Travel Thursday: Sunbury Antiques Market

A little pre-fashion week post...

The other morning, bright and early (although it wasn't actually bright out since it was only 5:30 am), Elliot and I went to the Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Race Park with Dawn. One of the owners of Ibiza Rocks, she was looking for more quirky furniture and bits for Pikes Hotel in Ibiza.

I had read about Sunbury in a recent issue of Time Out, and as this was the first market since the article was published, we were a bit worried that what used to be an antique trader's secret would be overrun with readers (like us) checking out the market for the first time.

Anyway, with the help of one of Dawn's friends in London who owns a curiosity shop, we got in our Zipcar and arrived at Sunbury by 6:15. Doors open to the public at 6:30 and vendors aren't allowed to start displaying their wares until then, but we used the few extra minutes to get a bacon sandwich, tea, and head up to where rows and rows of trucks were waiting.

And then, at 6:30, a cute little old lady started waving a Union Jack, shouting, "We're open! We're open!"

Dawn was on the hunt for some taxidermy... and like the market regulars, we had a couple of torches with us to see things in the dark a bit better. 

I loved this little pink couch. This style of furniture is a rarity in North America (especially Canada), but there are quite a few here. I'm hoping to have a home one day that will accommodate one of my own.

Another little couch that I loved. This one was a lovely periwinkle / baby blue and was in pristine condition. 

An old train wagon with its wheels rubbed and cleaned. This would be great repurposed as a coffee table, but was a little steep for us at £350. We were looking for pieces for our apartment here and Elliot's place in Mallorca, which has 20-foot ceilings and the space to accommodate a more eclectic range of furniture.

I also liked the little silver aluminum containers next to the wagon, which I think were ammunition containers. A row of them would work great as outdoor planters.

A random male mannequin that seemed put together from various other mannequins, and an oversized tennis racket used in advertising campaigns. The racket is amazing!

A bit later, once it was brighter. I LOVED These four chairs—and Dawn actually had bought another six last year! The others are already at Pikes, so she snapped these ones up to go along with them. They were pretty cheap, too: something like all four for £100.

It became very clear that I have a thing for antique sofas and chairs that are (a) velvet, (b) come in sorbet colours, and (b) have fringe trim.

You can't really tell from this photo, but these were all miniatures: the chairs are child sized, and the two mini-kegs are only about 16 inches high. Great for an outdoor kid's tea party or something, no?

I was first drawn to this stall for the Chairman Mao propaganda poster... but we left with the wicker basket chair (we'll replace the orange cushion later). I liked the poster, too, but I'm not sure my dad woud approve.

We also found these little lamps at the same stall. Hard to tell here, too, but the green filing cabinet is super miniature, so the lamps are bedside table-sized and quite heavy. They are from the '70s and it's rare that Elliot falls for something, so I could tell he really wanted these when he kept asking me if I liked them.

We got the lamps and the basket chair for £120.

An old baby pram—actually once used as such! Dawn bought this for Pikes... can't wait to see what purpose she gives it!

This stall had some signs from a sheep and pig showcase. They weren't very old, but there were some vibrant colours and, out of context, on their own on a wall, would make great conversation pieces!

My favourite read "Mixed Pairs"—but at over eight feet long, it was too big for us. 

A random silk print. I liked this but we didn't buy it—I think it was too expensive. Prices at the market are quite random, since every vendor prices their own goods. 

This is a pair of old basket wheelie bins used to hold baguettes in a bakery. They remind me of the bins we used to have in phys.ed. class, that would hold balls and other gym toys.

More taxidermy—tiny animal taxidermy!

We liked this big butcher's cart; something to get one day, if we ever have an enormous kitchen!

From the same vendor: also loved these big farm tables. The tables and benches were quite reasonably priced, too, at £300-£350 for three pieces.

This is how things were set up at the market... literally stuff spilling out of people's trucks. We spotted some interesting-looking chickens at this stall....

And loved them. We brought these home with us, too—they were £15 each!

A tiki bar! SO RANDOM! I do love a good tiki bar, though—and this one was perfectly home-sized. 

And then, just shortly after what time we'd normally wake up, we were done.

Elliot stayed until around 1pm to help Dawn load up the truck she had arranged and reported that most vendors start packing up around noon. The best stuff goes by around 7 or 8am, though—in time for all the market-goers who own their own little shops to get their new finds back in time for opening!