Three rare 19th century samplers made by girls at a Bristol orphanage were in demand in Tennants Auctioneers’ Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale on 16th August. Hailing from a private collection, the samplers were worked by 'A F Broton' (sold for £4,500 all figures exclude. buyer's premium), 'Emily' (sold for £1,600), and 'EB' (sold for £750).
The samplers were all worked by girls at Ashley Down, Bristol, an extraordinary orphanage set up by the Christian preacher George Müller, who believed in making sure all his charges were properly equipped with skills to help them find employment when they left the institution, including needlework. From the same private collection was a good 18th Century Aubusson Verdue Tapestry, depicting a bird surrounded by a pastoral landscape (sold for £1,800). From another vendor came a Late 17th/Early 18th Century White and Cutwork Band Sampler, which sold for £1,400.
Two good 19th century quilts from a private collection attracted competitive bidding to sell well above estimate; an Early 19th Century Patchwork Bedcover incorporating the Grandmother’s Flower Garden pattern and initialled and dated 1800 sold for £2,500, and a 19th Century Patchwork Quilt with a beautifully preserved, vibrant and colourful central hand-embroidered panel with birds and floral motifs and signed ‘Ann Walker’s Work 1827’ sold for £3,800.
Strong prices were achieved for lace, too, with a Late 19th Century Point de Gaze Lace Flounce of floral design sold for £1,500. Selling well, too, was a Late 18th/Early 19th Century Carved Wood Polychrome Joined Doll, which according to an accompanying note, had been ‘purchased from a street market in Amalfi, Italy’ (sold for £950). It was said to have come from a nearby convent, where it had been the Virgin Mary in a crib, and had notes addressed to the Virgin stuffed in the waistcoat as intercessions.
Gentlemen’s antique and vintage costume and accessories, which come to auction less frequently, sold well, with two black silk top hats in brown leather boxes selling for £550, and a group lot of thirteen pieces of Gent’s Early 20th Century and Later Costume selling for £600. Good antique and vintage womenswear achieved good prices throughout, led by two groups of assorted 1930s and later evening wear, which sold for £900 and £550, and a group of printed cotton dresses from the 1950s, which sold for £450.
The sale achieved a total hammer price of £66,100 with a 94% sold rate for 245 lots.
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