A Cartier silver cigarette case with its red leather presentation case both bearing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s crest, 1960, POA from T Robert

Over the weekend of Her Majesty The Queen’s official 90th birthday, The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited returns to stage The Antiques & Fine Art Fair at Harewood. Supported by Knight Frank Harrogate, the fair opens in The Marquee, Harewood House, Harewood, near Leeds, West Yorkshire LS17 9LQ from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 June 2016 in the spectacular Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown landscape in which Harewood House nestles.

To mark the royal birthday, exhibitors are bringing items with regal connections. T Robert has a Cartier silver cigarette case, in its red Cartier box, both complete with the royal crown insignia.  Presumably this was presented to someone by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, but it appears it has never been used, as it is in mint condition, POA. Mark J West is bringing a pair of Royal Brierley Crystal presentation goblets made to commemorate the 1937 coronation of the Queen’s father, King George VI, priced at £500 the pair. These would have been made rather hurriedly, following the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII.

English enamel patch box depicting Princess Charlotte, c1816-17, £895 from JA Yarwood Antiques

A regal name in vogue at the moment is Princess Charlotte. New exhibitor JA Yarwood Antiques, from Skipton, has an early 19th century English enamel patch box, c1816, priced at £895. This rare box depicts Charlotte, Princess Royal (1766-1828), eldest daughter of King George III, who married Prince Frederick of Württemberg. Another royal piece, an exceptionally rare pressed horn snuff box, has a lid modelled after the portrait of George I, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, which still bears traces of the original gilding, c1714-27, selling for £765.

Historic document fragment with the signatures of four of King Charles I’s regicides, £575 from Odyssey

Antiquities specialist Odyssey is bringing an impressive selection of royal autographs, all beautifully framed, such as King George V’s signature, £90; King Edward VIII’s, dated 1920 when he was still the Prince of Wales, £120 and also one from Prince Frederick, Duke of York, second son of King George III, £110.  Prince Frederick was the famous Grand Old Duke of York and was responsible for licking the army into shape by forced marches and endless drills, immortalised in the well-known rhyme. More gruesome, but an important piece of history, is a document fragment  bearing the signatures of four of King Charles I’s ‘regicides’, two of which signed the Warrant of Execution and two of the trial judges, together with the full biography of each person, priced at £575.

From Freshfords Fine Antiques comes a Regency George IV amboyna and rosewood side table, attributable to Morel and Seddon, c1826, £14,860. George Seddon formed a partnership with cabinetmaker and upholsterer Nicholas Morel to fulfil one of their contracts: to make furniture for Windsor Castle. They worked almost exclusively for the crown, particularly at Windsor, but also at other royal residences.

Ingrid Nilson, director of The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited said, “At this year’s fair, we are launching an affiliation with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), the charitable arm of the Royal Warrant Holders Association, that funds the education of talented craftspeople through traditional college courses, apprenticeships or one-on-one training with masters. This will be ongoing with our fairs well into the future.”

First time exhibitors, amongst the 30 stands, this year include Lancashire based jewellery specialists Howell 1870, vintage watch dealer Timewise and Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts from London and JA Yarwood Antiques, who are joining other returning Yorkshire based dealers FJ & RD Story Antique Clocks, Jack Shaw & Co, Nicholas Daly Books and TL Phelps Fine Furniture Restoration, as well as others from the length and breadth of the country.

Tudor Crystal mosaic glass cream jug and sugar bowl with silver mounts, London 1921, £760 the pair from Mark J West

As we head into the English summer of strawberries and cream, Mark J West‘s Tudor Crystal mosaic glass cream jug and sugar bowl with silver mounts fits perfectly with its juicy red fruits hanging from green foliage, London 1921, £760 the pair. Ripe fruits often attract creepy crawlies, but people cannot fail to be charmed by the selection of gold and precious gem set insect brooches, c1895-1900, priced between £885 and £1,250 from T Robert.

Small maquette by Henry Moore, bronze, edition of 9, £61,360 from Richwood Fine Art

Other highlights to be found at this annual event include a small bronze maquette of a seated figure by Henry Moore (1898-1986), from the Marlborough show of 1963, 15cm high, edition of 9, 1960, priced at £61,360 from Richwood Fine Art and Oh Jane, it is Bad News, oil on canvas board by Helen Bradley (1900-1979), 15.25″ x 13.6″, £39,000, also from Richwood Fine Art. Helen Bradley neatly wrote a story for the grandchildren, which can still be found verso.

