LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair, Berkeley Square

If you’re anything like me, when you think of Berkeley Square, the words of the late Nat King Cole and his lament to the nightingale will fill your heart to bursting point. It goes like this:

‘That certain night, the night we met,

There was magic abroad in the air,

There were angels dining at the Ritz,

And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.’

There’s something undoubtably singular about this area of town. The hum of Mayfair, the poise of its inhabitants… it sucks you in. It has a magical quality, and a provenance that you fall in love with, spontaneously, by wondering around its many streets, full of boutiques and antique dealerships. It whispers of literature, music, art, and beauty. It’s no surprise Nat King Cole used the nightingale as a figurative symbol to honour this most spectacular of locations.

For those in search of their own Berkeley Square love affair, head to the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair taking place this week and open until October 1. Inside you’ll find over a hundred exhibitors telling their own unique story. Each gives a glimpse into the world of fine and decorative antique collecting which spans the more obvious (antique furniture, light fixtures etc.) to the more niche (tapestries, silverware and ceramics etc.).

It's obviously a great place to go if you’re looking to browse and buy, but it’s equally a marvellous place to go just to look. Allow LAPADA to place its spell on you, to fill you to the brim with sights of beauty. There is simply no other collection of the world’s most gorgeous objects, furnishings, jewels, and pieces of art, together in one place.

If you look carefully enough, you may even spot the nightingale Nat King Cole sung about, carved into a piece of Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery or painted onto a 19th Ccntury side cabinet by Henry Dasson, for I am certain that magic bird is still flitting around Berkeley Square… I can feel the enchantment.

Tickets can be bought here: https://lapada.yourticketpurchase.com/p/lapadafair   

★★★★☆

Images taken by Christopher Mills