The Gentleman Magazine Issue 20 | April 2020 | Page 74

THE PETWORTH PARK ANTIQUES & FINE ART FAIR
Friday 15 - Sunday 17 May 2020
'The Abbey Gatehouse, Battle Abbey, Sussex' by John Inigo Richards, R.A., F.S.A. (1731-1810), signed watercolour on laid paper
with a partial watermark, 1792, 8¼" x 19½", 1792, £2,500 from Karen Taylor Fine Art
Exciting plans are in the pipeline for many of the dealers
exhibiting at this year’s Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art
Fair, Petworth House and Park in Petworth, West Sussex GU28
0QY from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 May 2020. Organised by The
Antiques Dealers Fair Limited, the event takes place in a
specially erected marquee in the 700-acre deer park where
some 60 dealers are gathering to stage a diverse and enticing
array of traditional and contemporary paintings and sculpture;
jewellery; clocks and vintage watches; glass; silver; ceramics;
historical medals; antique enamels; traditional, mid-century
and Art Deco furniture, lighting and objets d’art. A feast for
interior design enthusiasts, collectors and visitors looking for
an entertaining day out.
As Petworth House and Park is looked after by the National
Trust, the fair admits National Trust members free of charge.
In a reciprocal arrangement, during the three days of the fair,
antiques fair ticket holders are kindly given complimentary
access to enjoy the nation’s art treasures on display in the
mansion and access to the Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown
landscaped grounds that inspired such art luminaries as JMW
Turner.
Newcomers exhibiting at the fair include Elaine Phillips
Antiques, one of the best regarded antique oak furniture
dealers from the north of England. Other new exhibitors
include Burlington bringing fine 19th and 20th century British
and European paintings; Karen Taylor Fine Art and Tom Rooth
Fine Art, both specialists in British and European art from the
18th century to the present day; and Timothy Millett Ltd who
has dealt in historical medals and works of art for the last 35
years.
A fascinating area of collectibles is historical medals enabling
people to follow history through objects or a theme that ties in
with their particular interest. Timothy Millett Ltd is probably
the leading specialist in this area and his stand is a treasure
trove of yesteryear. An extremely rare medal that is bound to
attract a lot of attention is the commemorative medal made for
the defeat of the Spanish Armada, dated 1588. The obverse
records the destruction of the Armada being driven onto the
rocks while the reverse sarcastically satirises the vain attempts
of the Pope, the Emperor Philip II, the Duke of Guise and other
princes who had formed a confederacy against Elizabeth I.
This medal, of which there are relatively few known, would
have been produced at the time purely as propaganda, being
handed out as a diplomatic gift to the protestant hierarchy. The
price for this piece of history dating back to the 16th century is
£1,250.
Dealers are often on the look out for pieces with a local
connection or provenance to the vicinity. Some interesting
finds include a watercolour of Battle Abbey by John Inigo
Richards (1731-1810) priced at £2,500 from Karen Taylor Fine
Art. The watercolour is inscribed ‘outside gate Battle Abbey
1792’. Battle Abbey, a partially ruined Benedictine Abbey
founded by William the Conqueror was built on the site of the
Battle of Hastings at Senlac Hill. Today the Tudor manor house,
built on the site by Sir Anthony Browne at the time of the
dissolution of the monasteries, is occupied by Battle Abbey
School. On the stand will also be a watercolour by Paul Sandby
RA (1731-1809) of A View of Tunbridge, Kent inscribed and
dated Tunbridge 1788. This delightful view of Tonbridge (the
town of bridges) shows the Great Bridge over the river Tunn
with the keep of Tonbridge Castle in the background (POA).