Fine Art & Antiques Fair, Cressing Temple Barns

The weather was perfect this afternoon for a trip to the Fine Art & Antiques Fair at Cressing Temple Barns. It was a setting to match the collections.

The fair was arranged by Penman Fairs, who brought together a number of stands with high quality goods to buy (or to dream of buying). The two massive barns were being used today – one to showcase some beautiful contemporary art – mostly paintings, but some exquisite statues; the other to showcase some fine antiques, ranging from paintings to clocks and watches to militaria. Sadly, my eye for art is far more developed than my capacity to pay for it, but should I have had the funds, I’d have opted for paintings by Silva Vujovic and Branko Dimitrijevic, whose works are available from Fine Art Escape in Cambridge; Susan Brown, whose work was being showcased by Jo Bennett originals; and Cyril Croucher, whose work was there courtesy of Wren Fine Art in Burford. The sculptures by Michael James Talbot also impressed.

In terms of the antiques there was a painting of the inside of Norwich Cathedral which was a good few hundred years old but which would have been perfect in our dining room. I was also taken by a full body suit of armour which looked just about my size. But I can’t imagine getting much use out of it – I haven’t got any trips to Southend planned.

There are a couple of pictures below from the barns, and I also popped into the walled garden, which was a wonderful retreat, with the tinkling of water in the ornamental ponds, and the bees busy collecting nectar.