“Men in the 18th century were peacocks,” said Sotheby’s Olympia textile specialist Kerry Taylor. “They wanted to cut a dash and were not afraid to cover themselves with floral swags and sequins so they could twinkle in the candlelight.”
An 18th century aristocratic lady would have had to go to considerable expense to outshine the male owner of this lavish blood-red velvet suit embellished with silver brocade, gold and silver raised work and sequins, shown here. Reputedly worn by the diplomat who negotiated peace with the American colonies, Lord Alleyne Fitzherbert (1753-1839), it is one of the 300 or so multiple textile lots from the Castle Howard collection being offered at Sotheby’s Olympia (20/12% buyer’s premium) in their 325-lot Antique Costume and Textiles sale on October 7. It comes with hopes of £10,000-15,000.
The Castle Howard holding is the largest British colIection of period costume and comprises thousands of textiles dating from the 17th century through to 1975. It will be split into two sales, with the 20th
century costume to be auctioned on November 27. The collection was built by the vendor’s father, George Howard, who began buying in 1965, predominantly from Sotheby’s and Christie’s, but a lack of adequate facilities to store and display the textiles led to Simon Howard’s decision to disperse the collection.
Estimates range from £150 to £35,000 and include museum-quality works such as a rare cloth-of-gold doublet, British, late 1640s or early 1650s, possibly made to wear at a wedding or a royal occasion and with a £25,000-35,000 guideline, and decorative works such as a pair of exquisitely embroidered ivory satin ankle boots by Parisienne shoemaker F. Pinet, c.1870, and estimated at £600-800.
Entries belonging to famous historical characters include a taffeta and crepe mourning gown, English, 1898, worn by Queen Victoria, with a £3000-5000 guideline, and a quirky pair of ankle boots reputedly belonging to Mrs Disraeli, c.1860, expected to fetch £400-600.
Preview of velvet suit coming up at Sotheby's
Fashionably-clad women queuing to try on the new season’s must-haves is a common enough sight in any high street clothes shop, but in the late 18th century men gave as much thought to their appearance as the fairer sex.
