A host of interesting collections are set to star in the Fashion, Costume & Textiles Sale on 22nd November, offering rare 17th century embroidery, colourful 19th century shawls, family tartans and more.
Many of the earliest items in the sale come the collection of Peta Smyth, a leading London dealer in antique textiles who has closed the doors of her famed Pimlico shop after 45 years in the business, having counted amongst her illustrious clientele the most sought-after interior designers and top collectors. On offer in the sale are 18th and 19th century embroidery and tapestry pieces, fine quality 18th and 19th century passementerie or decorative fabric trimmings, and remnants of silks, velvets and more. Highlights include Late 18th and 19th Century Wool and Petit Point Tapestry Remnants (estimate: £150-250 all figures exclude buyer’s premium), and Assorted 19th Century Passementerie (estimate: £100-200).
Also on offer in the sale are colourful pieces from the Helen Hoyte Shawl Collection; Helen Hoyte MBE became an expert on the Norwich Shawl making industry during her retirement, rekindling interest in a forgotten chapter of history. She wrote and illustrated The Story of the Norwich Shawl in 2010, and gave numerous talks on the subject, showing her own shawls that she collected with a passion to demonstrate her points. Together with Pamela Clabburn, whose family had been involved in shawl making in Norfolk since the 19th century, Helen co-founded the Costume and Textiles Association to promote interest in the costume and textiles heritage of Norwich and Norfolk, and to encourage research into its various facets. Awarded an MBE in 2015 for her work in that field, she remained active in the association for the rest of her life as an honorary life president. Amongst the collection now up for sale are 19th century French and Norwich shawls, with estimates starting at £70-100, along with a Circa 1860s Paisley Wool Housecoat, possibly made from a Towler and Campion Norwich shawl (estimate: £120-180).
From a Private Sampler Collection are an array of stitched pieces from the 17th to the 19th century, which is led by 17th Century Chapman’s Embroidered Slips (estimate: £800-1,200). Following the Restoration of Charles II, the fashion for embroidery took off, and as it became more popular, haberdashers would sell ready made cut out embroidered motifs, known as slips, to be worked into domestic textiles by sewers at home. Slips were worked in wool or silk on a linen backing, before being carefully cut out ready to be sewn onto velvet or wool to decorate bed hangings, coverlets or cushions. The present set of slips, which include a female figure with her dog, flowerheads, insects, a stag and snail, a lion and a squirrel, were once in the possession of Vivian Crellin, a headmaster with a love of embroidery who wrote a book on the subject entitled Tokens of Love. Crellin conserved the slips, mounting them on silk taken from his wife’s wedding dress, and included them in his book.
Further highlights of the collection include a Circa 17th Century Embroidery (estimate: £700-1,000), and a Decorative Alphabet Verse Sampler worked by Sarah Cottingham, Dated 29 August 1766 (estimate: £400-600).
Finally, the sale will offer ‘Holly House’ a Circa 1890 Dolls House by Christian Hacker (estimate: £800-1,200). The house was made for Enid, Freda and Lois, the three daughters of Mr and Mrs Winkley of Addison House in Sutton, Hull, in the 1890s, and has remained in the same family ever since. Christian Hacker was established in Nuremberg in the 1830s and made fine dolls houses and miniature tableaus until the opening decades of the 20th century.
