auctions Archives - Page 14 of 19

Golf and pageantry

auctions, eBay

The weather is grey, the economy going into a tailspin, but still those auctions keep on coming. This week’s offering is from The International Poster Center in New York.

Because it’s in New York, it’s heavy on the usual suspects of Art Nouveau, bicycle posters (which for some reason that escapes me are disproportionally collected and expensive), French travel posters and so on. Although I do quite like this Cassandre, if only as a terrible warning of what television might do to you.

Cassandre 1951 vintage poster for Phillips television
Cassandre, 1951, est. $1,400-1,700

Naturally there are golf posters too, although here at least there is a small amount of British interest.

Rowland Hilder come to Britain for golf vintage travel poster
Rowland Hilder, est. $1,200-1,500

Andrew Johnson, 1930, est. $2,000-3,000

People with lots of money do choose the oddest things sometimes.

Elsewhere there are a few more British odds and ends, although they tend towards the traditional, you might even say stereotypical view of Britain. Golf and pageantry, that is probably what we mean to the Americans.

Christopher Clark Trooping the Colour poster 1952 vintage travel british railways
Christopher Clark, 1952, est. $1,500-2,000

Seeing as we’re here, the poster above raises an interesting question about dating. The auction house have dated it as 1932. Which is approximately when the picture was painted, but given that it was previously issued in 1930 as an LMS poster, I’m not even sure that that’s quite right. Here’s the earlier poster from 1930.

But neither of these are really the date of the poster, as the British Railways logo shows – it was actually printed in 1952. So which is the answer ? I suppose it depends whether you’re seeing this as a print of the painting, or as a poster itself. I’d date it at 1952 on that basis – what do you reckon?

Along the same lines is this, which might as well be a print of a painting rather than the Southern region poster it claims to be.

Anna Zinkeisen Southern Region poster Laying of Foundation Stone at Southampton Docks
Anna Zinkeisen, 1938, est. $2,000-2,500

The frame is particularly bemusing, because the description says merely,

B+/ Slight tears at horizontal fold.

but the image on NMSI has no such frame. So what is going on here? Search me.

Fortunately there are a couple of pieces of modernity to lighten the day. Like this Austin Cooper, even if the image is stubbornly retrograde today.

Austin Cooper golliwog vintage London Transport poster Shop between 1928
Austin Cooper, 1928, est. $1,200-1,700

Along with this McKnight Kauffer.

McKnight Kauffer vintage shell poster lubricating oil 1937
McKnight Kauffer, 1937, est. $1,000-1,200

Now the McKnight Kauffer isn’t alone, because one thing that the New York auction does have going for it is an interesting selection of Shell posters.

Vintage Shell poster friend to the farmer Applebee 1952
Leonard Applebee, 1952, est. $700-900

Harold Hussey, 1952, est. $700-900

These two are the most pedestrian of the bunch, but I’m putting them here because the estimates seem quite high. I can say this from a position of some confidence, given that we bought one of these on eBay for the grand sum of just £12.50 a few years ago.

This Ben Nicholson, however, is great.

Ben Nicholson vintage shell poster Guardsmen use Shell 1938
Ben Nicholson, 1938, est. $800-1,000

But I also rather like this, by Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris.

Summer Shell vintage poster by Cedric Lockwood Morris
Cedric Morris, 1938, est. $800-1,000

I like it and him even better for having read this fantastic reminiscence. Anyone who gets into a fight with Munnings has a lot going for them.

Should any of these take your fancy, you can bid online via LiveAuctioneers. But I have to warn you that buyers’ commission comes in at a rather painful 22.5%, and then you’ve got to get the thing back over the Atlantic too.

All of which makes eBay seem an attractive option. If only there was anything out there to buy. All I can offer you at the moment is a lot of rather late Public Information Posters. Which I’m mainly pulling out to reinforce a point I’ve made before, which is that National Savings posters are rarely design classics.

The only one I come close to liking is this incentive to teeth-brushing.

But I’m not sure I’d pay the £9.99 they’re asking, although I am sure someone will.

The best lot I can find at the moment isn’t even a poster.

