Founded in 1974, LAPADA vets every object on its Berkeley Square stands before the doors open, backed by a trade body that can expel a dealer who cannot substantiate one.
More than eighty dealers in art, antiques and design show at LAPADA’s autumn fair in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, from Tuesday 27 October to Sunday 1 November 2026. The fair takes the square twice a year.
LAPADA, the Association of Art and Antique Dealers, was founded in 1974 and is now the largest body of professional dealers in Britain. It belongs to CINOA, the confederation most national dealers’ associations sit under.
Membership is by examination. An applicant is proposed, examined and held to a published code of practice, and a member who breaks it can be expelled from the trade body.
Before the doors open, a specialist committee of seventy people, drawn from across the disciplines, examines every object offered. Anything that cannot be substantiated comes off the stand. A buyer does not need the expertise to authenticate a piece alone.
The exhibitors cover art, antiques, design and the decorative arts, from jewellery and silver to carpets and clocks. Prices run from £500 to well past £500,000, so a first purchase and a serious collection can start at the same stand. The association also publishes collectors’ guides alongside its member list.