An antique Arctic fox fur owned and worn by a 1930s movie star – dubbed Britain’s answer to Ginger Rogers – is set for auction.
London-born Jessie Matthews, OBE rose to fame as an actress, dancer and singer in the 1920s and 1930s. She won fans in America and even danced with Fred Astaire.
After a string of hit stage musicals and films she was dubbed ‘The Dancing Divinity’ in the USA. However, as her UK studio was reluctant to let go of its biggest name offers from Hollywood were repeatedly rejected.
Jessie’s 1938 10ft long, satin-lined three-row white fox fur stole (above) – a gift from her husband, British actor, screenwriter and director Sonny Hale – conjures up film star glamour from a century ago, according to Hansons Auctioneers. It will go under the hammer with a guide price of £80-£120, in the firm’s February 15-20 Antiques and Collectors Auction.
Jessie (1907-1981) came from humble beginnings. She was born in a flat above a butcher’s shop in Soho, London, the seventh of 16 children. Her father, George Ernest Matthews, was a fruit-and-vegetable seller.
She took dance lessons at a pub as a child. She made her stage debut, aged 12, in 1919 as a dancer in Bluebell in Fairyland at The Metropolitan Music Hall in London.
Her cinema debut came in 1923 in silent film The Beloved Vagabond. She went on to enjoy great success with her appearance in The Good Companions (1933), an adaptation of J. B. Priestley’s novel. That same year she starred in Waltzes from Vienna, an operetta telling the story behind the production of “The Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II, directed by a young Alfred Hitchcock.
In 1934 she starred in the film version of Evergreen which featured the song “Over My Shoulder”. It became her signature song, later giving its title to her autobiography and to a 21st-century musical stage show about her life.
Jessie was one of many British-born stars in Hollywood film Forever and a Day (1943). She also appeared in Jerome Kern’s Wild Rose, a revival of Sally, in London’s West End in 1942. After the decline of her film career, she achieved a comeback as Mary Dale in BBC Radio serial The Dales, previously known as Mrs Dale’s Diary.
Notty Hornblower, Hansons’ vintage clothing consultant and owner of Derbyshire’s Hope House Costume Museum, said: “This item was given to our vendor directly by Jessie’s daughter, Catherine. It epitomes the look and glamour of 1930s film stars.
In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, fur stoles and wraps were a mark of the elite and an aspirational purchase that women of all walks of life aspired to.
“This historical piece brings back memories of those old black and white movies from a century ago. Jessie brought joy to millions and was rightly described as the English version of Ginger Rogers.”
Auction: Jessie Matthews’ fur stole will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers February 15-20 Antiques and Collectors Auction. Catalogue due live Feb 9, 2024
Catalogue/bidding: www.hansonslive.co.uk | www.the-saleroom.com
Free valuations of textiles and period clothing
To gain a no-obligation free valuation of clothing/textiles with period clothing consultant Notty Hornblower, owner of Hope House Costume Museum, please email [email protected] or call 01283 733988.
