BADA Bing

BADA Bing

March 2008 Datebook

Updated Classic

Bronze Star

Into the Woods

Designer Goods

The American Scene

New Pier Group

Back East

Albert Jasper Operti

Send a letter to the Editor

Save to Del.icio.us Digg this

A long-lost portrait of American polar explorer Dr. Frederick Cook is among the highlights of the 16th BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair—a showcase for the British Antique Dealers’ Association and one of England’s leading antiques fairs—which is taking place in London March 5 through 11. The oil painting, by Albert Operti, was discovered in Germany at a small auction house, unsigned and incorrectly identified as a depiction of the British polar explorer Edward Adrian Wilson. It’s being offered for £28,000 ($54,800) by London’s Butchoff Antiques, one of 100 exhibitors.

Other notable items include four 1825 Regency bergère mahogany and cane armchairs once owned by the mystery writer Agatha Christie, which are being sold as a set by London’s Patrick Sandberg Antiques for £45,000 ($88,000). Reindeer Antiques, of Northamptonshire, is bringing an 18th-century Chinese export lacquered cabinet, also priced at £45,000 ($88,000), and Raffety & Walwyn, of London, is asking £110,000 ($215,300) for a 1695 ebony and gilt bracket clock by 17th- and 18th-century clock maker Daniel Quare.

This year’s exhibition for patrons is “Bespoke and Bejewelled: A View of Gentleman’s Tailoring.” Savile Row tailors Henry Poole & Co. present a reproduction of the suit Winston Churchill wears in a famous World War II photo. Who better to preside over the distinguished affair?

"BADA BING" originally appeared in the March 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's March 2008 Table of Contents.