auctions Archives - Page 8 of 19

Mrs Housewife on Display

auctions

There are some things I haven’t been telling you recently, and it’s time to fess up.

The biggest omission is the Bloomsbury Auctions sale which happened last week. Now this wasn’t the most exciting collection of posters I have ever seen in one place, but there was one significant exception. This was three lots, right at the end, all by Dorrit Dekk. Each one was a total treasure trove, with a whole range of posters in, not just one.

What’s more, they were estimated at £200-300 per lot which, with at least ten posters each time, was looking like a total bargain. Hence my silence.

As the sale went on, we got more and more excited, because nothing seemed to be selling for over its estimate, and quite a few things were falling below that (the contrast with Christies is not something that you need me to explain). So by the time we got to the three Dekk lots our hopes were high.

But they were rapidly dashed to the ground again. They all went for well over their estimates, £420 in two cases and a whopping £550 for the one with all of the travel posters in.

Bah. I hope whoever got them likes them.

The second thing I missed was for the rather more practical reason that I only got about 48 hours notice of the sale, but it’s still interesting enough to draw your attention to after the event. Lot 247 at 1818 Auctioneers in Cumbria at the start of this week was a set of World War Two Home Front propaganda posters, How Mrs Housewife Saves Fuel For Battle.

There were thirteen in total, which would have been worth a mention on its own as it’s pretty rare for a whole set to turn up like this. But also included were these title banners.

Now I’ve never actually seen something like that before, and I was immediately reminded of this.

These are Beverley Pick’s travelling poster displays for the Ministry of Information, which I’ve blogged about before. And what I think came up for auction was a set of posters designed for exactly this kind of display. Which is a rare thing indeed. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if those posters were by Pick himself, either; I’ve seen that kind of brickwork effect on other designs of his.

By way of atonement for these past sins, please have a couple of things which are coming up for auction in the future and so you’re able to buy. Of which the most interesting is this rather lovely London Transport poster which is being sold by Wooley and Wallis in Salisbury next week.

It’s by a rather mysterious Leith, and seems to be the only poster that he or she ever designed for London Transport. It has an estimate of just £100-200 if you fancy it, and why shouldn’t you, it’s very appropriate for the season.

Meanwhile in Chippenham a collection of rather ordinary advertising posters has turned up.

I was going to call them pedestrian, but given that half of them are for tyres, that would just be silly.

Still, worth mentioning simply to remind ourselves once again that by no means all past advertising was great.

And quite a lot of it was really rather ordinary.

Finally, this isn’t a poster and it is in a Christies sale with the word Old Master in the title, so it’s definitely unaffordable. It’s by Lill Tschudi and dates from 1933.

But it’s people sticking up posters, and the work behind the paper is always worth remembering.

Banish Brain Fag

auctions

And where are we going to do that? At Brighton, of course. At least that’s according to one of these posters (top right, if you’re squinting hard).

The picture has turned up at a forthcoming auction in Nottingham*, and it’s very interesting, because it depicts, apparently, a poster exhibition in Brighton in 1925.

Once again, we’re back into the realms of things we weren’t even aware that we didn’t know. I’ve written before about both the railway companies, Shell and London Transport exhibiting their own posters. But in those cases they were showcasing their companies’ commissioning of culture, and aiming to garner kudos with both the posters and the exhbitions. What’s going on here seems to be a bit different. All of the posters look not only contemporary to the exhibition, but also commercial. So what is this?

I’m not entirely sure. What’s more, the mystery then deepens a bit further, because after doing a reasonable amount of scratching about on the internet, I can’t find a single one of these posters. At first I thought this was, but on closer scrutiny it’s just the same view as the one above.

Peculiarer and peculiarer. But I think there are two possibilities. One is that there are oceans and oceans of tourist posters which were never saved by railway archives or visitors. Which is enticing but even I have to admit, not that likely.

The other – and I owe this suggestion to Mr Crownfolio – is that it’s a competition. Design a poster for Brighton in 1925. I think that’s got to be the answer. Even this gives us food for thought, though. Just look at the sheer number of posters up on those walls; that’s an awful lot of people who either are poster designers or quite fancy their chances at being one. Which is in itself a reminder that the poster, at this moment in time, was the most glamorous and up to date advertising medium there could be.

The other aspect which interests me is that it catches the seaside poster in a moment of transition. Some of the posters seem quite old fashioned – referring to Doctor Brighton, watering holes and Regency glories. But scattered amongst them are some bathing beauties who wouldn’t shame a Tom Purvis poster of the 1930s like the one below.