English double fusée bronze and ormolu mounted mantel clock by F Baetens, c1825, £5,950 from FJ & RD Story Antique Clocks

New exhibitor, Timewise, joins the fair with a selection of watches including a vintage Rolex Oyster Precision steel watch with a white dial in the sought-after ‘Explorer’ design, priced at £2,790. Sticking with timepieces, clocks always bring a room to life and FJ & RD Story Antique Clocks has a diverse collection catering for most tastes, amongst which is an English double fusée bronze and ormolu mounted mantel clock by F Baetens, London, c1825, priced at £5,950 and a fine quality figured walnut longcase clock by William Allam of London, c1750, £12,000. Examples of Allam’s work were exhibited at the Guildhall Museum in London, founded in 1826.

Dating back around 70 million years, the oldest piece to be found at the fair is a dinosaur egg, measuring around 15cm, £550 from antiquities dealer Odyssey. This impressive fossilised egg is from a Therizinosaurus, which roamed the earth during the late Cretaceous period.

Pair of Staffordshire pottery cockerels, 12” high, c1870, POA from Carolyn Stoddart-Scott

Jack Shaw & Co returns with a fine collection of silver, including a pair of French claret jugs by the renowned Parisian silversmith Emile Puiforcat, c1880, £4,500 and a pair of old Sheffield plate wine coolers, c1825, £3,500.  Ceramics specialist, Carolyn Stoddart-Scott always has a decorative mix of fine English and Continental pieces. Amongst the porcelain she is bringing is a pair of puce mark Derby plates with yellow border and sprig decoration, c1800, and a pair of 12 inch tall pottery cockerels, c1870, both POA. JA Yarwood Antiques is also showing a collection of fine quality Japanese items, including a late Edo – early Meiji period hand carved ivory netsuke showing Ashinaga and Tenaga, signed, Japan, c1860, £3,785.

Antiques fair ticket holders gain complimentary access to Harewood’s grounds, gardens and Below Stairs.  For £5 each, (saving £11.50 on an Adult Freedom ticket) fair visitors can upgrade to see the State Rooms and current exhibitions marking the 300th anniversary of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’s birth. Harewood House’s exhibitions and activities include The Art of Landscape which presents a full and fresh assessment of the cultural influence of the ‘Capability’ Brown design at Harewood.  Great Capabilities; a celebration of “Capability” Brown at Harewood takes place from 4 to 12 June, celebrating the achievements of the great landscape designer at Harewood in a series of walks, talks and exhibitions.

For those seeking advice about the care of antique furniture, look no further than T L Phelps Fine Furniture Restoration, the north Yorkshire based company that has been responsible for working on some of the Chippendale furniture and a dining table in Harewood House in the past. A current project includes tidying up the damaged polish on a grand sized dining table from a royal household, made by Holland & Sons, as well as some matching chairs and side tables.

Even the caterers, The Yorkshire Party Company, who are providing light refreshments in The Marquee, have been inspired by the royal birthday and ‘Capability’ Brown’s anniversary year. The fair is supported by Knight Frank, Masons Yorkshire Gin and Wilson Mitchell & Co. Ltd, senior partner practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management.

Read more about the Antiques Fair 

A huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes this winter and I am very much hoping it will bring some excellent, new things for you to see and do in the coming season. There has been so much change. Read on!

As 2016 marks the tercentenary of the birth of Capability Brown, we will be opening up the South Front to allow you to see the House and parkland from a different perspective. You will be able to have a closer look at the foundations of Gawthorpe Hall, the medieval manor which pre-dates Harewood House.

The House itself is naturally one of the best viewing platforms to see Brown’s amazing work. We will be making sure this is well interpreted through a series of exhibitions and displays providing both a historical and contemporary context. Please see inside for more details.

The House has been very busy over the winter period hosting a large ITV production. Filming is an important part of our income and we will have updates about what we’ve been working on this winter soon.

We have begun a three year programme of development in the Bird Garden which will re-launch this much loved area of Harewood.. We are developing a Himalayan theme within the bird collection and plan to introduce several bird species from the region later this season. This will sit very closely with the many plants, trees and shrubs that can be seen in our own Himalayan Garden. Alongside this work, we are creating a strong education and conservation message to best interpret the birds on display.

Across the wider Estate, Harewood has introduced many successful conservation initiatives. We felt it was important to show you some of these projects through fresh interpretation. Plans are in place to introduce this additional interpretation throughout the season. Restored areas of the Bird Garden will be devoted to indigenous species of birds, mammals and insects. We are also introducing a new minibeast trail too!

Not only will we be portraying our message about British wildlife, but also the importance of conservation worldwide. There will be a strong message about critically endangered species across the globe, and we will be advising visitors about how they can do their bit supporting animal conservation projects. Last but not least, our “old favourites”, the penguins, flamingos, owls and parrots will be better displayed and we will be telling you much more about them.

