Rare 18th Century Silk Shoes lead Costumes, Accessories & Textiles Sale

Antique costume led the Costume, Accessories and Accessories Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 9^th February, when two pairs of late 18^th century green silk shoes consigned from a private Cumbrian collection sold for £2,500 and £1,300 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). These rare shoes were joined by a late 18^th century silk open robe (sold for £850), and a silk sack back robe of the same date (sold for £750). Notable 19^th century lots included a red cage crinoline hooped underskirt, which sold for £1,800, and an early 19^th century possibly Indian white cotton muslin dress, which sold for £600.

Selling strongly throughout were a small collection of 19^th and early 20^th century Chinese embroidery and costume, which was collected by the late Dr Mary Cram (the vendor’s great aunt) when she was a Methodist medical missionary surgeon in the China in the 1930s. Not only was a female doctor, rare for the age, but she set out on the intrepid mission to China on her own for her first of two visits. She would meet her husband, a Methodist clergyman, in Wuhan where they married and had a son, John. Highlights of the collection included a 19^th century Chinese summer skirt (sold for £1,000), a 19^th century decorative Chinese red silk skirt (sold for £600), and an early 20^th century Chinese black silk coat and a similar jacket (sold for £1,000). Moving into the 20^th century, a stylish circa 1920s/30s evening coat in teal, black and gold sold for £1,400 against an estimate of £150-250.

Further highlights of the sale included interesting samplers, such as a framed York Quaker School alphabet sampler worked by Mary Ann Ross in 1796 (sold for £320), and a pictorial sampler worked in 1767 by Ann Spooner (sold for £600). A circa 1911 Steiff teddy bear in yellow mohair sold for £1,800, and good sewing accessories in the sale included a table top display cabinet for Dewhurst’s ‘Sylko Machine Twist’ cotton thread (sold for £400), and an early 29^th century Clark’s sewing cotton table top advertising cabinet (sold for £320).

Finally, a good collection of lace attracted attention from collectors, with highlights including a late 19^th century Brussels Point de Gaze lace handkerchief that was sold with two similar examples for £600, a late 19^th/early 20^th century Brussels applique lace flounce that sold for £500, and an early 20^th century lace dress that sold for £320.

The sale achieved a total hammer price of £54,290 with an 89% sold rate for 255 lots.

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