The next Antiques Fair and Vintage Market at the National Botanic Garden of Wales will be held on Saturday and Sunday 6th and 7th October.

The prestigious National Botanic Gardens of Wales nestles into the Carmarthenshire countryside ,on the outskirts of Carmarthen and just 15 minutes away from the end of the M4.

With up to 100 stands on display , the fair has become quite a spectacle since it began 8 years ago with the BBC Bargain Hunt teams being regular visitors to the fair.Showcasing a wonderful variety of quality antiques and collectables to suit all tastes and budgets , these popular fairs have a friendly and vibrant atmosphere.

The main reason for the success of this fair is its unique setting.To witness the array of antiques on display with the backdrop of the flora and fauna in the Norman Foster designed GlassHouse , is breathtaking.

From furniture to fishing reels most areas of collecting can be located here and step next door and again within the Regency Principality House (the old servants’ quarters), ,you will discover good displays of quality antiques. There is also a hidden gem tucked away beside the Millennium Courtyard and that’s the large Wedding marquee ,where again you will find a large range of Welsh oak furniture, treen and Ewenny pottery plus a good selection of vintage ware.

In the Theatr Botanica expect quality antiques on display.Move along into the Millennium Courtyard and that’s where you will discover the large Wedding marquee ,which houses a large range of Welsh oak furniture , ,treen and Ewenny pottery plus a good selection of vintage ware.

The fair has also expanded into the Millennium Courtyard filling it with a Vintage Antiques Market. The Vintage market, houses smaller marquees showing off vintage toys,clothing and retro furniture plus numerous up cycled furniture and quirky items. This is a new and exciting addition to the established in side section of the fair.

Again the Gardens will be showcasing Welsh areas of collecting including Welsh pottery, Welsh art and furniture. There will be an amazing display of period Welsh oak furniture from child’s chairs,milking stools to larger pieces including dressers and linen press cupboards.Richard Bebb will be displaying a rich array of Welsh paintings, including artists such as Kyffin Williams“Welsh textiles will also be a main feature at the fair. There will be a huge range of welsh tapestry blankets on display with their extensive colour range and intrinsic patterns..

Amongst the quality stands, will be a selection of militaria stands, displaying some very unusual items from the past including rare medals, military swords and vintage fire arms and a full set of armour.

From furniture to fishing reels, Tin plate toys to exquisite jewellery, most areas of collecting can be found.

The Fair likes to bring some rare items to the market.

The collecting of paper weights can border on obsession especially if you are hunting for an early French design. However it’s nice to see children fascinated by the colours and the variety of design of a paperweight.They can be as affordable as a few pounds but can also command sums of thousands of pounds.Where better to show off these amazing glass paperweights of intense colour and artistry ,than at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

Glass paperweights first gained popularity in the mid-19th century after being displayed at various expositions, most notably the Great Exhibition of 1851 at London’s Crystal Palace. Paperweights soon became the ultimate desk top must have.

By the turn of the century, interest had waned, but in the 1950s artists like Paul Ysart and Charles Kaziun sought to rediscover the secrets to making glass weights, paving the way for hyper-realistic paperweight artists like Paul Stankard.

Incredibly, everything inside the paperweight is also glass: the flowers, the salamanders, the insects — everything. Most of the weights in the Neustadter collection are made either using millefiori canes or lampwork. Millefiori or ‘thousand flowers’ canes are produced by layering molten glass into a pattern in a fat cylindrical shape, then pulling the cylinder to create an elongated pencil-thin rod. When the rod is sliced, the pattern can be seen in the cross section. Millefiori weights consist of many patterned canes packed closely together.

American glass companies and glass artists also continue creating paperweights in the traditional styles and create new traditions of their own.hence the huge variation of paper weights to choose from .

That will certainly be the case at the fair , as two of our stallholders will be displaying some incredible paper weight collections. Amongst their collections will be weights designed by John Ditchfield a very popular artist from Blackpool and one of the top glass artists in the country.Another impressive weight is the black weight which is actually a ’World weight’, very impressive cameo work by Steve Correia, Santa Monica, California.

Visitors will find the large quantity of impressive stands, showing off a variety of themes from ancient Chinese to the retro 60s and country farmhouse, to be very appealing. Victorian linen, vintage clothes and costume jewellery, plus an appealing display of nostalgic interior designs; fishing reels, rare books and collections of rare paperweights,Wemyss, Moorcroft and Lorna Bailey pottery, all can be found at this exciting fair.

The fair opens at 10am and closes at 4.30 pm

Admission to the Garden and for the Antiques Weekend is just £5 Entry is FREE for Garden members and parking is FREE for all.

Dogs are now allowed at the Gardens.

* For more information about the fairs contact Brita Rogers telephone: 01267 220260 Mobile 07790 293367 or visit www.derwenantiques.co.uk or on FB