Mid-Century fashion was in high demand in Tennants Auctioneers’ Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale on 7th February, with vintage costume collectors and enthusiasts competing over a wide selection of lots. Notable results were seen for ladies’ costume from the 1940s and 1950s, such as a lot of Three Circa 1940s Suits, which sold for £380 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium), and from slightly later in the century a group lot of Circa 1970s Coloured Suede Separates, which sold for £400. Gents clothing, which appears at auction rather more seldomly, saw strong results including a Collection of 20th Century Gents Suits that sold for £700.
The top lot of the sale, however, was a 1980s Chanel Navy Quilted Should Bag, which sold for £1,700. The bag was part of the Greta Tomlinson Collection. Tomlinson was an artist and fashion designer best known for her work as an original artist on the beloved 1950s Eagle Magazine featuring ‘Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future’.
Selling well at £950 was a 19th Century Native American Cigar Case and Cover, embroidered with dyed moose hair depicting seated figures smoking pipes, birds and foliage. The case is typical of the work produced by the women of the Huron-Wendat area around the St Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. The case was previously owned by Sir Thomas George Fardell (1833-1917), who was the Conservative MP for Paddington South.
An Early 20th Century Large Steiff Jointed Monkey sold for £750. Monkeys appeared in Steiff’s first catalogue in 1892, and by 1909 the model, which is known as Jocko, had been redesigned to feature the hooded eyes, felt feet and hands as seen in the present example.
Having been in storage for more than fifty years was the Millinery Collection of Mary Cowsill, which consisted of 25 lots of hats, hat nets, trims, feathers, silk flowers, silk, velvets and other accessories. Mary (Pollie) Cowsill (circa 1880s-1970s), was born in mid-Wales, and went to Paris aged 20 to train in millinery. On her return, she moved to Withington, South Manchester, with her three sisters, buying a shop on the High Street, which she named ‘Cowsill’ and sold hats, clothing and accessories. Highlights of the collection included a Collection of Early 20th Century Millinery Flowers, which sold for £450.
Further notable lots included an Early 20th Century Chinese Embroidered Coat (sold for £360), and an unusual 19th Century Grödnertal Doll, which was modelled as a Cornish tin miner and sold together with accessories including faux Cornish pasties and pickaxes (sold for £450). A selection of modern quilts saw competitive bidding, too, and the top lots was a Modern Patchwork Quilt that was made using brightly coloured sari silks, which sold for £400. Fabric sample books from the 19th century continue to sell too, and an example dating from 1856-1857 sold for £550.
The sale achieved a total hammer price of £43,200 with an 94% sold rate for 228 lots.
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