Personal Items Made By Queen Victoria For Bonhams Scottish Sale
Published August 18th, 2009
Items that Queen Victoria made herself will be sold by Bonhams at their Scottish sale on 18-21 August.
These two personal items of Victoriana reach the market at the same time as the release of the film ‘The Young Victoria’ which is being publicized by Sarah, Duchess of York, as her daughter, Princess Beatrice, has a role in the film.
Lot 878 in Bonhams Scottish Sale is a 19th century woolwork bag made by Queen Victoria. It has panels worked in purple and gold threads depicting leaves and sides made of purple velvet with cord handles, and inside there is a pale purple silk lining. It is estimated to sell for £600-800.
Lot 879 is a 19th century Royal Stewart silk shawl worn by Queen Victoria at Balmoral which is expected to sell for £2,000-3,000
These lots were originally the property of Sir James Reid the Queen’s physician at Balmoral. They passed to his son Sir Edward Reid who gave them to John Telfer Dunbar. Until recently they have been on loan to Biggar Museum Trust from the J.T Dunbar Trust.
Queen Victoria is recorded as having an interest in knitting. Frank Pope Humphrey, author of ‘The Queen at Balmoral’ (1893), observed, “Occasionally she has sent to some bazaar a specimen of her knitting. Lucky as her work fetches nearly or quite its weight in gold.” According to Lady Reid whose mother was Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria made this bag.
http://www.bonhams.com/scottishsale
