THE EXHIBITORS 2008
Bazaart, UK:
London dealer Justin Raccanello is one of the world’s leading dealers in
rare, early Italian maiolica. His stock ranges over Italian ceramics
from the 15th century to contemporary, examples of which are
all on view at the fair.
Dragesco-Cramoisan, France: Paris-based dealers Bernard Dragesco and Didier Cramoisan specialise in museum quality French porcelain and European glass. As an art historian, Bernard Dragesco lectures regularly on the Continent, in England and in the United States. His research achievements include the identification of the elusive English “Girl In a Swing” porcelain factory as that of Charles Gouyn in St. James’s, London. He also discovered that the fabled Sèvres “crescent” bird painter was in fact Louis-Denis Armand l’aîné. In 2007, the French Minister for Culture promoted Bernard Dragesco to the rank of Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Brian Haughton Antiques, UK: Brian Haughton started as a ceramics dealer in 1965, going on to found The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar in London, as well as four fairs in New York (The International Art + Design Fair, The International Fine Art & Antique Dealers Show, The International Asian Art Fair and The International Fine Art Fair) and the latest venture, Art and Antiques Dubai, which was launched in February this year. He specialises in the finest 18th and 19th century English and Continental porcelain and pottery and contributes to some of the world’s leading private collections. He also supplies museums. Catalogues are published annually.
Daniela
Kumpf Kunsthandel, Germany: “The
excitement of grasping a wonderful pot”: Daniela Kumpf decided 35 years ago
to make a profession from a passion. Although her special interest remains
the rare and lesser known small German porcelain manufactories she
nevertheless maintains her passion for Meissen and the other German and
Austrian greats. Leading a “ceramic-ly” joyful and peripatetic life she has
advised and sold to museums and private collectors the world over.
Elfriede Langeloh, Germany:
Elfriede Langeloh, founded in 1919, is now in its third generation run by
Friedel Kirsch. From the outset the business has specialised in the 18th
century with the focus on porcelain and faience. The Langeloh business was
located in Cologne for some 60 years before relocating in the 1980s to its
current location in Weinheim, near Heidelberg. Visitors are welcome, but by
appointment. The gallery specialises in important Meissen porcelain and the
creations of smaller manufactures, concentrating on the early production of
the factories. Friedel Kirsch started her career in a modern art gallery
and has been in the antique business since 1961. She is a member of the
Board of the Deutsche Kunsthändler Verband (DK), co-founder and trustee of
the antique fair Schloss Schetzingen (near Heidelberg) and is on the vetting
committees at several German antique fairs.
E. & H.
Manners, UK:
After
working at Christies, Errol Manners set up his own business in 1986
dealing in a wide range of 16th-early 19th century European ceramics and
specialising in rare 18th century porcelain. He lectures widely and has
been closely involved with the French Porcelain Society; he organised
their seminar on Sèvres porcelain in September 2005. Publications
include: The Ceramic Source Book, Quarto, 1990; Dutch 'Fine
Line' and German
Schwarzlot Decoration,
Transactions of The Oriental Ceramic Society, volume 65, 2000-2001; A
documentary Girl-in-a-Swing Seal and other considerations on the
porcelain of Charles Gouyn's factory and The English Decoration
of Oriental Porcelain, Some overlooked groups 1700 -1750. He is
programme adviser to the Ceramics Conservation Course at West Dean
College.
Christophe Perlès, France: Since 1987, Christophe Perlès’s Paris gallery has specialised in Continental European ceramics, showing a selection of faience and porcelain from the late 15th to early 19th century. A catalogue is published annually in June, while more than 150 pieces are permanently on view via the website.
Potterton Books, UK: Established by Clare Jameson 26 years ago, as international specialist booksellers of new titles and unusual out of print books from around the world, Potterton Books has also become a leading source for all those interested in design worldwide, including architecture, design and decoration, the fine and decorative arts. With the increasing interest in the 20th century they have also acquired specialist books in this area.
