PRESS RELEASE 38TH EDITION – 2014

PRESS RELEASE
38TH EDITION – 2014
“GASTRONOMY”
FROM 8 TO 16 NOVEMBER 2014
A festive edition based around gastronomy
This autumn, for its 38th edition, Antica Namur has reunited its most loyal
Belgian and foreign antiques dealers, as well as a list of new top-flight
participants, mostly members of Belgian and European Chambers. Art market
professionals are particularly mindful of the constant and qualitative
development of this event, the first in the calendar as the Belgian art and
antiquities fairs return from the summer break. Antica Namur combines the thrill
of discovery and careful selection, making room for young antique dealers as well
as major Belgian, French, Dutch, English or German houses.
Almost 27,000 visitors are expected at Namur over the 10-day period. The
visitors are a diverse group: coming from Belgium, as well as across the border,
they comprise amateurs, connoisseurs, large and small collectors, including
many decorators. The visible presence of young galleries also attracts a thirtysomething audience of bargain-hunters who appreciate the relaxed atmosphere
and the accessible prices at Antica Namur.
This year, the fair’s theme is Gastronomy. It will be shaped by Gerald Watelet
who is signing the menu of the restaurant at the fair and who will unleash his
decorative talents on a completely new booth dedicated to the show’s theme.
Around this area, all the antique dealers will illustrate the theme of Gastronomy,
from art to painting, etchings, collectibles or table art, including furniture,
porcelain, glass and silverware or even collectible textiles. The City of Namur will
also devote space to a selection of exceptional pieces from the City museum’s
collections. Conferences will bring the show to life.
Table art in history
Table art began … in bed. The Romans had three-person beds in their villas.
These were called “triclinium”. There they received guests, they ate and they
drank. Always using their fingers, of course, cutlery was invented much later.
However, the Romans did introduce fine pottery and the first glass wine goblets
to make their banquets more festive and luxurious. The end of the Roman
Empire put an end to meals in a supine position. People then ate sitting down, on
a bench, at a table, made with simple planks laid on trestles. The large tablecloth
was also used as a napkin and all the guests used it to wipe their mouths. There
were still not many utensils, the rich had gold knives, the poor had wooden
spoons and bowls. Noblemen and women put salt and spices on the table (a
great sign of wealth). People still ate with their fingers and the leftovers were
thrown on the ground for the dogs to clean up immediately.
The aristocracy began to apply good table manners in the Renaissance, in the
17th century. It was Erasmus who standardised them in his work “De civilitate
morum puerilium” [on good manners for children]. Catherine de Médicis (15191589) introduced the two-pronged fork, fine china and glassware. The first chairs
appeared and replaced benches. People stopped wiping their mouths with the
tablecloth and began to use a large napkin which also protected their ruffs. The
meal took place in a chronological order: fruit first, then boiled, roasted or grilled
meats and, finally, desserts. Every meal started with the hand-washing ritual
using a ewer and basin.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, table art became more and more refined.
Each guest had an individual place-setting: a plate, a spoon, a knife and a
(three-pronged) fork, placed to the right of the plate, all covered with a napkin.
Goldsmithery is booming. In terms of service, the Court of Versailles set the
standard. Festive meals were staged as sumptuous buffets, richly decorated and
perfectly structured, echoing French gardens. The dishes were arranged in
perfect symmetry. This type of service, called "entertaining à la française", would
soon be copied by aristocracy across the whole of Europe. New exotic products
(coffee, tea or chocolate) appeared on the tables. Spices became more
accessible. These developments required specific containers and utensils so they
could be served. Porcelain replaced pottery. The largest and most famous
manufactures are Sèvres and Chantilly in France, Meissen in Germany, Chelsea
in England and Tournai (18th century) and Brussels (19th century) in Belgium.
After the French revolution, the first restaurants appeared in Paris. The City of
Light became the gastronomic capital of Europe. But French-style grand service
was obsolete and little suited to the time and gave way to Russian service:
dishes were presented one after the other. Fish became a dish in its own right
and was served before meat. The Saint-Louis Crystal Glassworks launched its
crystal glasses and complete wine service (large water and table wine glasses,
medium glasses for fine and foreign wines, champagne glasses and small glasses
for spirits and liqueurs) to the market. In the 19th century, there were three
meals a day: lunch at around 11am, dinner at around 6pm (the largest meal of
the day) and supper at around 10pm, after the show (this trend waned at the
end of the century).
