A Christmas Fair Part II

Dec 08, 2024

Here we go with the second instalment of things I’d like to find at a fantasy Christmas Fair. I was going to start with “sorry it’s late” - but given that I have yet to buy a single Christmas present - and I can’t be alone in this - I hope it’s arrived just in the nick of time. There’s books and paintings and cordials and egg cups and tiny armchairs and all sorts of good things in here. A Sunday evening treat after a very blowy weekend. Enjoy!

Pair of candlesticks made by Peter Mears, £145. Beautiful hand pressed porcelain, made in Wiltshire by sculptor, Peter Mears.
Women Holding Things by Maira Kalman, £25 from bookshop.org. For any (every) woman holding everything together. With Maira Kalman's ace illustrations - as seen in the New Yorker.
Mittens on a string by Bobo Choses, £36 from Luna and Curious. One of London’s best present shops delivers the goods.
Paperwhites, £36 for 50 stems from Scented Narcissi. The best flowers you can send at Christmas, straight from the Scilly Isles.
Mini fir trees with red bells, £5.99 from Closet and Botts. I love the Christmas decs at this shop in East Sussex run by two friends (one ex-patisserie chef, one ex-Anthropologie display stylist - what a match).
Women’s Life by Isabella Ducrot, £13 from Sadie Coles. Isabella Ducrot has to be my artist of the year. I saw her textiles in the window of Sadie Coles’s gallery and entered a love affair. This article about the 93 year old is brilliant - in which she says, “I think life, for women, begins at sixty.” Her book promises even more.
Vintage heart cardigan, £28 from Les Petits Champignons. A really good site for kids’ vintage.
Fridge magnet scissors, £7.50 from Niwaki. Never lose your scissors again.
Cordials by the Gimlet Bar, £12.95 online and at select delis across London. Strawberry and fig leaf; pineapple and bay; redcurrent and Angelica. Yum.
The Tallow Candle, £24 from Domenica Marland. So satisfying.
Sketchbooks, £22 for four from East End Press. I love this Glasgow paper company. These sketchbooks are made from recycled paper.
Snails jumper, £204 from La Veste. Go slow. Be happy.
Antique silver-plated egg cups, £65 for the set from Banda. With a heart caddy.
Korean sujeo set, £19.56 from Etsy. I got this idea from Miga, an amazing new Korean restaurant in Hackney. Stainless steel chopsticks and a spoon that feel so good to hold.
Vintage silver-plated vase, £28 from eBay. For a winter rose.
Silver tote bag, £25 from Violet bakery. They also sell individual Christmas cakes in a box.
Patterns in Repeat LP by Laura Marling, £23 from Rough Trade. This album is the one for new parents. She plays a couple of songs from it live on this podcast with Adam Buxton - who says at the end that it’s ‘the loveliest representation of what it’s like to have small children’.
Hood £45 from Damson Madder. A good hood.
Gold and garnet earrings by Ros Badger, £210 from Badger’s Velvet. Ros repurposes old jewellery to make the most beautiful things.
Faux food keyring, £16.50 from Choosing Keeping. The clementine has sold out but the buffet is still open for bacon, crisps, cherries and carrots.
Freedom plate by Kelly Jessiman, £120 from FELT. It’s hard to pick just one from the array of plates available at SERVED, the latest exhibition from Felt Collections.
IMAGE, £280 by Sarah Dawnay. Oil on board, 19 x 12.5cm. A little green dream - painted by my beloved mother-in-law.
Redstone Press 2025 diary, £19.95 from Redstone Press. The best diary out there. Next year’s theme is ‘moments of happiness’ with an intro by Marina Warner. When I was doing my MFA Marina Warner gave us a lecture that blew my mind, about this interview between Zadie Smith and George Saunders. She’s unbelievably clever and I can’t wait to read her intro here.
Portraits by Kate Friend, £40 from Lyndsey Ingram. Kate Friend’s flower portraits and with words from Olivia Laing and Christopher Woodward.
Donegal handcraft knit, £75 from Vintage Sister. A great vintage jumper, very similar to this one I’d been eyeing at & Daughter for a fraction of the price.
Illustrated London calendar, £35 from Aurelie Baudry Palmer. Columbia Road flower market, Claridge’s and The Roebuck pub all feature. A great present for Londoners or would-be-Londoners.
Frances Costelloe’s tulips, £65 from Frances Costelloe. I love Frances’ playful pictures.
Lady 558 tile by Lisa Sandner, £70 from Partnership Editions. Based in Munich, Sandner uses the sgraffito technique to make these beautiful red and cream tiles.
Online metal embossing workshop, £35 from The Gimlet Eye x Megan Fatharly. Meg has made decorations for Fortnum’s and the V&A, and will be teaching us how to make tin and brass ornaments for the Christmas tree. Why not sign up a friend - it would make a lovely present or could be something to do together. The class is at 7.30pm on 19th December - join at home with a mince pie.
Tartan Nightie, £175 from If Only If. The softest cotton nighties.
Armchair for a Christmas mouse, £14 from Folk. A tiny chair for a Maileg mouse would make a delightful stocking filler.
Advent calendar, £35 from Dennis Severs’ House. This theatre-set museum in Spitalfields imagines the home of a family of Huguenot silk weavers. This calendar carries a bit of the intrigue.
Hounds tea towel, £12 from Maude Made. Cattle, sheep, shells, hounds. Tea towels for every enthusiast.
Irish Charm Plate by Kelly Jessiman, £120 from Felt Collections. I said it was hard to choose just one…
Landscape, £50 from Tat. Charlie Porter’s blog is brilliant, and so is her shop where there are currently lots of great paintings for sale at £50.
Bonbon, £95 (unframed) from Sophie Roet textiles. Antique French silk ribbons - presented as a colour card from 1928.
AI-generated Delft Tiles, £9.99 each from Not Quite Past. Each customer gets 100 free attempts at designing a tile using AI. The Delft-inspired tiles are then made in Staffordshire.
Lobster and pig tea towels, £10 each by Sophia Grimaldi. Linen and cotton blend tea towels made using ink drawings from her collection. To order email fiagrimaldi@hotmail.co.uk
House Portrait, POA from Georgia Cameron-Clarke. I wrote all about House Portraits for the FT this weekend. They take time - why not commission one now for NEXT Christmas?
Bingo card ornament, £15 from Milagros. These Mexican tin ornaments are fun - collect the bingo set with the rose, scorpion, mandolin etc.
Wildflower workshops, £250 from Tabi Jackson-Gee x Kent Wildflower Seeds. Learn how to use wildflowers in your garden with this one-hour virtual consultancy for novices through to experienced gardeners.
Costello tomato candle, £19.95 from Not Another Candle. I’m not sure I could bring myself to light these.
It’s A Compliment (Box), £550 from Pollyanna Johnson Ceramics. Hand painted with a 24kt gold lustre frame.
Flower fairy by Leila Watts, £39 from Jam Jar Edit. A flower fairy with a skirt made of dried helichrysum flowers, skeleton leaf wings and a tiny hat made from fallen acorn shells.