Fashions of the past have wide appeal for today’s buyers

The 187 lots of Victorian, Edwardian and Regency men’s, women’s and children’s costume, fans, lace, and dolls had previously been on loan to the Chertsey Museum in Surrey.

While it did not elicit many four-figure bids, the holding was large enough to attract collectors, trade and institutional buyers from all over the UK. Only ten entries were unsold and most exceeded their pre-sale estimates with the majority finding buyers between £30 and £300.

Only one in the collection broke the thousand-pound barrier: a Jules Steiner bisque-headed doll. Dressed as a Red Cross nurse, 21in (53cm) high, this star of the 13-lot doll section was one of several contested by two specialist dealers. Although not in her original dress, she was in good condition and fetched £3600. More prosaic, was a late-19th century peg wood doll which made £340.

The Chertsey Museum bought several lots including a Victorian corset in its original box. It was entered with a second corset and took a baffling £700 against an estimated of £30-50.

The museum also secured a short-sleeved white muslin walking dress embroidered with rosettes. Catalogued as a children’s dress, it turned out to be the outfit of a diminutive Regency lady. It fetched £620.

Buyers were found for all 46 lots of children’s costume, which included a Georgian child’s linen bonnet at £240.

Adult clothes included a Victorian black and white lace dress, M. Carey and M&A Wall, 8 Bruton Street, New Bond Street, London, at £450 and a man’s dressing gown, 1820-40, brocaded with 18th century silk satin, at £360.

The sale may have been most notable for textiles but the biggest bid came on a George I walnut miniature chest, 16in (41cm) wide, with a good rich dark colour. A telephone buyer outbid a local collector at £5500.