The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair is the most important event of its kind in Britain with approximately £500 million worth of top quality art and antiques exhibited and for sale each year.

The Fair is the stable heart of Britain’s art market. Its dealers offer for sale a stunning array of some of the finest works of art from the past 5000 years, including jewellery, furniture, paintings, silver, textiles, glass, contemporary art, books, ceramics, photography, oriental works of art and antiquities.

The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair has been running for more then seven decades, and runs from June 12-18 2008 in the elegant surroundings of The Great Room at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, W1.

The design of the Fair is inspired each year by a different historic building, providing an English theatrical backdrop to the works of art on display. This year Woburn Abbey has been selected for the theme. Set in a beautiful 3,000-acre deer park, Woburn Abbey has been the home of the Dukes of Bedford for nearly 400 years.

The Abbey houses one of the most important private art collections in the world including paintings by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Van Dyck and Cuyp. There is a fine collection of 21 views of Venice by Canaletto in the Dining Room. Woburn Abbey is also renowned for its superb examples of French and English Furniture, and English, Continental and Oriental porcelain, including the fabulous Sevres dinner service presented to the 4th Duke by Louis XV.

The Private Preview of The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair will be held on Wednesday 11 June and offers invited guests the opportunity to buy from exhibitors before the Fair opens to the public the following day. The Fair enjoys continuous Royal Patronage since 1937, the current patron being HRH Princess Alexandra.

The Charity Gala Evening is on Thursday 12 June, which is the Fair’s first public open evening, and consists of a Private View of the Fair from 7-9pm, followed by dinner and entertainment in the Ballroom themed La Vie En Rose.

The Gala has raised over £2.7 million over the last 5 years. All proceeds from this evening will go to the benefiting charity, the International Fundraising Committee of the British Red Cross, which this year celebrates the centenary of its Royal Charter.

Rigorous vetting procedures - pioneered at the Fair in the 1930s - ensure that every work of art exhibited is of the highest standard, having been examined by panels of experts for quality and authenticity.

The vetting regulations are widely regarded as being the strictest in the world, making certain that every item on display – from Ancient Egypt to the modern era – is of exceptional quality. This enables both first-time visitors and established collectors alike to buy with confidence from a very wide range of disciplines.

The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair is proud of its history and tradition: by understanding and respecting its past, it is able to evolve into an event that continues to serve the world’s greatest collectors at the same time as offering the very best to the new generation.

The article £500 million art and antiques fair returns originally appeared on 999 Today