The Fun Of The Fair

Hunt down distinguished antiques and fine art at Winter Olympia.

The Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia, from 6th to 12th November 2006, is a long-standing, glamorous annual event as well as the only fair of its calibre at this time of the year. Positioned at the beginning of the Christmas party season, and now in its 14th year, the fair is now renowned for its exceptionally fine furniture, art and traditional antiques. 240 top English and International dealers will be exhibiting furniture, paintings, glassware, ceramics, textiles, clocks, prints, sculpture, Asian Art, lighting, Art Deco, jewellery, mirrors and maps.

One of the most valuable pieces at the fair this Winter is the exquisite tapestry, Greenery, 1892, exhibited by Peter Petrou. The tapestry was designed by William Morris and John Henry Dearle to hang in the Great Hall at Clouds, the country house near Salisbury built by Percy and Madeline Wyndham, and designed by architect Philip Webb. It was woven at Merton Abbey by John Martin and William Sleath and will be on sale at the Winter Olympia Fair for £750,000. The tapestry, measuring 473 by 214cm, depicts a fox, deer and hares and is woven in coloured wool and mohair with a blue guard. The inscriptions are an extract from the poem The Forest from Verses for Pictures which Morris wrote in 1891 as part of his series Poems by the Way. Another version of the tapestry was commissioned 23 years later in 1915 by Edward C. Moore, a Director and Chief Designer at Tiffany & Co, who then donated it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1923, where it can be seen today.

Silver specialist, Sanda Lipton, will bring the Honour Medal for Imprisonment, which was presented to Emmeline Pankhurst by the Women's Social & Political Union in 1908. Emmeline Pankhurst was the instigator and founder of the suffragette movement which led to the most important social reform of the 20th century - votes for women. On 8 October 1908, police raided the offices of the Women's Social & Political Union in London and handbills were discovered which led to the arrest and imprisonment of Emmeline Pankhurst. Mrs Pankhurst's medal carries the bars for Holloway Prison and the date of the raid, 8 October 1908. The letters stamped on one side of the medal indicate that she was confined in Hospital Wing 2, Cell 4 due to the fact that she was on hunger strike. Suffragette medals for Imprisonment are extremely rare, only one other example, awarded to Constance Lytton, is known.

Celebrity provenance takes centre stage through furniture dealer William Cook. Highlights include a George III mahogany Hepplewhite chair, 1780, that was formally the property of the Oscar winning actor Sir John Mills, and a Regency Canterbury that was the property of Sir Yehudi Menuhin, one of the most famous musicians of the 20th century. The rosewood Canterbury, c.1820 with carved laurel wreath theme, was originally used for the storage of sheet music. Cumbrian based dealer, Anthemion will show an exceptional George III mahogany oval wine cooler attributed to Gillows.

Belgium dealer, Mullendorff Antiques will exhibit the bronze, Génie gardant les secrets de la tombe by Charles René de Saint-Marceaux. The bronze is a smaller cast of the original life-size marble sculpture by St Marceaux found in the Musée d'Orsay which was executed in 1873-74. The bronze, measuring 69cm in height, was made by Susse and shown at the 1893 Chicago International Exhibition.

Brian Watson will bring an intriguing selection of sulphides, which are porcelain portraits encased in glass, to the Fair. This collection includes a rare sulphide of William Roscoe (d.1831), one of the most important figures in Liverpool's history. He was involved in the anti-slavery movement as well as being a literary and commercial figure and an MP for Liverpool. The unusual sulphide of Roscoe is mounted as a brooch. A rare enamel of the English astronomer, Edmond Halley, discoverer of Halley's Comet, will be exhibited by portrait miniature specialist Ellison Fine Art. Executed by Noah Seeman and dated 1723, the enamel is priced at £8500.

International dealer, Berko Fine Art will show an exquisite pastel on canvas entitled In Love, 1891, by Belgium artist Floris Van Acker. Elizabeth Harvey-Lee, specialist in artists' original prints, has a wide variety of original prints from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Works include prints by Mily Possoz, the 20th century Portuguese artist of Belgian descent who was heavily influenced by Cubism and the work of Modigliani, an original wood egraving by the English artist Cynthia Burnley who was also influenced by Cubism and an original etching by the French 17th century artist, Abraham Bosse.

Important pieces of jewellery by named makers can be found on the stand of Peter Edwards. Highlights include an 18ct grey gold and platinum bracelet, set with brilliant and baguette cut diamonds and a central aquamarine by Paul Flato, New York, c1935. Designs by Boucheron, and Van Cleef & Arpels will also be found at the fair. Other jewellery dealers include Athena A G Antiques and Wimpole Antiques.

Visitors can be reassured by the fact that every item has been checked for authenticity by over 100 experts across 28 categories.

Corfield Morris, Advisors in Antiques and Fine Art will be available to help visitors and VIPs make the best selection of the applied art, antique furniture, silver and jewellery at the Fair. International market leaders and specialists Tim Corfield, Daniel Morris and Martyn Downer - the latter both former Sotheby's directors - will counsel visitors on the best investments to be found at Olympia while providing impartial advice on purchases. Professional art consultant and writer Tania Pos will also be available throughout the fair to provide a specialist personal shopping service. Involved in the Frieze fair VIP programme, Tania is well connected in the art world and works regularly with private banks, public collections and int

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