Haughton's "Art Antiques London" Lecture Program

A Huge Draw for Collectors and Scholars

Fair Announces Details of its Distinguished Lecture Series for June 2011

Kensington Gardens provides the stunning backdrop to Art Antiques London, which runs from 9-15 June 2010.   Now in its second year, the fair is aimed at the collector and connoisseur and incorporates The International Ceramics Fair and Seminar, which, this year, celebrates its 30th anniversary.

A unique feature of Art Antiques London is its learned lecture series, which makes the Fair an important destination for international collectors and institutions.  The 2011 lecture series runs from 9th – 13th June and is held in a specially built lecture hall.   In 2010, the lecture programme was praised by both academics and collectors for the varied and interesting series of lectures that took place during the Fair. 

The lectures, which are wide ranging, include a fascinating talk by Dr Ekaterina Khmelnitskaya, the curator of Russian Porcelain at The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, entitled “The glamorous age of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna”. The reign of Empress Elizabeth is one of the most colourful in the history of artistic life in Russia. She was trained in foreign languages, dance, courtly manners and how to entertain. In order to keep up with her European counterparts, the Empress wished to begin manufacturing porcelain in Russia.  The Imperial Porcelain Works was established in 1744.  The newly manufactured Russian-made porcelain pleased her enormously and it became the undisputed adornment both of her everyday life and during the grandiose festivities in the Winter Palace and in her favourite summer residence of Tsarskoe Selo.  The lecture is designed, like Elizabeth herself, to entertain and enthral us.

Ceramic artist, Kate Malone, discusses many aspects of and inspirations for her own work in a lecture entitled: “Sauce or Source”.  Kate’s work is inspired by history, exotic travel, the growth patterns and the ripeness of nature. Her use of strong colours and sumptuous crystalline glazes all communicate a ‘feel good factor', through optimistic cladding of her forms and abundant sculptural detail.  By taking a specific detail directly from a ceiling panel, or mixing Venetian glass buttons on a drinking glass, with sugar-candy sweets to create a new surface decoration, Malone asks herself: is this ‘a sauce' or is it ‘source'? Whichever it is does not matter she argues, as she feels liberated to be able to ‘pick & mix' from Life or History.  Kate feels that we are all free to draw things from life together in our own way and mix our own sauce.

The survival of so much silver made over the past three centuries is as gratifying to collectors, dealers and auctioneers as it is to scholars.  In his talk Selling Silver. Three Centuries' Promotion By Goldsmiths Of Their Trade, From The Late 17th To The 20th Century, John Culme, author and silver consultant, will explore the manner in which the makers and sellers of silver and silver plated wares reached their market. It also examines how the many branches of the trade connected and kept in touch with each other through the agency of specialist publications and travellers in a way quite unsuspected by the buying public.

Maureen Cassidy-Gieger, an educator, curator and author will give a lecture entitled Fragile Cargo: In Pursuit of a Prince and his Porcelain, in which she describes the Italian Grand Tour of Crown Prince Friedrich Christian of Saxony/Poland in 1738-1740. The journey is well documented in despatches, and unusually, also by the prince himself in the form of travel diaries. Along with his 13 year old sister Maria Amalia, the prince and royal party travelled from Dresden to Naples in early summer 1738 on a challenging overland route where Maria Amalia was due to meet her husband, Charles of Bourbon, King of Naples and Sicily. The lecture title refers to the royal children, who arrived safely in Italy 39 days after leaving Dresden, and their Meissen porcelain, which unfortunately met another fate in transit by sea.  Maureen Cassidy Geiger followed the same route by car in 2010, and discusses how her experience developed a greater understanding of the royal tour and gives fascinating insights into the logistics of royal travel and the education of a vulnerable boy intended to be a future king.

Art Antiques London

Art Antiques London is held in a beautiful custom-built marquee opposite the Royal Albert Hall, adjacent to the site of the Great Exhibition of 1851.  The Fair’s participants are leading specialists in a wide range of disciplines, including furniture, paintings, jewellery, clocks, textiles, silver and ceramics, as well as rare books and modern and contemporary objet d’art.  Every object exhibited at the Fair is rigorously examined and vetted for quality and authenticity, so collectors can be assured they can buy with confidence.

This year the First Night Party will be in support of Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) which was founded in 1955 as the UK Branch of the International Social Service global network of over 130 national agencies who work to promote and protect the rights and welfare of children across international borders. The First Night Party will take place on the 8 June and will take the form of a cocktail party followed by a dinner.

