112. The Art of Collecting with Guy Salter, Tomasz Starzewski and Nazy Vassegh

Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

We’re talking about the burgeoning opportunities for new and established collectors of beautiful rare objects, looking forward to London Craft Week, with Guy Salter, the fair’s founder.

Now in its ninth year and dubbed ‘the most luxurious craft fair in the world’, the fair spreads right across the capital, incorporating Acton and Park Royal as Creative Enterprise Zones for the first time. There will be exciting events and exhibitions celebrating the Coronation and London Craft Week will also showcase the work of over 700 artists, designers and makers from across the world and include four international pavilions from Austria, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan.

We also talk to Nazy Vassegh, founder of the boutique art platform Eye of the Collector. The third edition of The Eye of the Collector fair is running between 17th and 20th May at Two Temple Place, the majestic 1892 Neo-Gothic building, commissioned by William Waldorf Astor, on London’s Strand. Of the 120 works for sale, many will be of museum quality or by huge names including Frank Auerbach, Barbara Hepworth and Bridget Riley but will there will also be 60 new works, aiming to shine a light on emerging artists and designers and overlooked talent.

Our third guest is celebrated couturier and interior designer Tomasz Starzewski, who’s now collaborating with the specialist ceramics and craft auctioneers Maak to curate an installation of exquisite pieces from the collection of the late Victoria Lady de Rothschild. The installation is now open in Buckinghamshire, at Ascott House, the home Lady de Rothschild shared for over a decade with her husband Sir Evelyn.

Victoria Lady de Rothschild designed Ascott House, alongside Renzo Mongiardino and it’s now the beautiful setting for 118 carefully chosen and placed objects that she collected on her travels for over 20 years. They will be displayed throughout the house until September when Maak will auction them.

London Craft Week: throughout the capital from Monday 8th to Sunday 14th May

The Eye of the Collector: at 2 Temple Place from Wednesday 17th to Saturday 20th May

Highlights from Victoria Lady de Rothschild’s Collection: at Ascott House until September