The cover design for this LP is by Reginald Mount. But it would be wasted tucked away on a shelf.

There was one good thing on eBay this week, but we bought it. So I’ll share that with you when it arrives.

Boarding

auctions, Uncategorized

Our theme today is things mounted on board. Because twice today I’ve looked at a promsingly low-priced item, only to discover that the apparent cheapness is justified, because it has been glued to a large lump of chipboard. Sigh.

The first offender is this – estimated at a mere £80-120, which is a pittance for such a lovely thing.

This Deco splendery is by Alfred Clive Gardiner from 1926 and I like it very much.

It’s on offer in the forthcoming Bloomsbury Poster and other bits and bobs Auction on 20th January. Sadly, there isn’t a great deal else there to detain us. A McKnight Kauffer perhaps. estimated at £200-400.

Of interest to me at least is this Norman Wilkinson National Savings poster, estimated at £100-200.

It’s the estimate that I’m most interested in, as we have two of these (I know, I have no idea why) which we’d happily sell now, so if they end up being worth anything like that it will be what is known as a result.

Other than that, it’s the usual run of Art Nouveau, sleek Art Deco cruise liners and pictures of people skiing. Although this one did at least make me laugh.

Estimate £250-35o for the political animals amongst us.

The second piece of boardery turned up on eBay. £199 Buy It Now seemed very cheap for a vintage Claude Buckle GWR poster.

Until you get close to it. Not only is it mounted on board, but someone seems to have been taking pot shots at it too.

The seller does have a couple of other interesting poster too, albeit at a price. This Percy Drake Brookshaw comes up every so often in auctions and so on.

And every time it does, it gives me a headache, so I certainly wouldn’t pay £200 for it (and, judging by its auction record, neither would anyone else).

But I do quite like this 1958 image by John Cort.

At £150 Buy It Now or a bright bit of 1950s moderne, I suspect that will go quite soon (although Mr Crownfolio thinks I am wrong there). And if it doesn”t, it should.

But I do also have a question about chipboard, or rather the posters that are stuck to them. I am assuming that these have such low estimates because it’s not really possible to get the poster off the board. Is this so, or is the process reversible?

This isn’t an abstract question, either. We’ve got this lovely 1922 London Underground poster by Alfred Rutherston in just that state.

So if it can be released, I’d really like to know.

That’s no lady, thats…

auctions

Well, what exactly?

The catalogue for the latest Great Central Railwayana Auction flopped through the letter-box the other day and I was rather taken with the poster above, mainly because of its extreme oddness. It’s as though someone has a) put up a piece of Russian constructivist sculpture in Canvey Island of all places and then, b) commissioned a poster of it. Which is great but, you have to admit, intriguing.

Fortunately, the torrent of knowledge that is the internet came up with the answer quite quickly. The lady is actually a shipping beacon – although one that’s a bit of a mystery even if you live on Canvey Island because it was probably demolished in the early 1950s, well before anyone thought of taking a reasonable photo of it.

This is the best that I – and the Canvey Community website – can come up with. They’ve got the full story on their website here if you want to know more. And the London Transport Museum also have the poster in their collection.

So now I know. To the extent that I am almost tempted to bid for the poster – although in the absence of any estimates at all in the auction, I have no idea whether or not I could afford it. (Why do railwayana auctions do this? Am I supposed to be such a railway buff that I can just intuit what it might go for? Does anyone know?).

There are a few other odds and ends in the auction too that are worth taking a look at. In my current enfeebled state, I quite fancy spending the rest of the winter in Moretonhampstead, for example.

Preferably in about 1923. Although you can still stay there if you want, it’s now called Bovey Castle and looks like a magnificent piece of Edwardian kitsch if that’s your bag.

This, meanwhile is a rather natty bit of design, although not one that I can tell you much about other than it’s by Keenan.

And this is a Rowland Hilder railway poster, which isn’t something I didn’t even know existed until now. But it’s rather good too.

I can tell you that it went for £680 at auction about eighteen months ago, so probably won’t be a bargain this time round either.

Finally, there’s this, which for some reason I find utterly bemusing.

