Deborah Miller
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Biography
Deborah Miller is an accredited senior appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), and the only one in the organization to hold a designation in costumes and couture. Deborah values historic, vintage and contemporary clothing, accessories and textiles throughout the United States and Canada. She established her appraisal firm in 2008, after 18 years in the art world. As museums and universities begin, broaden and strengthen their costume collections, Ms. Miller is frequently asked to appraise donations of 20th- and 21st-century designer clothing, accessories and couture. She regularly works with donors to top museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, Drexel University, RISD, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum and the Bata Shoe Museum.
In 2014, she valued the personal archive of Charles James, America’s first couturier and the subject of The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition Charles James: Beyond Fashion. Deborah also appraises samplers, quilts, coverlets, lace, 20th-century fabric and other types of textiles, in addition to luxury handbags, designer sketches and fashion archives.
Deborah has a BA in art history from Hamilton College. She also holds an MA in the history of decorative arts from the Bard Graduate Center (BGC) for Studies in the History of Decorative Arts and Design, where she focused her studies on textiles and clothing.
Deborah is also a former Peace Corp Volunteer and served in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. She has been an avid rower for 30 years, and lives in Chicago with her husband Mark and their two teenage daughters.
Recent Appraisals
appraisal
Schoolgirl Needlework, ca. 1740
VALUE: $50,000 AUCTION
appraisal
1970 Josef Nálepa Art Protis Feuerball Textile
VALUE: $4,000 AUCTION
appraisal
English Jacket & Liberty & Co. Dress
VALUE: $7,500 - $9,000 RETAIL
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