Our first auction of the year is a bumper one - over 550 lots of vintage fashion, textiles and accessories – so hopefully something to interest everyone?
Stuck for something to wear to this year’s Met Gala Ball? Then look no further – see lot 183, the scarlet satin surrealist hat made to Karl Lagerfeld’s design by London milliner Kirstin Woodward in 1985. It is not only desirable as a wearable accessory but is also museum quality having previously been included in FIT’s Fashion & Surrealism exhibition, October 30, 1987-January 23, 1988. Isabelle Pascoe was photographed wearing a pink example for British Vogue, December, 1985. Vogue stated,
‘'A surreal trick of judgement with wild surmise. Surprise? Classic distortion, upholstery, plat du jour perch above the stark silhouette of something sexy and understated.'"
At Christmas, the fashion world lost its honorary Queen: Dame Vivienne Westwood and she is well represented in our sale. Highlights include Lot 160, the sleeved ‘Boucher’ corset, ‘Portrait’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1990-91, and Lot 184, which comprises a red velvet corset, ‘Harris Tweed’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1987-88 and rare ‘mini-crini’, Spring-Summer 1985. We even have a photograph showing the original beautiful owner wearing the corset, dancing the night away in the Kinky Gerlinky night club!
We offer the ‘Lucinda Portobello Collection, Part I’. Lucinda Alford was a major player in the London Vintage fashion scene for many decades. She was renowned for her exceptional eye and eclectic taste, which is evident throughout the rails filled with pretty 1930s floral chiffons, romantic Edwardian dresses, dreamy bohemian gowns and colourful prints, starkly contrasted by the brutal minimalism of pieces by one of Lucinda’s great loves: Martin Margiela.
Families gathering around their TV’s in the UK on Saturday nights during the 1960s would have been familiar with the Kaye Sisters who achieved huge fame during the late 50s and 60s with hits including 'Paper Roses’ and ‘Handed Down’. They performed in numerous Royal Command Performances at the London Palladium, as well as TV variety shows hosted by Max Bygraves and others. The three singers – Shan, Carole and Shiela, weren’t actually sisters but had matching blonde hairstyles to suggest a familial resemblance. Their preferred costumier was Douglas Darnell who also produced many of Shirley Bassey’s most glittering costumes. Shan Kaye’s razzle-dazzle stage outfits dripping in faux gems, shimmering with beads are lots 343-346.
We also feature a selection of fine antique costume & textiles from around the world, including Lot 554, a brocaded summer dragon robe - jifu, Chinese, circa 1900, Lot 539, an embroidered wool scarf, Zoroastrian, Yazd, Persia, 19th century.
We hope you enjoy browsing this sale as much as we have enjoyed creating it for you and look forward to assisting you with condition reports and bidding.
Morning session, lots 1-250, begins at 9.30am GMT. The afternoon session, lots 251-556, will begin at 2pm GMT.
For more information on how to bid, please click here. Live bidding is now possible via our website on sale day. In order to bid online, please ensure you have created an account with us and that your account is enabled for live bidding - new clients will need to email us a form of photo ID, proof of address and paid invoices from other auction houses where appropriate. Once you have created an account and have been approved to bid, please click the purple 'Pre-register for live bidding' button which will appear on the online catalogue before the sale. You then need to accept the terms and conditions to proceed. On the day of the sale, a button marked 'Bid live' will appear on the website and clicking this will allow you to access the live bidding platform. Please note that there is an additional 1.5% charge plus VAT for any lots won via our online bidding platform. Please also note that online bidding is automatically capped at £6,000 in total - if you envisage that you will exceed this amount, please contact us directly so we can remove the bidding cap - we may ask for further information from you before doing this.
Clients who prefer to bid via Invaluable still have this option and can access the catalogue here. Please note the charge for bidding online via the Invaluable platform is 3% plus VAT. We strongly advise that you register to bid in advance of the auction and not the day of, as we cannot guarantee approval once the auction has begun.