I’m sure it has to be a competition. Even so, I’d quite like someone to prove me wrong by finding one or more of the posters out there in an archive or auction somewhere. Any takers?

*The auctioneers of the picture are worth a footnote all to themselves. They are Britain’s leading auctioneers for Cricket, postcards, ephemera and beer labels. How do you end up with a set of specialisms like that, I wonder.

Where are we?

auctions, eBay

Just when I thought I’d got on top of the auction situation, another one pops up. This time it’s Onslows, whose winter sale will be on 19th December. The catalogue isn’t up yet, but there are a few preview images to whet your appetite, of which this is my favourite.

Frank McNamara, circa 1950, est. £400-500

When it’s almost freezing outside, sampling the 1950s in Australia sounds like a very tempting proposition.

There is also the opportunity to get one or two posters at prices cheaper than a Christies sale.

Herz, 1948, est. £800-1,200

Fougasse, 1940, est. £800-1,200

As well as this, which is just endearingly bonkers.

Czech, c.1950, est. £700-1,000

There’s another forthcoming railwayana auction too, at Talisman, but I am relieved to say that there isn’t a single poster of interest to me in there. Although I have been looking at these catalogues for so long now that the opportunity to buy a large sign which says Pyewipe West Sidings is becoming increasingly tempting.

Meanwhile on eBay there are posters galore. One of the prize exhibits is probably this Daphne Padden, from the earlier, more conventional phase of her career.

People clearly liked the style and image, as this is a poster which comes up more often than it ought to. At a current price of just under £70 – from the U.S. – it is going cheap too.

Another poster of possibly an even higher calibre, if not entirely my cup of tea, is this Jean Carlu World War Two design.

It looks in very good condition, and so is an extreme bargain at just £18 right now, possibly because they’ve mis-spelt Jean Carlu in the listing and title. You read it here first.

If you fancy something a bit more British, there is always this wartime poster, if you can get past the slightly sexist weediness of the woman.

But be warned, it’s tiny. just 9″ x 6″. An identical version sold for £64 on eBay last week, so it will probably go for a bit more than it’s current 99p then, even with the typing on the back.

The rest of what is on offer, though, is starting to look like a trend. Take, for example, this Post Office Savings Bank Poster.

This 1965 London Transport poster (which oddly isn’t on the London Transport Museum site so I can’t tell you anything more about it).

And perhaps best of all these two delightful Homepride posters.

What it’s looking like is that later 60s and 70s graphics are starting to be seen as, if not yet collectable, certainly worth selling. It’s not always good design – although the two Homepride posters are classics and deserve to be revered as such – but it’s definitely out there.

Because that’s not all there is. I mentioned this Bridlington poster last week as being expensive at £45.

It finally sold for £25, and there is another one up now too if you think that’s more like a fair price. But the seller has clearly found a stack of this kind of thing somewhere, just take a look at these.

I think that’s enough to constitute a trend, don’t you? Although the same person is also selling this.

Now to my mind that’s the best of the bunch. But then I’m probably entirely out of fashion.

Finally, we’ve just bought a rather expensive poster on eBay ourselves. More news on that when it arrives. And yes, I know we’re meant to be spending the money on carpets.

Keeping in Touch

auctions, Uncategorized

In the last post I only managed to get through about half the auctions that are out there so today for your entertainment and edification, here is part two. But first, a small digression. Lest people think I have been victimising Christies over their high prices, I have to report that the problem is much more widespread than just one auction house. I mentioned the GCR Railwayana auction a week or two ago, although the sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed that I failed to call your attention to this little gem.

Sadly we didn’t get it, the hammer price was £230, which was rather more than we’d bid. It was listed as anonymous, but I would be prepared to make a bet that it could well be the work of Felix Kelly, who also designed these two posters for New Brighton and Wallasey, just down the road.

But to return to my original point, railwayana auctions used to be a place where post-war posters could be picked up, at least sometimes, for a song. Not any more, not for the sensible posters like this Scilly Isles one which fetched £400.

Nor for the kitch – the Fleetwood whale pun also went for £410.

Really, where are we meant to get posters from these days?

While I’m on the subject, there is another railwayana auction in the offing, this time Great Western Railwayana Auctions on November 10th, and once again there is a good range of posters.

Kenneth Steel, 1950

Although, as ever, there are no estimates, so who knows what they will fetch?

