While La Bisbal d’Empordà is an undisputed point of reference for antiques and design products, Antic&Design Empordà has restructured from a biennial fair to become a brand that connects the sector’s leading examples to the local region. Antic&Design Empordà, with its epicentre firmly set in La Bisbal, offers a wide range of antique dealers, art restorers, second-hand dealers, artisans, and an extensive array of diverse products. The project, showcased on the website we are unveiling today, provides a catalogue that brings together everything innovative yet antique, with harmonious pairings that combine eclecticism and minimalism, history and modernity, past and present, interior design and decoration, and art and antiquity. Aficionados and collectors will find a collection of the most exclusive products in the sector from antiques dealers, second-hand dealers, design, and art here in Antic&Design Empordà.
The great tradition of second-hand and antique dealers in La Bisbal d’Empordà is no accident; its roots lie in the local furniture making tradition that dates back three centuries. The Empordà region experienced extensive industrialization and economic expansion during the 18th century. Local families decided to make the best of that grand era to decorate and furnish their homes. They welcomed friends and acquaintances in magnificently appointed settings, coming together in social gatherings, meetings, parties, and concerts frequently organized in private houses. The artisans of that era applied all their expertise to craft the decorations desired by the families in the region. They used local materials: boxwood, lemon wood, orange wood, cherry wood and, as the clear star of the show, walnut.
After years of hard work, artisans used the local materials from the land, establishing and developing a truly local Empordà furniture style with fully defined, similar lines and characteristics. Starting in the 1960s, the charm of restoring and recovering nearly 300-year-old furniture led to workshops and stores opening in La Bisbal d’Empordà and the surrounding areas to be able to keep this spirit alive and thriving. The 18th century furniture from the Empordà and the town’s long-standing tradition of antiques dealers have made La Bisbal a city of antique dealers. The artisans of La Bisbal offer elegant restoration for all types of objects: lamps, carpets, clocks, paintings, sculptures, hunting tools, antique machinery, and furniture, among others.
The times have changed. Today the sector hosts an eclectic mix of art, design, second-hand dealers, and antique dealers. In line with today’s trends, Antic&Design Empordà now brings together more than twenty establishments from La Bisbal and the surrounding areas. Promoted by the Municipal Government of La Bisbal d’Empordà, the initiative strives for growth as it aims to reinforce the sector’s brand in the area and consolidate it as an undisputed benchmark in the sector.