Perhaps because Then looks slightly more modern to me than Now. Or maybe because I keep thinking that Captain Cook has just come back in the bottom picture. Not that any of this matters in the slightest as someone in Whitby will probably want this poster very much indeed.

If any of these are of interest to you, the auction is on 15th January, and you can find the catalogue here. Or if you want to know more about Canvey Island, can I very much recommend the Julien Temple film Oil City Confidential which is wonderful (I know, I didn’t want to watch a documentary about Dr Feelgood either, but trust me, it’s brilliant).

As seen previously

auctions

Just a quick note to point out two rather lovely things for sale, both of which have been mentioned here in the past.

One is the wonderful Design for Death by the equally wonderful Barbara Jones, which has appeared on eBay for a very reasonable £20.

And on a Buy It Now, at that. I would, if we didn’t already own it.

It’s even more of a bargain when you know that this rather battered edition of English Fairs and Markets went for £63 last week.

So get in there quick.

Meanwhile in Surrey, this has appeared.

Not apparently special until you read the description.

Percy and Daphne Padden, folio containing a collection of pencil sketches and watercolours, including an original poster design `Rolling Hills` and an illustration, `Carnival`.

The estimate is £100-200, which would make it a total bargain for any Padden fan out there. It’s lot 1583 in a gigantic sale at Lawrences of Bletchingley, but you can bid online via the Saleroom if you want.

Over and out.

Selling, cont.

auctions

There were so many railway and London Transport posters in the Onslows catalogue, that I ran out of time on Friday to consider the rest. So, today, any other business.

The bulk of this is World War Two posters. Onslows usually have a fair selection and this sale is no different.

Vintage WW2 poster of nurse from onslows sale
Clixby Watson, est. £100-150

The most interesting, for me at least, are a pair of Mount Evans posters.

Mount Evans waste paper vintage world war two poster from Onslows
Mount Evans, est. £200-250

Mount Evans, est. £100-150

The second one, along with the anonymous fuel poster before, are making an appearance for the second time this year. So it remains to be seen whether they will make their estimates or not.

Save More Fuel vintage WW2 poster from onslows
Anonymous, est. £50-100

But I still like them both.

There are also an interesting set of posters by Heinz Kurth. This is the prime one in the listing.

Heinz Kurth AFs poster in Welsh from onslows
Heinz Kurth, est. £50-100 (4)

Of Welsh interest, clearly. But I actually prefer the three subsidiaries, which are both striking and good.

Heinz Kurth Civil defence posters from Onslows
Heinz Kurth, est. £50-100 (4)

Then there are lots of other ones which are clearly classic and of great interest to collectors, but aren’t necessarily great pieces of design (like Bateman cartoons about saving fuel, for example). Or like this.

Jobs that girls can do to help win the war vintage WW2 poster from onslows
Anonymous, est £100-150.

Now if that makes its estimate, I will eat my warm woolly socks. But I shall do so quite happily, because we’ve got a copy of it – don’t ask me why – which we got on eBay for less than a tenner. Actually that probably tells you why we’ve got it. But if anyone wants to pay £100+ for it, I am definitely open to offers.

Related to the World War Two material, there are also quite a few National Savings posters. Mr Crownfolio has pointed out that I keep omitting these from my lists of posters that have been collected, when quite a few of them do survive. He’s right, but I think I keep leaving them out because while they may be interesting pieces of social history, the vast majority aren’t actually good design.

Vintage National Savings poster from WW2 from onslows
Anonymous, c.1940, est. £40-50

Vintage National Savings map poster from onslows sale
J P Sayer, est. £50-70

It’s an interesting question as to why the National Savings didn’t pay the same close attention to design that the GPO or even HMSO did at the same time. But it’s not one I have a ready answer to – any suggestions? There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, and two of them are also in this sale.

Eric Fraser save for progress vintage National Savings poster
Eric Fraser, est. £70-100

Myerscough Walker, est. £80-120

Although I’m not entirely convinced about the Myerscough Walker, but it’s still better than most.

