Will antique samplers spell success in sale?

Three rare 19th-century samplers made by girls at a Bristol orphanage, will be sold in Tennants Auctioneers’ Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale on August 16.

Needlework would have been a significant element of a girl’s meagre education in an orphanage, teaching skills that they would need to find employment in a household, and samplers would have been a portable demonstration of their skills.  

The present samplers were worked by girls at Ashley Down, Bristol, an extraordinary institution. At a time when there were very few orphanages and the only alternative was the workhouse, George Müller (1805-1898), a Christian preacher, built a vast orphanage from donations that would care for over 10,000 children in his lifetime. Müller gave his charges an education well beyond what was expected, kept the girls until they were 16 or 17 and made sure they had a position to go to before they left.

The Ashley Down samplers follow a model that makes them instantly recognisable. Most often using red thread on pale linen, the girls worked the alphabet in different fonts across the top and personalised the bottom with a range of motifs, both characteristic of the school and of their own design. The examples now up for sale were worked by ‘A F Broton’, estimated at £1,500-2,500; ‘Emily’, estimated at £1,500-2,500; and ‘EB’, with an estimate of £300-500. From the same private collection is a good 18th-century Aubusson verdue tapestry, depicting a bird surrounded by a pastoral landscape, estimated at £1,000-1,500.  

Elsewhere in the sale, two 19th-century quilts from a private collection include an early 19th-century patchwork bedcover incorporating the grandmother’s flower garden pattern and initialled and dated 1800, estimated at £600-1,000, and a 19th-century patchwork quilt with a beautifully preserved, vibrant and colourful central hand-embroidered panel with birds and floral motifs and signed ‘Ann Walker’s Work 1827’, estimated at £600-1,000.  

Amongst a number of good North Country quilts is a late 19th-century Elizabeth Sanderson pink and white ‘star’ quilt, estimated at £250-350.  

The sale will also include the collection of the late Mrs Jean Hoyle, who had a passion for collecting all things feminine. Over the course of fifty years, she collected a glittering array of lady’s decorative costume accessories including fans, buttons and buckles dating from the late 18th century to the middle of the 20th century. Highlights of the collection include a set of six Jugendstil turquoise buttons made by Theodor Fahrner, a trained steel engraver and jewellery designer from Germany who was known for his Art Nouveau and Jugendstil pieces, which were produced at affordable prices. They were made by Fahrner for retail by Murrle Bennet & Co. and will be sold with an estimate of £200-300.  

An array of antique and vintage costume from circa 1810 to the mid-20th century includes such highlights as a Christys’ London black silk top hat in a fitted leather hat case, estimated at £250-350, and a late 19th-century cream silk wedding outfit, made by Ralph Richman of Park Street, Walsall, estimate of £200-300. The sale will also offer a range of modern designer costume and accessories, including pieces by desirable labels such as Chanel, Mulberry, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent and Balmain.