The 19th century was also the time when food critics appeared. The most famous,
Brillat-Savarin, wrote “Physiology of taste” which was to become a major
reference work.
Throughout the 20th century, table art became more accessible to everyone and
also became industrialised. Books and guides devoted to this art were within
everyone’s reach. People began to eat out more because many women worked.
Attitudes changed, favouring greater simplicity. That being said, the grand table
tradition lives on. The craze for beautiful porcelain, crystal glasses and precious
silverware is still alive today.
New faces and major houses to spot at Antica Namur
Among the foreign antique dealers, Antica Namur is welcoming Spanish gallery
Miquel Alzueta for the first time. Alzueta took part in Eurantica this year and the
gallery received a good deal of attention from vintage furniture and
contemporary art collectors. Also discover the Becker Antiques (Amsterdam),
Eurazie (Valkenburg) galeries, as well as Anthony Short Antiques (UK) and, from
Berlin, Ikonen Galerie Dr. M. Ewenstein and Kunsthandel Shimanovich. Among
the major houses, we note the presence of, for Belgium, the Ursulines’ convent,
Maison Lemaire, Laurence Lenne, Jean-François Nélis, the Ming-K’i gallery
(Asiatic art), Ciel mes bijoux, the modern art galleries NF Art Gallery, La Galerie
belge, Dus’Art Gallery, and Claeys Gallery (Franco-Belgian). For France, Antica
Namur is receiving, among others, the Pellat de Villedon gallery, Joëlle Lasry,
Jacques Gonthier, Graphiek-Art and the J.C. Scalabrino gallery. Galleries from
Flanders are also very well represented, with the De Pauw-Muller gallery,
Frederik Muller and Jan Muller, William Jonckers, Libertas Gallery, K. van de Ven,
Galerie Maru, Raf van Severen and Yves Vandooren.
The highlights of Antica Namur 2014
Dates and times
From 8 to 16 November 2014
From Monday to Friday: From 2 to 7pm
Weekend and Monday, 11 November, from 11am to 7pm
Invitation-only preview on Friday, 7 November from 2pm to 11pm.
“Ladies Day” - free entry for women: on Thursday, 13 November from 2pm to
7pm
Press conference on Thursday, 6 November at midday
Location
Namur expo
2, avenue Sergent Vrithoff
5000 Namur
Number of exhibitors
120
Number of experts
20 for vetting, 3 for the entire duration of the show
Price
Entrance: €20 - Free visitor’s guide.
Information
Tel. : +32(0)2 740 10 30
Fax : +32(0)2 740 10 35
http://www.antica.be
Organisation
ARTEXIS EXHIBITIONS SA
Luc Darte – Exhibition Manager
T +32(0)2 740 10 31 - [email protected]
135, rue Saint-Lambert
B-1200 Brussels
Press contact Benelux and France
CARACAS public relations
Hélène van den Wildenberg
[email protected]
T/F +32(0)4 349 14 41
List of exhibitors Antica Namur 2014
(list from 26/08/2014)
A Aborigene Galerie (Paris) - All Arts (Labeuvrière) - Andrée Cordeau (Paris) –
Anthemion (Brussel) - Anthony Short Antiques (Petworth) - Antiek Normandie
(Heule) - Antiquités Serignan (Avignon) - Arnaud et Sylvie de Spa
(Spa) - Art
et Patrimoine-Laurence Lenne (Ath) - Artisy (Liège) - Axel Pairon (Antwerpen) B - Jean-Jacques Bacciochi (Fontvieille) - Becker Antiques (Amsterdam) - Benoit
