A Hout Bay resident came up trumps at the National Cape Antiques Fair held at Aphen Estate in Constantia from Friday November 17 to Sunday November 19.
Stephan Welz Auctioneers partnered with the fair organisers to hold daily appraisals without charging an evaluation fee.
One of the highlights was a competition run in conjunction with the Sentinel’s sister paper, Constantiaberg Bulletin, in which people were asked to send in details of items they felt might be valuable.
Michel Sawczyn of Hout Bay took first place with a pair of Art Nouveau cranberry decanters. Mr Sawczyn said he was not sure of the origin of the pieces as he had travelled widely.
Part of his prize included a night staying at the Alphen Hotel where the event was being held. It was an opportunity he took up immediately.
Mr Sawczyn was informed of his win last week. He was also presented with tickets to attend the event and chose to have a clock, marked “Cape Government Railways” and which had belonged to his grandfather, appraised at the fair.
Justin Strydom of Muizenberg took second place with a piece inherited from his mother, Pippa Strydom.
Third place was Jenny Foxcroft, of Bellville, with a 1900s Dresden statuette of The Lavender Lady with her two children and baskets of lavender, once a Yardley’s Old English Lavender Soap advertising figure group.
According to fair organisers, Clyde Terry and Giuli Osso, the National Cape Antique Fair is set to become an annual event.
Antiques fairs have become popular following the success of television shows like American Pickers and Antiques Roadshow, but are nothing new to the Constantia Valley, where monthly antique events and the annual antiques fund-raisers hosted by the South African Riding for the Disabled Association (SARDA) hold sway. Sarda was
the event’s recipient charity of choice.
Mr Terry said they had received many emails for the competition.
At the Cape Town event, 15 dealers exhibited antiques, art, collectables and decorative arts.
“In these volatile economic times, alternate investments are a must for a balanced portfolio, and coins and banknotes are not only sound investments, they are also exempt from capital-gains tax,” said Ms Osso.
