A COLLECTION OF 19TH, 20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURY CORSETS, H...

Hammer

£4,600

A COLLECTION OF 19TH, 20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURY CORSETS, HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, ADVERTISEMENTS, SKETCHES, BOOKLETS AND OTHER RELATED EPHEMERA, an important record of changing fashions, body shapes and foundation wear, it relates to items from Richard Cooper & Co of Ashbourne, Derbyshire (founded in 1855) and Chil-Tex (founded in Ashbourne in 1969), in 1999, Coopers became part of Chil-Tex Ltd and Chil-Tex closed in 2004, this collection is largely formed of corsets from the late 19th and 20th centuries, which Jim French, the late owner of Chil-Tex saved from disposal when the two factories merged into one, it includes a painted composition shop counter advertising display of a lady in bra and girdle, the base moulded 'Excelsior For Value Corsetry', height 34.5cm, a framed mid-20th century watercolour advert for Excelsior 'Foundations', three framed hand painted half tone sketches of corsets and seven others unframed, the majority dating from circa 1910-1930, an early 20th book of half tone advert cuttings from circa 1900-1950's, a box of underwear relating to the ATS, bearing broad arrow mark or pinned with hand written notes for the samples and underwear with the Utility mark, a 1942 'Revised Price List' for Utility Corsetry is included, also in the collection are corsets for children, the women's corsets are both boxed and loose, a few modern corsets include pieces for 'Agent Provocateur', 'Agender', and Chil-Tex brand 'Court Royale' (17 boxes and loose) (Condition Report: until recently the collection was stored and partly on display at Ashbourne Town Hall, some of the older corsets have rust to the metal work and damp spots, the advertising model has patches of paint loss, some sketches have dates stuck to the front on white labels)