Antique Costume and Textiles Auction

Once again, life has been keeping me very busy! Earlier in the year I was working on a Vintage Fashion Auction for Dreweatts and Bloomsbury. Following the sale, life was fairly quiet for a couple of weeks until the phone started ringing again.

One of the calls led me to visit a beautiful old house in Somerset where time had stood still for a very long time. I was asked to assess the value of the contents of dozens of old cardboard shop boxes from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Inside the boxes were sumptuous dresses, coats, skirts, shoes, parasols, oriental costumes, fans, hats, lace and textiles. There was even a photograph of a lady wearing one of the costumes in the early part of last century. The family had an interest in amateur dramatics, so the costumes had been used for plays and of course dressing up over the years at house parties.

Above is an amazing 1920s gold dress which came from the house and was worn at Court. It is now destined for the Collectors Sale at Dreweatts saleroom in Apsley road, Bristol on Tuesday 17th July. The catalogue is available on-line here

As with the previous auction I have been involved in promoting the sale. These are some of the images from the photo shoot we did a few weeks ago. What better place to choose than Heartfelt, the prettiest shop in Clifton!

Please note that some of the accessories belong to Heartfelt and are not for sale at auction.

Photography is by Evie from Karezona and Phil of Maclean photography who can be contacted via these links.

Make up was by the lovely and talented  Louise Mackintosh (07890 407 901) and the styling was by the fabulous Mandy Hawkins at Heartfelt (0117 904 2898) 32 Alma Vale Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2HY

 The models gave their time, and were rewarded with tea and cake which is served daily at the shop. They can be contacted via Mandy should you need the ideal gals for a vintage photo shoot!

As well as the "Country House collection" the auction will include items from other private vendors and collections. Below is a hat box believed to have belonged to the famous and extraordinary Duchess of Argyll

Another vendor has consigned her late mother's collection of Hermes accessories, a Chanel suit along with another by Balenciaga. The sale will also include vintage children's costume, lingerie, evening bags and compacts. Do email me at lhasselt@dnfa.com with any questions regarding the sale.

A visit to Whitewick, Bournville and a grave yard!

This week I have been away for a much overdue visit to this fantastic National Trust house in the Midlands.
For years I have known of the existence of  Whitewick Manor, and thanks to my son for getting us organised we managed to get there at long last.

The gardens are breathtaking, the small lake is the perfect feature, so serene with the reflection of the shrubs and flowers.

The house was built in 1887, then extended in 1893. Theodore Mander and his wife chose to furnish the house in the Arts and Crafts style, and it remains as a rare example of a house of that time that is virtually unchanged.

Despite its romantic facade, it was in fact one of the very first homes to have electric lighting. The plumbing would have been considered very modern and it also had "central heating".

Sadly, we were unable to take any photos of the inside of the house. The rooms were sumptuous with silk and paper wall coverings by William Morris. His textiles adorn window seats, chairs, beds and windows. My favourite rooms were the day and night nursery with its hand painted decorations, toys and nursery curtains and bed covers.

Every room had beautiful tiled fireplaces, many by William de Morgan, and there were superb paintings from some of the leading artists from that time and earlier.

Next stop was the Bournville "model village" which was built by the Cadbury Family in the late 19th to early 20th century for the factory workers. They were concerned with the health and fitness of their work force, so playing fields, bowling greens and swimming pools were also built.

I loved this row of shops (above) with its interesting roof-line and lack of colourful "modern" advertisements. It was just like walking along a high street in the 1930s.

Within the estate was this beautiful (and much older) building which the Cadbury family moved to the area in the late 19th century. The stunning Selly Manor - sadly closed that day, so we couldn't explore it.

The slightly austere exterior of the Meeting House, just off the Bournville Green (above) and the Rest House which was based on the design of the Yarn Market in Dunster, Somerset.

....and last, but not least a visit to a beautiful and extremely atmospheric graveyard in Harborne

Footpaths criss-cross the area and bluebells and wild garlic are in abundance! Hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into our enjoyable day off from work!

Home sales....

Last year I attended this "Home Sale" in Taunton.

A good friend holds one of these every now and then, and they are always fun and there are certainly lots of tempting things to buy.

Bronia is holding a sale on the 10th and 11th of June. If you want to attend, just give Bronia a call on 07760 392518 for an invitation and directions.

Above is a tantalising view into her garage, which is set up as a shop!

Avington Brocante

Yesterday was The annual Avington Brocante. This really was a special event, helped of course by the weather.. the location.. and of course the amazing collection of stall holders gathered together by Chloe.

Below is our stand as we were setting up in the cool early morning mist.......

The row of outside stands taking shape.....

We were next to Ken and Jonathan, whose stand looked fabulous as always!

Much later in the day once the shoppers had trundled home with arms full of booty!

What I enjoyed about the fair was the diversity of unusual and truly beautiful stands..... I could have happily bought this funky bus.

Inside the house and orangery were more stands.....

Ali was there (above) and Jo. Their stands complimented each other beautifully don't you think?

The parklands shimmering in the sunshine with the sound of peacocks calling in the background......

This was a truly wonderful day, and well worth putting in your diary as a "not to miss event" next year.

..part 2......

After a blustery and damp couple of days at the amazing Decorative Fair at Eridge Park in Kent.. it was time to hop onto a night ferry to France....after just 5 hours slumber.. we were woken by opera music on the intercom and it was all feeling like a bad dream!

6 am in France and on the road again to see what we could find at the fairs in Brittany for starters.....

As always I like to snap interesting buildings on our travels. This immaculate school was built in 1959 - but with clean lines of an Art Deco building from the 1930s.

Soon after that the scruffy Doc Marten boots were alongside some textiles and costume crying out for a rummage!

.....then onwards to the Depo vente - a cavernous barn full of crazy finds and a fair amount of woodworm!

Another interesting structure to take a pic of. This was a duck house.. or a dolls house? Hard to tell, but would have loved to bring it home. Not sure the park keeper would have approved.

This building (below) was on a much bigger scale, a ruin of a 12th century abbey of breathtaking proportions. sadly it was closed that day, but we intend to return sometime over the summer to have a really good look at it.

So, after all those miles and all that rummaging (or truffling as Simply Chateau would call it) it was time to get back home and to settle down for a photo shoot of our finds...

 As you can see, the cats were very pleased to see us and wanted to join in the fun!

 A lot of these new French finds will be coming with us to the Avington Brocante on Thursday 24th May and then onwards to The Vintage and Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury on Saturday 26th of May.

As you may have noticed, there is a bit of a Patriotic theme of red, white and blue! It is funny how that can happen without consciously searching for a certain look.