Full Lecture Programme

A1 Thursday 9th June, 12.00pm - 1.00pm

SPRIMONT'S COMPLAINT: BUYING AND SELLING CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN IN LONDON 1730-1775

PATRICIA FERGUSON - Independent Researcher 

A2 Thursday 9th June, 2.45pm - 3.45pm

FRAGILE CARGO: IN PURSUIT OF A PRINCE AND HIS PORCELAIN

MAUREEN CASSIDY-GEIGER - Educator, Curator and Author

  A3 Thursday 9th June, 4.30pm - 5.30pm

SAUCE OR SOURCE

KATE MALONE- Contemporary potter

  B1 Friday 10th June, 12.00pm - 1.00pm

SCULPTURAL COLOUR AT SÈVRES

TAMARA PRÉAUD - former archivist of the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres

  B2 Friday 10th June, 2.45pm - 3.45pm

THE GLAMOROUS AGE OF EMPRESS ELIZABETH PETROVNA

DR EKATERINA KHMELNITSKAYA - Curator of Russian Porcelain, The State Hermitage Museum

  B3 Friday 10th June, 4.30pm - 5.30pm

TANTALISING TIN-GLAZE & PROLIFIC PORCELAIN - RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS OF CERAMICS FROM LONDON

JACQUI PEARCE FSA MIFA - Specialist in Medieval and Later Ceramics, Museum of London

  C2 Saturday 11th June, 2.45pm - 3.45pm

A DETECTIVE STORY: MEISSEN PORCELAINS COPYING EAST ASIAN MODELS. FAKES OR ORIGINALS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT?

JULIA WEBER - Scientific assistant at the Bavarian National Museum, Munich  

  C3 Saturday 11th June,  4.30pm - 5.30pm

A TASTE OF DISTINCTION: ELECTOR MAX EMANUEL'S COLLECTION OF PORCELAIN MOUNTED IN PARIS

DR MAX TILLMANN - Art Historian and Lecturer     

D2 Sunday 12th June, 2.45pm - 3.45pm

MANIFICENT FAIENCE AND REDISCOVERED PORCELAIN MASTERPIECES AT THE ROUEN MUSEUM

AUDREY GAY-MAZUEL - Chief Curator Musée de la Ceramique, Rouen

  D3 Sunday 12th June, 4.30pm - 5.30pm                  

THE FRENCH INTERIOR REVEALED

JOHN WHITEHEAD - Dealer and Author

  E2 Monday 13th June, 2.45pm - 3.45pm

"VALHALLA-ON-TRENT": TRENTHAM HALL AS A MEETING PLACE OF THE SCULPTURAL WORLDS OF ROME AND PARIS WITH THE MID-VICTORIAN CERAMIC INDUSTRY.

DR PHILIP WARD-JACKSON - Art Historian and Author

E3 Monday 13th June, 4.30pm - 5.30pm

SELLING SILVER. THREE CENTURIES' PROMOTION BY GOLDSMITHS OF THEIR TRADE, FROM THE LATE 17TH to THE 20TH CENTURY

JOHN CULME - Silver Consultant and author

For further information and visuals:

Abi Gold/Diana Cawdell

Cawdell Douglas

10-11 Lower John Street

London W1F 9EB

T:  + 44 (0)20 7439 2822

E:  press@cawdelldouglas.com

W : www.cawdelldouglas.com

US Press: Magda Grigorian

T: (212) 877-0202

E: Haughton.ny@prodigy.net

Notes to Editors

The lectures will be held in the Lecture Theatre within the Fair

Tickets for the lectures can be purchased from the Art Antiques London website www.haughton.com. Alternatively, you can book by telephone on +44 (0) 20 7389 6555 or by email to info@haughton.com.

All Lectures: £15 per person. Lecture ticket permits entry to the Fair

Payment by cheque/draft must be in STERLING and made payable to ICFS Ltd. (Please send with stamped self-addressed envelope to:

ICFS Ltd

15 Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6DB

Fax to +44 (0)20 7389 6556   Email: info@haughton.com

Address: Albert Memorial West Lawn, Kensington Gardens, Queen's Gate, Kensington Gore, London, SW7, UK

9-15 June 2011 Preview: 8 June 2011

The West Lawn is next to the The Albert Memorial and directly opposite The Royal Albert Hall.

Tel: + 44 (0)20 7389 6555  Fax: + 44 (0)20 7389 6556 Opening Times : Daily, 11am – 7pm, except Sunday and last day 11am – 6pm. General Admission: £15.