There are many sensible posters of various kinds.

Frank Mason, 1950s.

But there is also a rich seam of 1950s kitsch to be found too, of which this is my favourite

Geoff Sadler, 1960s

Although I am also quite fond of the idea of Hereward the Wake being a selling point.

And there’s plenty more where those came from too.

Glenn Steward, n.d.

Leonard, 1961

Greene, 1950s

There are also a couple of sets of this kind of GPO poster if you are interested.

They’ll probably not be too expensive at a railwayana auction, although I can’t vouch for the prices on the rest of what’s on offer. Expensive, judging by recent events.

Elsewhere, Dreweatt’s in Bristol is offering yet another batch of Percy Drake Brookshaw posters, once again being sold by his family.

There are other ones too, but you’ve seen them before. Did his family live in a house just stacked with copies of his posters? I think we need to know.

Finally, there are at last a few odds and ends popping up on eBay. This Stan Krol coach poster, is a bit overpriced at £45 opening bid if you ask me, although it’s always good to see a coach poster at all.

This Frank Newbould in contrast is currently cheap at £20, although I doubt that will last.

This World War Two Ministry of Fuel poster isn’t that interesting, although someone will love it I am sure.

Last but definitely not least, there is an edition of Barbara Jones’s Design for Death. Not only is it just £9.99, but it is being sold for charity, so I am sure one of you will want that. It is for charity after all.

For the fun of it

auctions

As if the excitement of the Christies London Transport Museum sale wasn’t enough, there are now a whole slew of auctions pressing for our attention. So many that I might not get them all into one post. Shall we break ourselves in gently with an easy one?

PosterConnection in the US tell me that they are holding a sale in the Holiday Inn Express (near Fishermans Wharf) in San Francisco. But there are only a very few British posters to detain us. My personal favourites are this pair of airline posters.

Abram Games, 1947, est. $700.

Henrion, 1948, est. $600

One thing that I left out of my earlier musings about blue skies and airline posters was how early most of them are – they tend to date from the late 1940s and early 1950s in the main. I wonder whether this is because the airlines – who brought in essential foreign revenue to put against the war debt – were allowed to advertise in a way that other, domestic businesses were not. This might also explain why so many of these posters survive; they must have seemed to be dazzling pieces of modern design at a time when pretty much every other poster advertised the government. Glamorous in short.

Henrion also gets another look in with this Punch poster.

Henrion, 1949, est. $500

Although this does rather prove that other posters were available then. Must research this more.

Finally, there is a Rowland Hilder, which ought to be exciting, except that it’s a National Savings Poster, and it turns out that the natural dreariness of National Savings posters drains the spirit from even an artist like Hilder.

Rowland Hilder, 1942, est $360

Why were National Savings posters so mediocre? I do not know the answer to this.

There are a few other odds and ends of interest in there, including a few late McKnight Kauffer’s, but generally the rest is foreign, and therefore outside my remit.

The November Christies Sale is a similar miscellany, in fact they seem to have got enough lots to produce a second sale by merging posters and film posters. But I don’t mind, because this means that for once I haven’t missed these two film posters.

Edward Bawden, 1953, £800 – £1,200

John Piper, 1945, est. £800 – £1,200

Sidney James indeed.

Other than that, the line-up consists of the usual suspects. There are airline and tourism posters from around the world, including a few rather fine examples by David Klein.

David Klein, 1963, est. £800 – £1,200

Along with the Abram Games design for Jersey.

Abram Games, 1951, est. £1,000 – £1,500

Also available is the usual heap/selection/motley assortment of railway posters (choose appropriate noun to suit your own point of view) of landscapes, seaside scenes and Terence Cuneo trains. But also one or two quirkier ones. There are a small selection of 1930s Southern posters which are not so much modernist as Art Deco; my favourite is, I think, this Pat Keely.

Pat Keely, 1930, est. £1,800 – £2,200

There on the other hand it might be this Edmund Vaughan.

Edmund Vaughan, 1929, est. £3,000 – £5,000

There is a Frank Newbould of Devon which is another contender for most psychedelic pre-war poster.

Frank Newbould, 1946, est. £1,200 – £1,800

There is also this, which Mr Crownfolio dug out of an archive the other day, after I’d gone on about women looking at posters of holidays.

Stanislaus G. Brien, est. £2,000 – £3,000

I’m not sure what I make of it really, except to think that the beach is rather too crowded to be entirely desirable. Any thoughts anyone?

