LONDON.- A pair of embroidered lady’s shoes, dating back to 1740, is to be sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its Fine English Furniture Sale on 2 March 2011. The shoes are part of a remarkable collection of early English needlework comprising 63 pieces with estimates totalling £210,000 – 315,000, which was owned by the former Chairman of Debenhams and Harvey Nichols, Sir Frederick Richmond (1873-1953).

Made from embroidered yellow silk worked in chain stitch, depicting carnations, tulips and other flowers, and with a broad silk lined tongue and a pointed toe, the shoes have attracted a pre-sale estimate of £1,000 – 2,000.

Sir Frederick, who, in his role as Chairman, established Debenhams as the largest textile distribution empire worldwide, started collecting needlework in 1907. The Edwardian and inter-war period was a great time for the dispersal of family collections, and, from these, and fellow collectors, he accumulated an astounding selection of items. His purchases were displayed in his country home, Westoning Manor, Bedfordshire, which he bought in 1936, and his house in ‘Millionaire’s Row’, 10 Kensington Park Gardens, London.

On his death in 1953, the collection, which was described in a tribute in The Times as ‘the finest in the country’, was split between his two children in Suffolk and Buckinghamshire.

Other highlights include a needlework mirror, circa 1660, with folding shutters designed to celebrate the founding of the Province of Carolina in 1663 (estimate £30,000 – 40,000); a needlework mirror depicting the Continents (estimate £18,000 – 25,000); a 17th century fine needlework panel featuring Charles II as Mars and Queen Catherine of Braganza as Venus (estimate £15,000 – 20,000); a 17th century needlework picture of King David and Bathsheba (estimate £3,000 – 5,000); and a mid 17th century beadwork basket (estimate £7,000 – 10,000).