Lot 482 - An evening purse with novelty celluloid clasp, 1920s
Sold for £195
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 483 - A Beer shades of pink chiffon dress, 1920-1922
Sold for £520
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 484 - A Maison Worth couture ivory velvet evening dress, circa 1920
Sold for £195
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 485 - A blue chiffon beaded gown, early 1920s
Sold for £416
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 486 - A Marshall & Snelgrove black and silver satin cape, 1920s
Sold for £156
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 487 - A group of Gazette du Bon Ton fashion plates, mainly 1912-13
Sold for £286
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 488 - A Liberty & Co. chinoiserie embroidered ivory silk robe, circa 1910
Sold for £338
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 489 - A striped cotton dress, probably for a Suffragette, circa 1917
Sold for £2,470
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 490 - A group of Edwardian summer whites, 1900-1910s
Sold for £546
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 491 - A group of summer fashions, 1905-1910s
Sold for £520
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 493 - A group of white cotton blouses and lingerie, 1900-1910s
Sold for £780
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 494 - A group of black garments, 1880s-1910s
Sold for £546
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 495 - A Bourniche of Paris Irish crochet bodice, circa 1905
Sold for £572
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 497 - A group of mainly cotton clothing, mainly 1900-1910s
Sold for £780
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 498 - A pair of gold leather lace-up boots, 20th century reproduction of an Edwardian style
Sold for £156
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 500 - A large group of fashion and textiles books in a variety of topics, modern
Sold for £130
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 501 - Twelve fashion books on the great couturiers, modern
Sold for £338
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 502 - A group of fashion books, mainly on late 20th century designers, modern
Sold for £845
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 503 - Twelve fashion books on a variety of topics, modern
Sold for £156
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 504 - Two gentlemen's waistcoats, 19th century
Sold for £975
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 505 - A group of mainly black clothing, 1880s-1910s
Sold for £585
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 507 - A good buff linen summer jacket, probably for bicycling, circa 1895
Sold for £24,700
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 508 - A group of black clothing, 1890s-1910s
Sold for £845
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 509 - A good floral printed cotton dress, circa 1880
Sold for £455
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 511 - A coat of bottle-green soutache braid, 1910s
Sold for £455
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 512 - A velvet wedding jacket and skirt, Ottoman Empire, circa 1870
Sold for £650
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 514 - A pair of wedding shoes and a bodice, 1868
Sold for £364
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 516 - Three girl/adolescent printed cotton summer dresses, early 1860s
Sold for £260
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 517 - A changeant-silk brocaded dress, circa 1855
Sold for £416
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 518 - A group of lingerie and whitework garments, 1830s-1920s
Sold for £780
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 519 - A good printed wool day dress, late 1830s-early 1840s
Sold for £520
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 522 - A stole or flounce of Brussels needle lace appliqué, late 19th century
Sold for £260
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 523 - A good flounce of Honiton appliqué, 1860s
Sold for £468
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 523A - A pair of white-worked lawn engageants, late 18th century
Sold for £130
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 525 - Two good Brussels application dress flounces, late 19th century
Sold for £468
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 526 - An embroidered pelmet panel, Italian or Portugese, late 17th-early 18th century
Sold for £416
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 529 - A group of 18th-century floral silk brocades
Sold for £260
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 530 - A crewel-work calico curtain/panel, 1920s or 30s
Sold for £312
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 531 - A man's Bisht robe, Saudi Arabia, late 19th-early 20th century
Sold for £234
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 534 - An interesting group of textiles/bags, mainly early 20th century
Sold for £338
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 536 - An embroidered muslin panel, Algerian, Ottoman, 18th century
Sold for £845
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 537 - An embroidered muslin panel, Algerian, Ottoman, early 19th century
Sold for £715
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 538 - An embroidered dress and waistcoat, Ionnina, Greece, Ottoman Empire, late 19th century
Sold for £390
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 539 - An embroidered wool scarf, Zoroastrian, Yazd, Persia, 19th century
Sold for £2,210
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 540 - Two Afghan beaded wedding hats, late 20th century
Sold for £260
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 541 - An embroidered red satin chang-fu, Chinese, circa 1900
Sold for £1,560
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 542 - An embroidered black satin robe, Chinese for the European market, circa 1910
Sold for £1,170
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 543 - An embroidered red satin chang-fu, Chinese, circa 1900
Sold for £1,105
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 544 - An embroidered blue damask chang-fu, Chinese, circa 1900
Sold for £780
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 545 - A Cantonese embroidered burgundy satin panel, Chinese for the European market, 1920s
Sold for £650
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 549 - An embroidered white silk chang-fu, Chinese, circa 1900
Sold for £1,300
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 550 - A group of Chinese textiles, 19th century
Sold for £1,105
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 551 - An embroidered ivory silk skirt, Chinese, 1920s
Sold for £546
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 552 - A blue satin surcoat, Chinese, early 20th century
Sold for £975
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 553 - A dark blue satin surcoat, Chinese, late 19th Century
Sold for £1,170
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 554 - A brocaded summer dragon robe - jifu, Chinese, circa 1900
Sold for £2,210
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 555 - A group of Chinese clothing dating from the1960s
Sold for £312
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
Lot 556 - A brown satin dragon robe, Chinese, early 20th century
Sold for £2,860
Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)