As well as railway posters, there are a very few London Transport posters in the sale. I’ll have this, please, albeit not for that price.

Zero, 1936, est. £800 – £1,200

Pleasingly, there are even a few Shell posters too. I feel as though I haven’t seen any for ages.

Paul Nash, 1936, est. £2,000 – 3000

Finally, there are a few oddities. Inevitably, this is what I find interesting. Most notable are this Reginald Mount, dating from the post-war continuation of lots of government posters giving you advice on almost everything.

Reginald Mount, 1951, est. £600 – £800

Then there’s this Abram Games, rare for being an example of a commercial poster in the wild. Oh and a classic piece of poster design too.

Abram Games, 1955, est. £800 – £1,200

Finally, there is this McKnight Kauffer, which wins by being a double dose of modernism – his design advertising modernist architecture on display.

McKnight Kauffer, 1938, £800 – £1,200

If there aren’t a load of architects fighting furiously over that one, something has gone wrong with the world.

Note I haven’t said anything about the estimates, mainly because after the last sale I have no idea at all. Please do leave a comment in the box below if you do have any thoughts though, it would be much appreciated.

That’s probably as much as any of us can stand in one post, so I will return tomorrow or the next day with some more. Bet you can’t wait.

Highs and lows

auctions, London Transport

So, as previously advertised, it’s time to consider the Christies London Transport Sale. Mostly this boils down to just one thought which is that is was really very expensive, and if things carry on like this we won’t be buying very many posters in the future. A large chunk of what sold could be put up in support of this proposition, but the prime example has to be the Edward Wadsworth Imperial War Museum poster.

£37,250 of your pounds for that, which was the highest price in the sale. And an awful lot of money for a poster if you ask me.

Other winners include Charles Paine, with these two Boat Race posters going for £25,000 and £10,000 respectively.

Another popular choice was Andrew Power (aka Sybil Andrews), noted by Mr Crownfolio, who was watching the whole thing go by, as doing particularly well.

The top poster went for £25,000, the lower one for £13,000.

I’ve heard from a couple of sources that the London Transport Museum ‘are very pleased’. Well they would be, wouldn’t they.

I’m not sure if I’m pleased though, and this isn’t just because I might never be buying a poster again (and if I do, the odds are that it won’t be from Christies). I’m also bothered because I can’t make head nor tail of the results. There seems to be no pattern at all.

You see I look at this Misha Black/Kraber poster and go, ooh, prices for Modernism are up, given that it reached £5.250.

But then this pair goes for only £625 and blows my theory out of the water.

I’d like to say that Art Deco is going out of fashion, given that this Marty went for just £1,625, much lower than many posters.

But then others are holding their prices – thisDupas, for example fetched £5,625.

I could therefore conclude that people are silly, perhaps, as the Marty posters are much better, but that’s just my opinion and clearly not borne out by actual prices.

The same is even true in the case of individual designers – or pairs. This Eckersley Lombers was £3,500

But this one went for just £688.

They’re both teeny-tiny bus posters; admittedly the cheaper one does have mad staring eyes, but I’ve never seen it before, so it’s more interesting. Isn’t it?

There was the same variation in prices for McKnight Kauffer too, with this 1931 design fetching £12,500.

While his Buckingham Palace design of three years later went for just £688, and earlier works fetched even less.

What is it possible to conclude from all this confusion then? Mostly it looks like people who are considerably richer than me throwing money at posters and seeing what sticks, in a sale where mass hysteria had the upper hand over exhaustion. A few people have emailed me with examples of posters which sold for way over their ‘usual’ prices in the sale. One obvious one for me was this pair of Wadsworth designs for the South Kensington Museums, posters which are dear to my heart.

These have been up for auction recently, in good condition, and fetched well under £1,000. Go, as they say, figure.

Before the sale, I wondered on here whether the London Transport Museum was selling because they thought that the market for this era of posters was at its peak. I have no idea whether they believed it or not, but the sale would seem to suggest otherwise. What was also interesting was the number of foreign bids too. So I don’t think we can call the top of the market yet.

But a different question is whether these prices now set the standard, or whether this sale will be a one-off freak event in which people have paid over the odds because of provenance, over-excitement or whatever. Interestingly, we won’t have to wait too long to find out. The next Christies Poster Sale is, to my surprise, on 1 November. I’ll take a look at that next week. In the meantime, please put your thoughts on this sale in that nice box beneath. Thank you.