What there isn’t – and it’s a rare contrast to almost every other selling emporium in Britain – is a plethora of coach posters being redistributed after the Morphets sale. Just a few of this type, which are not unpleasant.

Vintage Coach poster from Onslows sale
Peter Andrews, est. £100-150

The rest is miscellaneous. I never knew that Schweppes once made cider, for example.

Vintage Schweppes Cider poster from onslows sale
Anonymous, est. £300-400

And looking at that picture, I don’t think that Babycham was an entirely new idea, either.

But this miscellaneous category also contains what are to my mind two of the finest posters in the sale. They’re both by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis, and they’re both wonderful.

Ocean Cable, vintage GPO poster Ellis from onslows sale
Clifford and Rosemary Ellis, 1935, est. £250-300.

Clifford and Rosemary Ellis, 1945, est £200-300

I covet both of these very much. Here’s the catalogue for the wallpaper exhibition for your further delectation.

This could be yours from Abebooks for a bit over £30. Cheaper than a poster, that’s for sure.

Further training

auctions, Uncategorized

I’m really glad we don’t collect railway posters very seriously. Because we’d be stony broke by now. This year has just been sale after sale of high quality railway posters (with a fair slew of London Transport stuff too). And now, to round off the year, there’s another one.

Onslows’s December sale titles itself Vintage Travel Posters including Fine British Railway Posters. Which means posters like this, by the dozen.

Somerset Railway poster Frank Sherwin c1930
Frank Sherwin, 1930, est. £800-1,200

And this. Which is quite interesting, because it’s by Brian Batsford, of book cover fame.

Brian Batsford Somerset vintage GWR railway poster
Brian Batsford, 1930, est. £800-1,200

Although there is also this too, which, as I think I have mentioned before, every right-thinking home should have a copy of.

Eric Lander English Lakes vintage British Railways poster
Eric Lander, est. £700-1,000

Plus there’s lots of pictures of trains too, but I shan’t be bothering you with those today, or indeed on any other day. Apparently most of the collection comes from a single estate sale, although I think I can recognise a few things which did also appear at Morphets earlier this year.

Bruce Angrave Parties of 8 vintage British railways poster
Bruce Angrave, est. £250-300

Royston Cooper, 1959, est. £200-300

These Holiday Haunts posters by Abram Games and Tom Eckersley also appeared there as a single lot too – the Eckersley in particular is a fine thing.

Abram Games Holiday Haunts vintage railway poster
Abram Games, 1960, est. £200-300

Tom Eckersley, 1962, est. £200-300

Elsewhere, it’s the usual Onslow’s miscellany. This poster seems to appear in almost every single sale they do, which at the price it goes for is quite an achievement.

Fortuno Mat Southport theatre poster from Onslows vintage Cheshire Railways
Fortunino Matania, 1933, est. £6,000-8,000

This is the rarer version, apparently, because it’s overprinted with the logo of the Cheshire Lines Railway rather than the LMS. I have to say that I can’t quite bring myself to be bothered about the difference.

There’s also the usual selection of London Transport posters. I love this Sheila Robinson (which comes with four other posters, it’s all the rage these days).

Sheila Robinson vintage London Transport poster Royal London
Sheila Robinson, 1953, est. £200-300.

We once owned a LT poster by her and sold it. I still don’t know what was going through our minds at that point, and now every time I see one of her designs I am filled with remorse.

These James Fittons are also rather good too.

James Fitton vintage London Transport poster
James Fitton, 1936, est. £400-600

James Fitton vintage London Transport poster
James Fitton, 1937, est £200-300.

There’s also a complete set of four of these Austin Coopers, one of which featured in the last Christies.

Austin Cooper, 1933, est. £1,000-1,500

Although at that kind of estimate, a set of four is going to be a pretty substantial investment.

I also rather like this. And it’s a lot cheaper too.

Farleigh vintage London Transport poster 1947
John Farleigh, 1947, est. £200-300.

But then I am always a sucker for a chalk hillside figure.

There is still more to consider in there, but I’ve run out of time. So, World War Two posters and other miscellaneous bits and bobs next week. And an Advent calendar too.