Vintage Fashion & Textiles

A bowler hat that once belonged to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria will go under the hammer at Dorotheum on October 19 in the sale of imperial court memorabilia and historical objects in Vienna.

Mayfair gallery fashions an innovative method of exhibiting works from the 1950s-80s.

Meg Andrews was as disappointed as many others by the cancellation due to the pandemic of the Textile Society’s antique and vintage textiles fair at Chelsea Town Hall earlier this month.

An auction record for Grayson Perry’s (b.1960) 'Britain is Best', a limited edition coloured embroidery depicting five loyalists from East Belfast, was set at Phillips (25% buyer’s premium) in London on September 10.

This handwoven tapestry by Czech designer and architect Josef Místecký (1891-1957) is offered at Galerie Ulrich Fiedler’s exhibition Textile Moderne, which features Avant Garde carpets and textiles by European makers.

An unexpected but welcome entry to Bonhams’ latest sale of Fine Books, Atlases, Manuscripts & Historical Photographs was a pair of 17th century linen, leather and black silk shoes.

Estimated at just £30-50, a late 19th century sampler sold via thesaleroom.com for £1850 at Wotton Auction Rooms (18% buyer’s premium) in Gloucestershire. A clue to the appeal is the inscription 'M Mountain, 5 Orphan House, Ashley Down, Bristol, 1879'.

Personal items that belonged to Marie-Antoinette were the highlights of Osenat’s (20.83/18% buyer’s premium) themed sale titled Royalty at Versailles.

This couture gown, sold for £360 at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium), was once owned by the woman who hosted the wedding of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor.

This late 19th century surcoat or longgua, finely embroidered in silk and gold thread with eight dragon roundels, was originally worn by a high-ranking woman at the Chinese Imperial court.

'Calyx (Blue)', a 1951 textile by Lucienne Day (1917-2010), sprouts with Modernist forms. Its colourful, flower-like shapes hint at the mobiles of Alexander Calder or the biomorphs of Joan Miro.

Following the raft of recent Covid-19 cancellations, The Antique Dealers’ Association of America (ADA) is seeking to help its members with an online antiques exhibition.

Contents of Palladian home in County Durham provide showpiece auction in Newbury

Although often overshadowed by her famous father William, May Morris (1862-1938) was herself an important figure in the British Arts & Crafts movement.

The recent auction held ‘live online’ by Aldridges of Bath included this spectacular hand-woven north Indian long shawl, or dochalla. It came with a colonial provenance.

As a young man in the 1960s, British creative designer Anthony Redmile (b.1937) took the London interior design scene by storm. Although his work was hugely eclectic, he became best known for his quirky designs taken from the animal kingdom.

Long unseen material from the country home of an ancient English family brought some estimate-demolishing five-figure bids at Morphets (17.5% buyer’s premium) including a genuine sleeper.

One of the highlights of a busy week in the salerooms came at Dreweatts’ auction of the Sir William Whitfield (1920-2019) collection.