MALACHITE, MEISSEN, MOSCOW
by Brook S. Mason



There’s a surprising new group of antiques fanciers trolling the aisles of the grande dame of antiques fairs, the Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair, this week. And a trove of dealers have trimmed up their stands to lure them. A number of them are betting that malachite, that vivid pea green stone mined in the Urals, along with 18th century Italian gilt furniture, gleaming gold boxes studded with emeralds and rubies, and Meissen porcelain are the new must-haves for flocks of Russians and Catherine the Great wannabes at the 74th annual event held through June 18, 2008, at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

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