London dealer Jacqueline Simcox, who specializes in Asian textiles, said that for the first time, she saw dealers from mainland China buying for the Chinese market. By the end of the opening weekend, she reported strong sales in late 19th-century silk Ikat textiles from Uzbekistan, priced at £6,000, which attracted decorators with their strong colors and geometric patterns.

And, flouting recession fears, London’s Van den Bosch, which was showing Art Nouveau jewelry, reported that there had been as many sales in the first three days of this year’s fair as in last year’s entire run. Folk art dealer Robert Young Antiques sold 14 pieces on the first day, including a 19th-century French hat maker’s shop sign and an early Charles II desk. Judging from the opening days of the fair, it would seem that many are following the dictum of Sir Timothy Clifford, the fair’s patron, in his catalogue introduction: “Do remember the great thing about temptation is always to give in.”