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GLOBAL TRADING: FLEA MARKETS

TREASURE HUNTERS | June 1st 2008

Five outdoor sites for a bargain ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Spring 2008

SAN TELMO, BUENOS AIRES

Based in an energetic, bohemian neighbourhood just south of downtown, Buenos Aires's signature Sunday flea market specialises in antiques--art-deco wardrobes are particularly popular. But the merchandise runs the gamut, from the traditional fileteado-style signs so emblematic of the city, to modern bohemian clothing. Even if you leave empty-handed, it's worth the trip to hear classical music played by youthful street orchestras. ~ DAN ROSENHECK
Corner of Calle Defensa and Humberto I, Buenos Aires; www.feriadesantelmo.com. Sunday, 10am-5pm.

SUNBURY ANTIQUES MARKET, MIDDLESEX

Many British dealers source from Sunbury's vast range of beautiful French Furniture (from Georgian up to contemporary), antique toys, comics, prints and oil paintings. The stallholders are an attraction in themselves, with more characters than you can shake an ormolu candlestick at. But not all will deliver, so take a car with a large boot. ~ HELENA SMITH
Kempton Park racecourse, Middlesex; www.kemptonantiques.com. Second and final Tuesday of each month, 6.30am-2pm.

HELL'S KITCHEN, NEW YORK

Devotees who mourn Chelsea market--displaced a few years back by an apartment block--now rummage in Hell's Kitchen, browsing through racks of vintage flapper dresses, piles of rare books, bags, belts and jewellery, from chunky African beads to delicate brooches. "I love it out here," says Peter, a stallholder presiding over a stack of curios which include an Edison cylinder-player and a dinosaur egg. ~ EMILY BOBROW
39th Street, between 9th & 10th Aves, New York; hellskitchenfleamarket.com. Saturday and Sunday, all day.

ROSE BOWL, CALIFORNIA

Once a month, some 2,500 vendors form a mini-city around Pasadena's vast football stadium. Stalls divide into three: new items (handmade candles, woollen tea-cosies), collectables (early daguerreotypes, 1930s lunchboxes), and used clothing (Nike Air Force Ones, vintage Levi's). Dedicated foragers arrive at 5am, and don't mind paying $20 entry for an early-bird pick of the goods. ~ SARA WILSON
Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, CA; www.rgcshows.com. Second Sunday in the month.

PORTE DE VANVES, PARIS

Hugging two sides of a sports ground in the residential 14th arrondissement, low-key Vanves is a bijou, antiques-only alternative to Paris's vast Clignancourt market to the north. Under a canopy of acacia trees, 380 covered stalls, are stacked bough high with bric-a-brac. It's a vibrant, friendly place to browse and chat, particularly if you're after homeware: a crystal decanter, silver coffee-pot or champagne bucket, or antique embroidered sheets and pillow cases in heavy white linen and cotton. Look out for African wood-carvings and beautifully bound rare books--such as an 1861 Norvin's "History of Napoleon" for £180. ~ SARAH DALLAS
Aves Marc Sangnier & Georges Lafenestre, Paris 75014; www.pucesdevanves.typepad.com. Saturday and Sunday, 7am-1pm.

Photographs by Alamy, Gerard Grech, Helena Smith

(Sarah Dallas is deputy multimedia editor of The Economist. Her past Global Trading round-ups include stationers and patisseries)