Palampore Curtains Sell for £13,000

A rare pair of 18^th/19^th Century Palampore Decorative Curtains sold for an astounding £13,000 in the Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale on 22^nd November at Tennants Auctioneers in North Yorkshire (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). The curtains were formerly in the family collection of the Late Robert Bogdan of Barra Castle, Aberdeen, and were one of many outstanding lots of textiles from the estate sold in the sale. Palampore textiles were handmade in India, often on the Coromandel Coast, predominantly for the export market and they commonly featured complex patterns rich with plants, flowers and animals. Made with fragile, lightweight fabric, very few examples from the period survive today, leading to the fierce bidding battle for the present pair.

Robert Bogdan (1950-2023), who in 2019 became the chairman of the Scottish Castles Association, loved nothing better in his retirement from teaching at Charterhouse than to scramble over the wilder parts of Scotland looking for castle ruins and Scottish tower houses. Through his mother, he was descended from the Aberdeenshire Lairds of Drum, Kemnay, Straloch and Barra, and for nearly four decades the Bogdan family lived in Barra Castle in Aberdeenshire. The collection consisted of textiles accumulated by his Scottish and Russian ancestors.

Further notable lots from his collection included a Large 18^th Century Kashmir Cream Wool Shawl, woven with a red and pink paisley pattern (sold for £4,200), a Pair of William Morris ‘Tulip and Rose’ Pattern Curtains (sold for £1,500), an 18^th Century Floral Embroidered Bed Cover (sold for £950), and a group of Early 20^th Century Indian and Ottoman Textiles (sold for £1,000).

Further highlights from other vendors in the sale included an Early 20^th Century Chinese Red Silk Robe, which sold for £4,800, Two Late 19^th Century Bathing Costumes, which sold for £750, and a Brussels Lace Wedding Veil, which sold well at £750.

Also on offer in the sale were items from 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. Notable results were achieved for the likes of Collection of Late 18^th/Early 19^th Century Crewelwork and Embroidery Remnants, which sold for £750.

The sale achieved a total hammer price of £77,190 with an 88% sold rate for 277 lots.

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