& Sebastien Tercelin de Joigny (Mons) - Bernard Bouisset (Béziers) - Bert Nordin
Fine Paintings (Brussel) - Bie Baert (Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor) - Bois d'Acanthe
(Thimister-Clermont) - C - Caroline Moxhon (Wezembeek-Oppem) - Catherine
Gottmann (Profondeville) - Catherine Lassus (Bordeaux) - Chimara Antiques
(Brussel) - Ciel Mes Bijoux (Brussel) - Claeys Gallery (Saint-Raphaël) -Collette "Nuances" (Theux) - Crescendo - D - Anne de Duve (L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue) D&Art Galerie (Gent) - De Pauw - Muller Antiquairs (Gent) - Delobelle & Delobelle
(Avelgem) - Denis Tissot (Liège) - Didier Abbeloos (Schellebelle-Wichelen) Dus'Art Gallery - Anne-Catherine Simon (Landenne-sur-Meuse) - E - Edouard de
Potter d'Indoye (Melle) - Eric Beaumont (Neuvy) - Eufrazie gallery (Valkenburg) F - Frank Van Laer (Antwerpen) - Frederik Muller (Sint-Niklaas) - G - Galeria
Miquel Alzueta (Barcelona) - Galerie Barrez (Paris) - Galerie Capazza (Nancay) Galerie de Lyne (Wépion) - Galerie Francis Noël (Sprimont) - Galerie Gilles
Linossier (Paris) - Galerie Humeurs (Bordeaux) - Galerie Jérôme Pla (Paris) Galerie Kieffer (Luneville) - Galerie l'Astrée (Rouen) - Galerie le tout venant
(Brussel) - Galerie Maru (Deurne) - Galerie Pellat de Villedon (Versailles) Galerie Raf van Severen (Antwerpen) - Galerie Saint Michel (Brussel) - GraphikArt (Paris) - H - Sonia de Haulleville (Brussel) - Henri Vanhoenacker (Brussel) - I
- Ikonen Galerie Dr.M. Ewenstein (Berlin) - Ingrid Mathy (Godinne) - J Jacqueline Bette(Lasne) - Jacques Gonthier (Paris) - Jan Dücker (Oud-Turnhout)
- Jan Muller (Gent) - Jean Nelis Fine Paintings (Brussel) - Jean-Christophe
Scalabrino (Paris) - Jean-Emile Ricour (Ransart) - Jean-François Régis (Brussel) Joëlle Lasry (Paris) - Joly Antiquités (Namur) - K - K. van de Ven (Tervuren) Kunsthandel Shimanovich (Berlin) - L - La Galerie Belge (Namur) - La GalerieEric du Maroussem (Aix-en-Provence) - Laurence Fayolle (Paris) - Le Bijou
(Marche-en-Famenne) - Le Camaieu (Tournai) - Le Couvent des Ursulines-JeanFrançois Taziaux (Liège) - L'Egide Antiquités (Brussel) - Leonhard's Gallery
(Antwerpen) - Lex Antiqua (Wellen – Ulbeek) - Libertas Gallery (Brugge) - Lieven
Moenaert (Brugge) - M - Maison Halter Ethnic Jewels (Brussel) - Maison Lemaire
(Brussel) - Malvoisin Décorateurs (Vieux-Genappe) - Marie-Cécile François
(Brussel) - Michèle Ancion (Serville) - Ming-K'I Gallery (Waardamme) – Miphan
(Braine-le-Château) - N- Nadine Collette-Rene Vanhentenryck (Verviers) - Nf Art
Gallery (Zoersel) - Nicole Dentelles (Lyon) - Nohara Japanese Art (Berchem) - O
- Oud Cortrycke-Ann Herpels (Kortrijk) - P - Pascal Denoyelle (La Neuville-surRessons) - Patrick Damidot (Dijon) - Patrick Martin (Toulouse) - Patrick Pascal
(Fontvieille) - Philippe Huret (Luxembourg) - Pierre Emmanuel Beguin (Liège) Private Collection (Knokke-Heist) - R - Robin Kowalski (Antwerpen) - S - SaintÉloi Antiquités (Couchey) - T - The Old Treasury (Kerkrade) - V - Véronique
Malaise (Yvoir) - W - William Jonckers (Middelkerke) - Y - Yves Vandooren
(Diepenbeek)