The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair is back. The winter edition is taking place from 25-30 January 2022 at Battersea Park, London, replete with antiques, design and art for decoration.
More than 150 exhibitors are taking part, including specialist dealers in furniture, lighting, mirrors, textiles and accessories. The fair is much loved by top interior designers and buyers ‘in the know’, making it the perfect place to find your unusual conversation piece or one-of-a-kind item, or to discover how to make that finishing touch to your interior.
Though known as The Decorative Fair, the fair isn’t limited to design. Painting, prints, sculpture, posters and beautifully-crafted works from all eras, from the classical to the contemporary, are available at the participating art galleries. You’ll also find jewellery, vintage bags and watches. From your wardrobe to your bedroom, you’re set.
As an added bonus this January, textile hunters will relish the choice shown by 15 specialists in antique and period rugs, tribal weavings, period textiles and associated works of art – Asian, oriental, Moroccan/Berber and European – exhibiting at the boutique London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair (LARTA) up on the mezzanine level.
There’s a reason The Decorative Fair is known as the UK’s leading fair for period design and decoration. It’s the cross-section mix of dealers working in so many areas with their very deep knowledge. Novices and seasoned collectors alike are welcome at the fair, where they can get the chance to ask pertinent questions or chat with like minded experts.
At the heart of the fair is passion. As Mark Hill, the well-known BBC Antiques Roadshow expert and specialist in 20th-century design put it in an interview with the fair, “It’s a feast for the eyes and mind and I’ve never left a Dec Fair without buying at least one thing”.
“[It’s] not just the passion of the dealers who attend, which they are so keen to share, but also the passion the objects and the displays that they make up inspire in me.”
The fair presents visitors the opportunity to introduce history to one’s home. This can be in the form of layering textiles and tapestries from distant shores, which can work in period properties or in modern ones to create that comforting look. Alternatively, it could be by way of garden furniture, looking towards summer in particular. Nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century antique garden dining furniture and bistro sets continue to remain in fashion and see high demand.
Or maybe it’s simply comfort you’re after. If these past couple of years have proven anything, it’s that turning a house into a cosy, well-functioning and beautiful home is an absolute must.