Buying in the UK is becoming increasingly difficult for Irish dealers given the strength of sterling, but the major antiques dealers' fairs in London still attract a good number of buyers from here.
LAPADA, the largest British association of antiques dealers, is holding its annual fair as usual at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, where it runs from October 12th-17th. There will be more than 60 exhibitors from around the UK and prices from under £100 to over £250,000.
Look out for modern classics such as a pair of 1930s plywood chairs by Alvar Aalto (£550 sterling), or a silver shell form tazza by the great Danish designer Georg Jensen (£5,000 sterling). Reindeer Antiques of Pottersby, Northamptonshire, has some fine Georgian furniture, including an Irish George I walnut tallboy dating from about 1720, with a provenance linking it to Malahide Castle.
THE October National Book Fair takes place tomorrow at the Royal Dublin Society, with its usual mix of dealers from around Ireland, including Schull Books, William Harshaw from Co Antrim and Boro Books from Wicklow. Barrow Books, newcomers to the fair, will offer a selection of Seamus Heaney first editions. Doors open at 11 a.m.
Antique toys and vintage light fixtures will be among the items on sale tomorrow at an antiques and collectables fair at the Orwell Lodge Hotel in Rathgar, Dublin, from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
