I spy with my little eye…
…some Daphne Padden posters for sale. And I’m rather pleased about it as her work really does deserve more attention and acclaim than it has got so far.
The one above is being sold by Elephant and Monkey for £95, but Fears and Kahn have this (for a somewhat more taxing £475).
While Present and Correct have all of these,
at prices ranging from £135 – £175. Which is a lot more of her work than I have ever seen on sale before – and at interestingly variable prices too; it’s still perhaps a bit early to judge what her real market value is yet.
Now while I would like to read this entirely as the start of the Daphne Padden revival, that is of course just a small part of what’s happening here. These bright and punchy 1960s graphics have been starting to surface for a couple of years now – mainly due to the efforts of shops like Fears and Kahn.
But the real story is, of course, Morphets. The vast slew of 1960s and 70s posters that were released at their July sale is now working its way into the dealers. Because all of these people aren’t just selling Daphne Padden, they’re also selling a whole heap of other coach and rail posters along with them. So Elephant and Monkey have Royston Cooper and Harry Stevens.
Fears and Kahn have this splendid stag.
And Present and Correct can offer this rather good rendition of a family tree.
In each case there are plenty more where that came from on the websites too, small and large, cheap and expensive. But, at my guess, almost all originating from Morphets. The only one I know wasn’t in the sale was the Daphne Padden lion and mouse – but I am happy to be corrected if anyone out there knows better.
What will be interesting to see is whether this lasts. Did the Morphets sale release a flood of stock onto the market which will come and then disappear because no one else preserved these posters? Or will the high prices entice more of these graphics out of their hiding places and up for sale? I’d love there to be more, but I’m not really optimistic that they are out there to be sold. We shall see.
Well, I think feel very lucky to have been quietly collecting Daphne’s illustrations for the past few years since I first came across them, and personally I hope that the prices stay low so that more people can enjoy her work! But it would be nice to see some new works surface as well. Thanks for keeping us all in the loop via your blog, it’s a great read!x
Thanks for the compliments – and I know exactly what you mean. It’s a shame that reputation and attention is measured to such a degree in auction price rather than anything else. I just hope she knew that her work was being appreciated by modern collectors and designers.