Robyn
Robb, UK:
In 1982 Robyn Robb joined Albert Amor and remained there
until 1989 when she set up her own business specialising in fine 18th
century English porcelain. In 2003 her first selling exhibition, which
featured rare pieces from Anthony Wood’s superb collection of porcelain
decorated in the atelier of James Giles, which was a sell-out. Her 2005
exhibition featured outstanding early Worcester from the first decade of
the factory, including some unrecorded pieces, both polychrome and blue
and white, as well as some extremely rare Chelsea. This year’s
exhibition once again includes superb porcelain decorated in the Giles
atelier as well as an unrecorded Bow basket painted by James Welsh and
some very rare figures.
Sampson &
Horne, UK:
Jonathan
Horne is a specialist in early English pottery, (Medieval pottery,
English delftware, tiles, slipware, brown and white saltglaze, pearlware,
coloured glazed and enamelled figures up to circa 1830), his knowledge
and expertise being sought by museums and collectors worldwide. He has
written a number of books on the subject and published various reference
works relating to his special subject. In August 2006, Jonathan
Horne merged with Alistair Sampson Antiques, the renowned West End
dealers in English pottery, oak, fine country furniture, metalware and
needlework, to create, in conjunction with Christopher Banks, a new
business trading from Alistair Sampson Antiques’s existing premises at
120 Mount Street, London, W1, under the name Sampson & Horne. In
2005 Jonathan Horne was one of the founders of the new Guild of Arts
Scholars Dealers and Collectors which has been set up to bring together
all those involved in the study, custodianship, collection of and trade
in the decorative arts and related services.
Adrian
Sassoon, UK:
Adrian Sassoon is a
major international dealer and authority on important Continental
porcelain, in particular Sèvres
porcelain, as well as contemporary British Studio ceramics and glass. He
is a Trustee of the Wallace Collection, London. At the 2001
International Ceramics Fair & Seminar he curated the loan exhibition
of Vincennes and Sèvres Porcelain. His publications include A
Handbook Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum
and Catalogue of Vincennes and
Sèvres Porcelain in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1991. He was
joined in 2003 by Clare Beck and in 2006 by Kathleen Slater, both
formerly of the Crafts Council of England. They have many years of
experience exhibiting
contemporary British ceramics and glass in the UK and abroad. They also
organised the Crafts Council's presentations at The International
Ceramics Fair and Seminar in 1998 and 1999.
Special Focus for 2008:
Angela Jarman – Glass. Thursday 12 June: 11.00am -5.00pm, Angela Jarman
will be on the stand to talk informally about her work.
Christopher Sheppard: Recognised authority and leading dealer in
English, Continental, ancient, classical and Islamic glass, he has
supplied many leading museums including the British Museum, the Victoria
& Albert Museum, the Corning Museum of Glass, as well as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art and private collections over many years. He
has written a number of books on the subject and contributed to
Sotheby's Concise Encyclopaedia of Glass.
John P. Smith, UK: John Smith has been dealing in glass since the 1970s. In 2005 he retired from a leading firm of Bond Street antique dealers, took a year's sabbatical, and has now returned to the art world under his own name. He is closely involved with several national and international glass organisations and continues to lecture widely, his last two papers being given in Istanbul and Toronto. He has written books and articles on various subjects, such as chandeliers, the Birmingham firm of F. & C. Osler, James and William Tassie and the Cloud Glass of George Davidson. He is also interested in contemporary glass and has organised exhibitions by such leading artists as Danny Lane, Simon Whistler and James Denison-Pender. Although he has dealt in European glass from 1500 onwards, his first love remains English glass of the second half of the 19th century, when, with the exception of Gallé, most of the great glass artists were born or settled in England.
Steppes Hill Farm Antiques, UK:
William Buck of
Steppes Hill has been dealing in 18th and early 19th
century English porcelain for over 40 years.
He has put together many private collections all over the world and
given many lectures. He is a
long-term senior member of the British Antique Dealers Association, having
been Country Vice Chairman for the past few years and South East Regional
Representative for over 20 years.
John Whitehead, France:
John Whitehead has been a specialist dealer in French 18th
century works of art, with an emphasis on Sèvres porcelain, for over 20
years. As a scholar, he is best known for The French Interior in the
Eighteenth Century (1992). He has also produced articles on, among
others, the marchands-merciers of 18th century Paris,
the porcelain collections of the Grand Dauphin, the porcelain collection
of the Regent, William Beckford’s lacquer, Japanese lacquer and French
furniture, and a variety of Sèvres-related subjects.