Deborah Miller
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Biography
Deborah Miller is an independent appraiser of historic, vintage and contemporary clothing, accessories and textiles throughout the United States and Canada. She is an accredited senior appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers, with a designation in costume and couture, and also a member of the International Society of Appraisers. She established her appraisal firm in 2008, after 18 years in the art world.
Deborah provides appraisals for non-cash charitable contributions, estate taxes, insurance, probate, divorce, and equitable distribution. Within textiles, clothing and accessories she has an expertise in 20th- and 21st-century fashion, difficult-to-appraise, one-off and unique properties, including those with celebrity association, haute couture, fashion/designer archives, very large collections and rare textiles.
Deborah appraised the personal archive of Charles James, America’s first couturier and the subject of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2014 exhibition Charles James: Beyond Fashion. She has appraised significant private collections of contemporary fiber art, including work by Anni Albers and Sheila Hicks, as well as important historic American and European needlework.
Deborah regularly works with donors to top museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), the Royal Ontario Museum, Drexel University, Cooper-Hewitt/Smithsonian National Design Museum, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Bata Shoe Museum.
Deborah has a BA in art history from Hamilton College and an MA in the history of decorative arts from the Bard Graduate Center (BGC). She established her appraisal firm in 2008, after 18 years in the art world.
Deborah is a former Peace Corp Volunteer and served in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, where she taught English and also worked with Mandinka weavers. She has been an avid competitive rower for 35 years and lives in Chicago with her family.
Recent Appraisals
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Cotton Printed Women's Dress, ca. 1798
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Protest Dress, ca. 1900
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Schoolgirl Needlework, ca. 1740
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