It helped that the little collection had a provenance, and a provenance that was directly connected with the hatmaking trade at that.
The hats were all made for the vendor in the early 1930s when he was a small boy by his father who was a hatmaker by profession, apprenticed to the firm of Christy and Co, and included in the lot were two apprenticeship indentures. One, dated 10th June 1910, was for the vendor’s father, the other, dated 5th June 1880, for his grandfather who was apprenticed to the hatmakers Frederick Woodhams.
The hats were of varying sizes and several had boxes labelled Scott and Co, including a rather grand example in black silk plush trimmed with black ribbon, which boasted its own matching shaped box of fabric-covered card with a purple satin lining and leather strap.
Triumph of the titchy titfers
Small is beautiful in the antiques world where miniature versions can command as much, sometimes more, than their full-size counterparts. That was certainly the case at Christie’s South Kensington last month when the small collection of miniature top hats and one bowler pictured above was pursued way beyond its £300-500 estimate to sell for £2400 (plus 17.5% per cent buyer’s premium) in the auctioneers’ March 12 costume and textiles sale.
