The much anticipated Luxury Antiques Weekend at The Mere, held in association with Bentley Manchester and organised by The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited, returns to The Mere Golf Resort & Spa, Chester Road, Mere, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6LJ from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 February 2014. The Mere Golf Resort & Spa is the ideal location for a top class boutique-style antiques fair being one of the most luxurious hotels in Cheshire and within easy reach of Chester, Manchester and Liverpool.  Visitors can either enjoy the fair for a few hours, the whole day or take advantage of the new state-of-the-art hotel with all its facilities and plan a weekend away.

The fair plays host to around 30 specialist dealers, predominantly members of the top trade associations, British Antique Dealers’ Association and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers.  The exhibitors offer a wide range of disciplines from paintings and drawings, furniture, 19th century and contemporary sculpture, medieval and contemporary carvings, oriental rugs and carpets, jewellery, silver, glass, books, vintage designer clothing and decorative objects spanning the centuries.  Now in its third year, the fair has created a loyal following amongst collectors, interior decorators, private and corporate buyers offering an unrivalled choice from the traditional to the quirky all under one roof. There is free parking and refreshments are available throughout the day making it a one-stop shop.

Amongst the many highlights around the fair is a pastel on paper drawing, 'Two dogs' by one of the most desirable of northern artists, L S Lowry (1887-1976).  Previously owned by Manchester United manager, Dave Sexton OBE in the 1970s, it has a price tag of £35,000 from Neptune Fine Art.  L S Lowry worked together with Harold Riley, another northern artist born in Salford in 1934, and they became great friends when Harold was a student and together they worked on a project to record the area and its people.  Haynes Fine Art of Broadway is bringing a good example, 'Three Figures with a Ball' by LS Lowry and Harold Riley (b. 1934) at £24,750, as well as other individual drawings by these two artists including ‘Landscape with Trees’ by LS Lowry, pencil on paper, £14,980, ‘Pawn Shop, Salford’ by Harold Riley, charcoal on paper, 1984, £18,750.  They are also bringing excellent examples of work by two other northern artists, Arthur Delaney and Helen Bradley.

Cheshire dealer Jo Bennett Original Pictures concentrates on modern and contemporary works by northern artists and has paintings by Manchester artist Geoffrey Key (born 1941) and  Czech born Jiri Borsky (b. 1945) and others.   Strachan Fine Art, specialises in early portraits and is bringing 'A young lady holding a fan' the young wife of a Dutch merchant, and priced at £24,000, as well as medieval and 20th century carvings and sculpture. Also on the stand is ‘Study of Newton (after Blake)’ bronze signed by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi RA (1924-2005), cast in 1988, edition of 3, selling for £16,000. Of local interest is a magnificent oil on canvas by Chester artist Daniel Clowes (1774-1829) ‘Portrait of a bay hunter in a wooded landscape, a church in the distance’, 1819, £8,500.  This painting features the same church and is similar in composition to Clowes’ slightly smaller ‘Hunter with a church on the hill’ in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, also dated 1819.           

Cheshire furniture dealer Church Street Antiques from Altrincham has a Regency coromandel sofa table with exotic wood string inlay attributed to George Oakley, c1810, selling for £22,000.  Derbyshire dealer, Peter Bunting, is bringing a good selection of early oak furniture and objects. Freshfords Fine Antiques from Bath is exhibiting a rare pair of George IV late Regency carved satinwood pole screens, attributable to Gillows of London and Lancaster, for £7,500.  To celebrate the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth, Freshfords Fine Antiques has procured a rare novelty piece of English treen in the shape of a wooden book depicting a play by William Shakespeare, c1840 for £1,850. 

To brighten up a dull winter's day nothing is more rewarding than the opportunity to indulge in a special piece of jewellery and there is a delightful 15 carat gold pearl set ruby-eyed owl brooch, c 1885 for £1,885 on T Robert's stand.  Two new jewellery dealers are joining the fair for the first time. Anderson Jones selling period and 20th century jewellery including Art Deco pieces and Markov with 18th to mid-20th century English and Continental jewellery and early 20th century glass.  Another newcomer, Mark J West is also taking a stand to show his fine selection of antique glass.  For romantics wanting an unusual gift for Valentine's Day, Melody Antiques from Cheshire has a pair of heart-shaped jelly moulds for £245.  A well-known face on television's antiques programmes, Mike Melody is also exhibiting a good selection of country furniture and objects. 

Steggles Wealth Management, part of St James's Place Wealth Management, is taking a stand and inviting clients to visit them at the fair.  Once again The Christie is the fair’s chosen charity. The charitable foundation raises money to fund projects at The Christie, which are outside the scope of the NHS.