20th century furniture and objets d’art; and Scandinavian by Design specialise in Mid-Century Modern furniture and lighting.

Fine and decorative art is also well represented. In addition to Derek Newman Fine Art, Carnes Fine Art have Victorian landscape paintings, Jo Bennett shows a range of Northern Art including works by Geoffrey Key; while Granta Fine Art has English and Continental works by mid and late 20th century artists. Richard Glass specialises in Old Master drawings, European paintings and objets d’art.

Newcomer John Hugo Fine Art from Bath joins for the fair for the first time showing oils, watercolours and prints, usually with a local attraction. Jewellery and silver is also strongly represented by specialists including Plaza, Terry Robert, Scarab, S.& A.Thompson, Elizabeth Nicolson, Carlyon Silver and Shapiro & Co, while Twentieth Century Glamour show a range of designer costume jewellery from the 1930s and 1940s.

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