Tasha Tudor's Costume Collection in New Hope, Pa.
It's late Fall in the East. We might wake to a wonderful day of late Indian summer. But we might just as well see a light snow upon the ground in the morning.
The weather for the Whitaker-Augusta auction in New Hope, Pa., November 11 was fine and sunny - and a little chilly around the edges. As you may know, Charles Whitaker and Karen Augusta spent nearly two years preparing for this auction of Tasha Tudor's extensive collection of costumes. The auction drew viewers and buyers from many places. Some came to examine the garments on Friday and Saturday. A hundred people gathered in the New Hope fire house for Sunday's auction action.
Whitaker first explained the difficulty he and Augusta experienced in assigning pre-sale estimates to the collection. As it turned out, estimates tended to run high of actual sale prices. It could have been the price of oil; perhaps people are feeling more guarded about the money they spend. But many garments with a presale estimate in the thousands sold for a few hundred dollars. And then, of course, there were wonderful surprises !
This was a collection. You've seen quite a few of the Tudor dresses in Richard Brown's photographs. What you may not have seen were the many undergarments, children's pants, dresses and shirts, and significant selections of men's clothing. The men's clothes, in fact, commanded the best prices of the sale, with strong telephone bidders winning the best pieces. Lot 292, an American gentleman's cotton tailcoat brought the highest price at $18,000 against a $4-6,000 estimate. And 284 a gentleman's white cotton jacket - both garments date before the Civil War - realized $14,000 against a $2-2500 catalog estimate. A pair of early 19th century English leather pants (lot 335) realized $3750. On the other hand, a late 19th century naval officer's bi-corn (280) sold for $140; its estimate was $500-$1000. All these prices carried at least a 15% buyer's premium - higher for eBay bidders.
Most of the ladies' dresses sold in the $1000 area - moving up and down the scale. The large gown ( lot 216) from the 1830s that Tasha is wearing on page 8 of The Private World of Tasha Tudor bested both the auction average and the pre-sale estimate. The hammer price was $7000. This is the same dress painted on the Conner Prairie poster from 1991. The highest dress price of the day came to a beautiful green changeant silk from the 1840s; hammer price was $16,000 against a high estimate of $5000.
Many accessories rounded out the auction. A pair of lady's gaiter boots, 1840s, sold for $190. A large embroidered Kashmiri cloak sold at $700. One late 19th century corset (lot 197) hammered at $1000; its near twin (lot 198) sold for $225. Two sil bonnets (lot 185) sold for $50. A selection of pelerines sold around $500 each. Toward the end of the auction as everyone tired a number of caps and petticoats sold between $20 and $60. The auction ended on a strong note: a 12" linen handkerchief with a wide lace border sold for $120 against a high estimate of $100. We have the catalog available with an insert of the prices realized.
The catalog is $45. Shipping via our normal Priority Mail USPS service is $5.00 for this item only.
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