Leading the auction was this Issey Miyake Staircase dress, one of five lots from the late couturier to reach the upper bids; it sold for $7,813 ($1,2/1,500).

Review by Z.G. Burnett

BELLOWS FALLS, VT. — On February 12, Augusta Auctions conducted its annual Vintage for Valentines online auction via the firm’s own bidding platform and LiveAuctioneers. It was a good thing, too, as winter weather hit New England with full force before and after the holiday. Three main consignors, including The Valentine Museum, The International Quilt Museum and a private haute couture collector, provided most of the 225 lots that dated from the early Eighteenth Century to the first decades of the Twentieth Century. With all lots selling successfully to buyers in the United States and abroad, the auction totaled $157,563.

The star designer of Vintage for Valentines was Issey Miyake (Japanese, 1938-2022), whose work is known for innovative manipulation of fabrics using pleats, unusual materials and geometric patterns to create almost futuristic silhouettes and styles. One of Miyake’s most recognizable designs was a signature black mock neck shirt, bought in multiples and worn each day by Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Five of the 24 Miyake lots consigned by a single collector achieved some of the auction’s highest prices, led by a 2003 convertible Staircase dress from the brand’s “White Label” women’s line. In excellent condition, the vertically pleated dress resembled a steppe pyramid when extended and an almost insect-like profile when allowed to fall naturally. Miyake was known for these “staircase pleats,” which became hallmarks of his seasonal collections beginning in the 1990s. The example on offer climbed to $7,813.

This pair of Issey Miyake coats are reminiscent of The Matrix (1999), appearing on the runway for Autumn/Winter in 2003 when the franchise’s second and third sequels were released; they sold together at $4,125 ($500/800).

Miyake’s next two top lots were grouped in pairs, and each also debuted on the runway in 2003. First in price was a pair of Autumn/Winter (A/W) coats in good to excellent condition for $4,125. Second was a matching dress and overdress from the Spring/Summer (S/S) collection, both in excellent condition, that achieved $2,875. These were followed by a 2002 Starfish runway dress and a sculptural vest from Miyake’s 2001 A/W line; both were bid to $1,688 separately; most of the Miyake consignment was bought by domestic bidders.

Earlier in date but lacking no less style were three lots designed by Geoffrey Beene (American, 1924-2005), each with provenance from the 2019 Hindman’s auction of the Geoffrey Beene Archive. Sixth in the auction overall was a 1999 halter cutaway dress in gold lamé, black spandex and wool in very good condition that sold for $2,500. An archival jersey and lamé gown from Beene’s Fall 1984 collection with provenance was in excellent condition and bid to $2,250. The next highest-bid lot from the same archive was a double faced wool bouclé coat, with oversized mohair gauntlet sleeves, at $2,125.

Second in the auction’s price list was a Fortuny gown that was about a century older than the previous lots yet showed similar ruched pleats throughout its fabric that might have been a direct inspiration for the young Miyake. Marked “Made In Italy,” the Delphos gown was decorated with Murano glass beads and lace on its short sleeves. The gown’s slight train made it “unusually long” for Fortuny and one imagines that it created a “Morticia Addams-esque” effect when the wearer walked. In good condition, it achieved $6,250.

With a simple silhouette and delicate decoration, this early Twentieth Century Delphos gown by Fortuny won second place in the auction at $6,250 ($6/8,000).

Behind the Fortuny in price was the earliest offering in the top lots, a robe à l’anglaise and period petticoat made circa 1770. The dress was fashioned in Spitalfields silk and was probably designed by Anna Maria Garthwaite (English, 1688-1763) circa 1742, one of the few known and respected craftswomen in London during her lifetime. For more information on Garthwaite, see Zara Anishanslin’s Portrait of a Woman in Silk: Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World (Yale University Press, 2016). As for the dress, it was bid to $4,750.

Another Eighteenth Century lot that did well was a portfolio of 60 mostly French and English printed cotton textile samples. Examples included woodblock, toiles de Jouy and roller printed fabrication, and most were identified, dated and had brief descriptions on typewritten labels. The portfolio came from the collection of Mary Ann Beinecke (1927-2014), founder of the Nantucket School of Needlery, where her family had a summer home. They later moved to Williamstown, Mass., and the Mary Ann Beinecke decorative art collection is now part of the Clark Art Institute’s library that has digitized more than 400 of her sample books. This portfolio was bought for $1,875 and may yet join them.

One of the auction’s most important lots was a documented ensemble worn in 1947 by Mamie Eisenhower on the occasion of her son’s wedding before she became first lady in 1953. The crepe and georgette gown showed a label from Ben J. Gam Originals, worn with a matching raffia and horsehair hat by “Idaire, W.C. Gens, NY” and rayon jersey gloves, each in good to excellent condition. The lot was deaccessioned from The Valentine Museum and included a handwritten note reading “Gift of Mrs Dwight D. Eisenhower, Dec. 27th 1960.” Bought for $2,265, the outfit went overseas to a private collector.

Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as given by the auction house. Augusta Auctions’ Spring Vintage Spectacular is scheduled to occur online on April 23.
For information, 802-463 3333 or www.augusta-auction.com.