Location
Maastricht, Netherlands
When
Annual — March
THE EVENT
TEFAF Maastricht is the world's leading art and antiques fair — eleven days in the Dutch city of Maastricht where the finest works of art, antiques, and design from across history are presented to the most discerning collectors in the world. It is older, more formal, and more European than the Basel or Frieze fairs, and for that reason, it attracts a different kind of collector.
WHY WE ARE HERE
The TEFAF client collects across time. They are not interested in what is current — they are interested in what is excellent, regardless of when it was made. This is AETHEL's exact position: not contemporary, not heritage, but excellent. The TEFAF client will understand this immediately.
A RECORD — THE FOUNDER
"He flew to Maastricht specifically for TEFAF. He had been the year before and had spent three hours in front of a single piece of furniture — a Dutch cabinet from 1680, the joinery so precise that the doors closed with the sound of a vault. He went back to see if it was still there. It had been sold. He asked the dealer who had bought it. The dealer said he couldn't say. He said: 'Tell them it went to the right person.' The dealer looked at him. 'How do you know?' He said: 'Because they came back for it.'"
The founder's identity is known only to the Founding 12. What follows is the record of what was said before it was done.