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Minterne House To Host The Annual West of Antiques, Fine Art & Interiors Fair

The West of England Antiques, Fine Art & Interiors Fair In Association with WEADA, The West of England Antique Dealers’ Association Minterne House, Minterne Magna, near Dorchester, DT2 7AU 9th – 11th October 2009.

Minterne House, a historic privately owned manor house in Dorset, will host The West of England Antiques, Fine Art & Interiors Fair, from 9th – 11th October 2009.

Located at Minterne Magna, between and Dorchester, Minterne House has been the home of the Churchill and Digby families since 1620 and is now the seat of the 12th Lord Digby. The fair will take place within the splendid rooms of the house and an adjoining marquee and will provide a rare opportunity to see inside this charming private country home, which is normally closed to the public. The exhibitors will include leading members of WEADA, The West of England Antique Dealers’ Association, joined by other specialist dealers from across the country.

The fair is being supported by Marie Curie Cancer Care and a special fund-raising occasion will be held on the evening of Friday, 9th October. Catering for the evening and for the fair will be by Victoria Blashford-Snell. The fair will be officially opened by Sir Henry Digby.

Commenting on behalf of the Association, Martin Dearden of Pennard House Antiques, Shepton Mallet, said: ‘I am delighted to find a house with so much charm and character that is not permanently open to the public and that will be ideal for our fair’.

The fair will feature more than thirty specialist dealers with wide range of period antiques and collector’s items. More than £1million worth of treasures will be on sale, including painted English and Continental furniture, period oak and country furniture, English Staffordshire pottery, decorative accessories, period and costume jewellery, fine English porcelain, clocks, decorative mirrors, garden items, textiles and much more. Prices will range from less than £25 to more than £25,000.

Among the leading members of WEADA will be Pennard House Antiques from Somerset, showing a range of farmhouse tables and chairs, decorative mirrors, upholstered furniture and decorative accessories; Guy Dennler Antiques from Dorset with 18th and 19th century English country house furniture; Patrick Macintosh Antiques from Sherborne, showing a range of fine period furniture and accessories; and Domani from Exeter 18th and 19th century English and Continental town and country furniture and objects

A collection of original oil paintings, drawings and watercolours by L.S.Lowry will be a most important addition to the fair. To be shown by Neptune Fine Art from Derbyshire, the works include early drawings, typical street scenes with Lowry figures and rare single figure studies. Prices will range from £10,000 to £350,000 for individual works.

The first West of England Antique Dealers’ Fair was held in Taunton in October 2008. Once again, it will be organized on behalf of WEADA by Sue Ede of Cooper Fairs from Somerset.

Minterne nestles in 1,300 acres of beautiful Dorset countryside and is described by Simon Jenkins in his book ‘England’s 1,000 Best houses,’ as a “Corner of Paradise.” The house has featured in a number of high profile movie and TV films, most notably in 'Tom Jones' (1963) and 'Far from the Madding Crowd' (1967).

The first Sir Winston Churchill rented Minterne from Winchester College in 1660, and left it to his younger son General Charles Churchill, much to the fury of his eldest son, the Great Duke of Marlborough, who ‘just had to make do with Blenheim Palace.’ When General Charles’s widow died, Minterne was sold to Robert Digby, a younger son from , complete with all the contents, which is why it still contains all the Churchill Tapestries, a ceiling picture by Sir James Thornhill and other Churchill pictures and furniture.

Among the Digby ancestors are Sir Everard Digby who was hung, drawn and quartered for his part in the Guy Fawkes Gunpowder plot; Jane Digby who lived for 25 years in Arabia married to her fourth husband, Sheikh Medjuel el Mezrab, and more recently, Pamela Harriman, the American Ambassador to Paris who was brought up at Minterne, being the sister of the present Lord Digby. The current house was built in 1905 by Leonard Stokes after the previous house was destroyed by dry rot. Today the house contains many interesting paintings and mementos of its past residents, including the famous Churchill Tapestries.

Further details of Minterne House at www.minterne.co.uk. Tel: 01300 341370. The picturesque gardens of Minterne House are open to the public, from 1 March – 9 November 2009. Admission £4.00.

Fair Open Times 11am-5pm daily Admission £5.00.

Organised on behalf of WEADA (www.weada.co.uk) by Sue Ede, Cooper Antiques Fairs P.O.Box 15, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset TA8 2BY Tel: UK (0)1278 784912 / Fax: UK (0)1278 792687 www.cooperevents.com \ [email protected]

Advertising Jacki Phillips, 2 Knapp Cottages, High Street, Thorncombe, Somerset TA20 4PQ. Tel: UK (0)1460 432090 [email protected]

Press Information & 300dpi Images from Duncan Phillips, 2 Knapp Cottages, High Street, Thorncombe, Somerset TA20 4PQ. Tel: UK (0)1460 432090 [email protected]