I hope that this project will create considerable interest and there will be opportunities for everyone, adults and school children, to get involved and engage with the Bird Garden at several levels.

For the first time we will be offering a Farm Experience geared to our younger visitors. There will be rabbits to pet, donkeys, goats and pigs, and maybe even alpacas! Please bring your children and grandchildren to see this exciting new attraction.

Our Visitor Information Centre and Visitor Experience Team are moving from the car park to the eastern side of the Courtyard where it will be co-located with the Gift Shop. The former space occupied by the Gift Shop will become overflow catering space on busy days. The Courtyard will be buzzing with things to see do and eat!

The old Information Centre is being redeveloped into an unmanned satellite Information Point which will be staffed on busy days. A new Yorkshire Dales ice cream kiosk is opening alongside the Yorkshire Larder and we hope that this will be popular with those who wish to picnic and play games on the North Front.

Our boat, The Capability, will be sailing again! Please check our website for details of the sailings.

There is much going on, exhibitions, events, new attractions, our second hand bookshop and last but not least the Adventure Playground. Please see inside this letter for the various details you may want and I really look forward to welcoming you back this year.

Harewood has been home to a deer park since the medieval era with three types of deer spread over 4,000 acres of land. There are approximately 155 Red, 45 Fallow and 45 Roe with the number fluctuating when the calves are born around June.

The Red deer is one of the largest deer species and, although they were once rare in parts of Europe, they were never closetoextinction. Successful reintroduction and conservation efforts, particularly within the UK, have resulted in an increase of Red deer populations. This species have varying colouration depending on the season and habitat in which they live, with grey or lighter colouration in winter and more reddish and darker coat colouration in the summer.

Native to Western Eurasia, the Fallow deer can be identified by its chestnut coat with white mottles in summer or by a much darker, unspotted coat in the winter. Fallow deer are widespread on the UK mainland and are present in most of England and Wales.

The Roe deer is relatively small with reddish and grey-brown colouring, and well adapted to cold environments. The roe deer is renowned for being very quick and graceful with very short antlers. The world-famous deer Bambi was based on a Roe deer but was changed to a White-Tailed deer upon its feature film adaptation.

Male deer cast antlers each year, usually in April, with the oldest deer’s casting their antlers first. Deer are herbivores meaning they eat fruits, acorns and nuts as well as grass and evergreen plants in the autumn and winter.

You can currently purchase venison from Home Park.

With its fresh make-over, new stock and designer interior, the shop isn’t about padded hangers and lavender bags.   Good on the eye, key brands are cleverly combined with local designers to give the shop a mix of must haves.  Gorgeous items include leading young artist Donna Wilson’s quirky creature furnishings, high quality meats farmed on the Harewood grounds, Sheffield based David Mellor’s exclusive tableware collection, sweet treats from Art of Mallows and Dixie Kitchen, and wine and beers, including Harewood’s very own Harewood Gold created from its home grown hops.

The Courtyard shop is under the successful and experienced direction of shop manager, Lynne Melton-Long, who specialises in high-end retail.  Lynne has succeeded in giving the shop a new lease of life. “Our vision is one of excellence; we’re really excited to stock some of the country’s best homewares and confectionaries supporting local farmers and designers.  We want the shopping experience at Harewood to be good on the eye as well as the tummy.  I’ve worked hard to source designer brands from all over the UK, including renowned purveyors of cheese and chutney to Her Majesty Paxton & Whitfield (incidentally the only suppliers of UK made pickled onions), wines from Latitude Wines and gift items from master cutler David Mellor.  Local designer items include paperware from The Wit Shop from Hyde Park in Leeds, Catherine Lascelles’s meats from Gray Montagne and breads from Bondgate Bakery in Otley.  If we can support emerging designers and sell their wares alongside the big boys, then our customers can set their own style and really enjoy the shopping experience.”

Lynne has a schedule of shopping events in the planning, with the first on 6th September with the Summer Night Market at the Courtyard, which includes live music, barbeque, wine and beer tastings, vintage clothing and loads more retail heaven.

The refreshed and re-stocked Courtyard Shop is open 10am to 5.30pm 7 days a week and sells designer house and food items, much sourced locally for the freshest and the very best, and table and giftware items from the UK’s favourite designers and manufacturers, some of whom  rarely supply outside of London. Call in on your next visit!

We made the news in the Independent’s heritage section with our all-new event spectacular the Harewood Medieval Faire…

If came thee hither, what-ho an event we had!

If you missed it, look out for e-updates to be the first to get your tickets for next year’s event! …And don’t forget, Medieval Harewood continues this summer with artists’ works & finds from the Gawthorpe dig, ceramics & stained glass workshops, and Castle, dig and theatrical tours.

Read more and book workshops & tours and online…