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17th Century Needlework Sells for £11,000

16th February 2026.

A diminutive but rare mid-17^th century needlework picture sold for £11,000 in Tennants Auctioneers’ Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale on 13^th February (all figures exclude buyers’ premium). The picture, which measured just 15cm wide, depicted Rebecca at the Well, an Old Testament story in which Abraham finds a wife for Isaac. Beautifully detailed, the needlework attracted fierce bidding before the hammer went down at over 30 times the mid estimate.

Selling well above estimate too, were two circa 1930s Farnell Yellow Plush Jointed Teddy Bears, which had been in the same family collection since new; the larger of which sold for £1,300, and the slightly smaller one for £1,600. The bears were made by J.K. Farnell, a London-based silk merchants turned toy manufacturer who produced the first British teddy bear in 1906. A further good childhood toy was a 19^th century Jenny Lind Paper Doll Dressing Up Set, based on the famed Swedish opera singer known as the “Swedish Nightingale” (sold for £1,100).

Circa 1660 Needlework Panel Rebecca at the Well
Circa 1930s Farnell Yellow Plus Jointed Teddy Bear (Medium)
Circa 1930s Farnell Yellow Plus Jointed Teddy Bear (Large)
19th Century Jenny Lind Paper Doll Dressing Up Set
Mollie Welch's workbooks
Mollie Welch Archive: Collection Mid 20th Century Dressmakers Beads, Sequins and Appliques
Late 19th Century Madame Charles Robes et Modes Lace Mounted Evening Dress
Mid 19th Century Blue Wool Gent's Tail Coat and Breeches
Circa 1930s Halter Neck Gold Lame and Purple Evening Dress

The fascinating archive of Mollie Welch, a tambour (embellishments) embroiderer at the atelier of Norman Hartnell, dressmaker to royalty and aristocracy, garnered much interest. During her time working for Hartnell in the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s, Welch hand-stitching beads onto the elaborate dresses made for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and the Duchess of Gloucester. Quantities of bead and sequins sold well throughout, led by a group of Workroom Notebooks in which Mollie had detailed her work on gowns, which sold for £500.

The sale also offered a good selection of 18^th and 19^th century costume, amongst which was a Late 19th Century White Lace-Mounted Dress made by Madame Charles Robes et Modes of 150 Regent Street, London (sold for £500), and a Mid-19^th Century Blue Wool Gent’s Tailcoat and Breeches (sold for £550). From the early 20^th century and selling for nearly ten times bottom estimate at £700, was a Circa 1930s Halter Neck Gold Lame and Purple Evening Dress.

The sale achieved a total hammer price of £72,040 with a 91% sold rate for 280 lots.

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