Vintage Fashion & Textiles

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

While one of the Textile Society’s important functions is holding fairs, another is its annual awards and bursaries, including a professional development award.

This damask towel measuring 3ft 5in x 2ft 5in (1m x 75cm) and decorated with wreaths of fleur de lys and a central bouquet of roses will feature in Osenat’s La Royauté à Versailles auction, to be held in Versailles on April 5.

A UK-based design studio trio last year took over the UK licence to the archive of Florence Broadhurst, an Australian designer whose whirlwind life came to a tragic end in 1977.

The latest staging of The London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair was marked by strong sales of carpets and fewer big-ticket sales, according to organiser and exhibitor Aaron Nejad.

An early 17th century Limoges enamel draw purse attracted a flurry of bids at Chorley’s Attic Sale in Gloucestershire. Set with period portraits of a lady on one side and a gentleman on the other, the accessory has remained intact for about 400 years – in most examples the fabric has deteriorated significantly.

While items of Queen Victoria’s clothing are not a rare sight at auction, a collection on offer in Derbyshire proved of high enough quality to attract bidding from a world-famous collection of royal dress.

Another new fair launch, this time from Pop Up Vintage Fairs.

To celebrate the centenary this year of the Roaring Twenties, Sharon Blagrove of Bentleys Fairs is adding a second themed 1920s event in Sussex to her portfolio this year.

Bonhams has bolstered its luxury division by launching a dedicated handbag and fashion department.

The London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair (LARTA) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year on the mezzanine of the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea Park.

A sale of art and antiques from a Worcestershire manor house included the rare appearance at auction of two examples of Opus Anglicanum.

This rare sampler, just 6in (15cm) across, was completed by a girl from the Queens Orphan School in Van Diemen’s Land (the island of Tasmania) in 1838.

Collectors who missed out on a rare late 19th century cabin trunk at auction last week have the chance to buy another in West Sussex this coming Friday.

Launched in Norfolk 10 years ago by local Zoe Keegan, the Little Vintage Lover Fairs team will be back at the same venue where it all started in the pretty coastal village of Blakeney for the winter Christmas fair on Sunday, December 1, at the village hall.

Thirty of the top textiles and tribal art dealers will be exhibiting at the 'London Antique Textiles & Tribal Art Fair' at the Hilton Olympia in Kensington High Street on Sunday, November 10.