What with it being summer and all that, things have quietened down a bit on the auction front this month, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on. Next week, Swann Galleries have a sale, with a few items of interest to this blog included.
Like every other recent sale, the anniversary of World War One means that there are a fair number of recruiting posters in there. (Where did they all come from this year? Have auctioneers been stockpiling them for decades? Or are they actually as common as anything?).
David Henry Souter, 1917, est $800-1,200
That one, you will not be entirely surprised to learn, is Australian, rather than British.
These inevitably lead on to World War Two posters, of which this is probably my favourite just because it’s an interesting and unusual poster for the time (as written about here, before)
Anonymous, 1940, est. $800-1,200
And hey, guess what, there’s one of these too. Again.
Anonymous, 1939, est. $12,000-18,000
For a rare poster, there aren’t half a lot of them about. So many, in fact, that I have lost track of what they are selling for. But I still don’t want one.
What does distinguish this sale from any other though is the enormous quantity of – wait for it – tennis posters. And these aren’t just posters for equipment, tournaments and so on, but any poster that might have even the slightest glimpse of a tennis racquet in it. Which means that it includes this Tom Purvis design for Austin Reed.
Tom Purvis, c.1930, est $3,000-4,000
There are also a surprising number of British seaside posters of the 1950s on offer too. Most of them have been featured on this blog at some time or other, but this one is new to me.
Harry Riley, 1960, est. $600-900
I love, just love, the pointy hat in the background there. Where can I get one?
This one is also worth noting, because when it’s offered for sale at Christies or Onslows, it tends to go for considerably more than this estimate, so there might be a chance of a (relative) bargain.
Alfred Lambart, 1937, est. $1,000-1,500
And that’s about your lot. Unless of course you want an elephant on a Vespa?
Anoonymous, est. $700-1,000
Who wouldn’t, really?
Funnily enough I was just looking through what was on offer at Swann, and one which caught my attention was for some jolly swimming at Dunbar, very nice I’m sure, but mainly for the artist – one E. Lander (referred to as Eric) – could this poster be the source of all the confusion with our old friend Reginald Montague over the years; there were actually two Landers, but too many auctioneers never bothered to check before referring to ‘Eric Lander’ who as far as I can tell only did this one poster, rather than R.M. who did hundreds!
That’s quite possible, I agree. I’ve done a quick look through the NRM collections and can’t find any other poster ascribed to Eric either. I will do some more scratching around when I have the time and see if he left any other traces.
I also can’t help wondering whether they are related, possibly even father and son, which would add to the confusion. Some of Percy Padden’s posters end up ascribed to Daphne Padden, as he sometimes just signed with his surname. But I can’t prove any of this of course!
My goodness that tennis chap is so suave!
Isn’t he just…