It’s time to rethink and reset your best gift idea goals! Go antiquing at Christmas and choose to buy sustainable presents – no wasteful packaging, low carbon footprint, one-off items, and you can develop your eye for great designs from the past at the same time. Why not show off your green credentials, as well as supporting small and independent business. Luxury is rarity. With a Christmas vintage or antique purchase imbued with history and craftsmanship you can offer a unique gift.
Justin Evershed-Martin stand
There’s nothing better than browsing in person for that perfect present. Why not visit some of our Decorative Fair dealers and experience their gorgeous shops filled with Christmas antiques ideas and festive treasures. Great places to go to in London are Church Street, Marylebone NW8 just off Lisson Grove or Lillie Road, Fulham SW6 to find a concentration of dealers.
In Church Street you will find plenty of Decorative Fair dealers, such as Nick Jones with 18th to 20th century furniture, mirrors, lighting & accessories; James Worrall with 20th century and antique furniture, lighting and mirrors; Living in Style with mid-century modern and deco furniture and artworks; Dorian Caffot de Fawes with elegant 1940s and later French style; Schmid McDonagh with modern works of art and furniture; Interior Boutiques (based at Marylebone Antiques) with a wide variety of everything, and Aaron Nejad Gallery, the carpet and textiles specialist who is also the organiser of the LARTA rug fair, held up on the mezzanine of the Winter Decorative Fair in Battersea.
Nick Jones stand
In leafy Fulham, West London, the Lillie Road Arts & Antiques Quarter is a collection of 22 shops that’s the perfect destination for antiquing at Christmas. The shops there offer a huge range of decorative antiques and art from every period and for every home. In a single location, with over 16,000 square ft retail showroom space and collectively over 4,500 items of constantly changing stock, Lillie Road has long been a go-to location for sourcing unusual, distinctive and stylish items and Christmas antiques for gifting.
Phil Taylor’s Cool Stuff shop on Lillie Road
There’s a real affinity between the dealers of Lillie Road and the Decorative Fair. Regular exhibitors include: 900 Art & Design (20th century Scandinavian design and Italian art), DJ Green Eclectic (antiques, decorative arts and 20th century), Henry Saywell with art and antiques, Il Paralume (fine Italian design), M. Charpentier (painted and decorative pieces), Quindry (primarily French 20th century design), Phil Taylor’s Cool Stuff (mid-century and industrial lighting, furniture, aeronautical antique posters), Sam Kohn Fine Living (decorative and stylish pieces from all periods). There’s also Streett Marburg with fine decorative antiques and design and Streett’s partner, Charlotte Casadéjus who has a flair for antique textiles, using French embroidery and linens to create cushions and bolsters. Her monogrammed cushion and pillow covers make a very special Christmas antique gift.
As well as a wide selection of unique vintage objects, many of the shops also stock artisan crafted homeware and giftware which make ideal stocking fillers. Between now and Christmas, Lillie Road is hosting special trade Thursdays, with a touch of Christmas cheer. Visitors, including trade professionals, are guaranteed a warm welcome, a mince pie and a glass of something cheering.
Streett Marburg & Charlotte Casadéjus stand
The east side of London with its edgy bars and trendy eateries isn’t always the first place you’d think of for Christmas antiques shopping, but vintage and pre-loved are more in demand these days in this neck of the city. The area due north of Liverpool Street station encompasses parts of now-fashionable Hackney, including Shoreditch and Dalston, and west of these is Islington, De Beauvoir and Stoke Newington. Although the once-famed Camden Passage off Islington High Street near the Angel tube is still home to a decent handful of antiques dealers (10 years ago it was nothing but antiques, now somewhat overtaken by fashion outlets and beauty retailers), you need to wander a bit to find choice antiques and vintage stores. But they are here! Cal Smith Gallery, who specializes in Modernist and Brutalist artworks with a particular focus on relief wall sculptures (he is also a trained restorer and conservation framing expert) has recently joined the Fair as an exhibitor. He’s based in Shacklewell Lane, Dalston. Near to him is a contemporary art gallery, the DIY Art Shop. Regular ‘flea’ markets are run locally at the Abney Hall and EartH venues in Stoke Newington, which also has plenty of independent shops for Christmas antiques and present ideas. Whilst the days of stumbling across an Old Curiosity type antiques shop or house clearance yard may have long gone since Hackney came up in the world, there are now some excellent home and interiors shops. On Hackney Road close to Shoreditch you will find M. Goldstein who are regular exhibitors at the Fair, plus other new and vintage places great for Christmas antiques shopping. Oh and Columbia Road of course is always worth a visit, especially when the flower market is on.
Cal Smith Gallery shop
Pimlico Road is a plummy place to admire the grand shops and interior stores. Fewer antiques dealers there nowadays, but still home to a few including Timothy Langston Fine Art & Antiques and Christopher Butterworth Antiques (although worth calling ahead to make an appointment). And Portobello is still London’s greatest antiques market – Fridays and Saturdays, early morning, are the best times to go. Decorative Fair dealers to be found there include David Levi Antiques with folk art, treen and interesting antique objects; Don Kelly Books for fantastic art, design and architecture books and Su Mason for antique and vintage textiles, workwear and one-off accessories.
Christopher Butterworth stand
The section of Kings Road after it passes Lots Road heading west is still well-served by antiques shops; but don’t miss Ed Butcher (great for lamps, mirrors, and 20th century furniture) in Lots Road itself, and on the corner, the Furniture Cave is home to Hatchwell Antiques (fantastic selection of scientific and aeronautical pieces) and others.
Ed Butcher stand
There are few places as atmospheric as Cecil Court, a short pedestrian street between Covent Garden and Leicester Square. It still has Victorian gas-lit street lamps and although once a thriving centre of the second-hand book trade, it is now making a name for itself as an art and antiques destination as well. Antiquing here in December is heavenly, especially after dusk with lit-up windows and the gentle glow of gaslight – very Dickensian Christmas shopping. Panter & Hall Decorative has their art gallery here filled with affordable pictures, while Darnley Fine Art covers a breadth of fine traditional art from Old Master portraits to leading 20th century artists. There’s also a fantastic shop selling costume vintage jewellery, much of it designed and made for wearing in theatre productions – a window full of sparkle!
Darnley Fine Art stand
Finally, if you are braving Bond Street or Oxford Street for your Christmas shopping, step off the bustling pavements and in to Grays Antiques, just next to Bond Street tube station, a centre filled to bursting with dozens of dealers selling vintage jewellery, luxury vintage accessories, small Christmas antiques and collectables, and the finest antique jewellery by famous makers such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, et al. Make a beeline for Anthea A G Antiques and enjoy the glamour.
Gray’s Antiques
However – if you are pushed for time and prefer to shop online, The Decorative Fair has a showroom window on the website featuring stock for sale from many exhibitors at our three annual Fairs. On the Shop Decorative pages you will find vintage jewellery and vintage handbags from couture houses, formal and decorated furniture, affordable art, and plenty of interesting objects and accessories that would make thoughtful and useful gifts.
Tribal Art & Textiles stand
