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Back, back, back as Smash Hits used to say.  And apologies to all those people who thought I’d been hospitalised by my abscess.  I haven’t, I’ve just been ridiculously busy.  By way of apology, have a picture of an otter.

It’s traditional.  Normal service resumes later in the week.

I am back from holidays but now have the most appalling toothache and can’t think straight.  But I do need to string just enough sentences together to tell you about this.

An entire seminar at The National Army Museum at which lots of people who know about wartime posters are going to be speaking, and then so am I.  Should be entertaining, although in what way I am not sure.  I will do my best though.

Full details here, and perhaps I will see you then.  If this blooming toothache ever goes away that is.

Apologies for the long gap, summer holidays and renovations are rather eating into my writing time.  But I am going to dash in quickly now to tell you a bit more about the furthcoming Swann auction, because that is coming up in just four days time, on the 9th.

Anon, 1950s, est. $400-600

Not unreasonably, it’s almost entirely stuffed with American posters, with European posters coming in a close second.

Esteban,  1958, est. $400-600

But nonetheless, there are a few interesting items worthy of our British notice.

I mentioned the Harry Beck poster above last week, but if London Transport is your thing, there is also a Percy Drake Brookshaw on offer.

It comes with a pair, as does this Betty Swanwick.

Betty Swanwick, 1937, est. $400-600

Which comes as part of a job lot with a Dora Batty.  This is a bit text heavy, but even so both this and the Brookshaws don’t look expensive at all.

There are a similarly small number of railway posters on offer, but the few that there are do at least have the grace to be interesting.  I’ve never come across this rather jolly number before.

Arthur Michael, 1937, est. $1,000-2,000

While further down the listings you can also find this, which is another one to add to my list of industrial posters produced by the raliway companies.

Albert Martin, 1935, est. $700-1,000

Moreover, it’s a bit different to the ones we were discussing before, as its purpose doesn’t seem to be to demonstrate the glory of England’s industrial north, but rather to advertise a service to manufacturers, or indeed anyone else who would like to export things.

A forage in the National Railway Museum’s collections does reveal a couple more like this too, so it wasn’t a one off.

Although from 1933 and 1929 respectively, they are both by the same artist, Henry Gawthorn.  What that signifies, though, I don’t know.

Again, there are a few British World War Two posters are to be found lurking amongst the americana, like this Henrion.

FHK Henrion, 1943, est. $700-1,000

Graphically superb, but I’m not about to frame it and hang it on the wall.

And there’s also this Pat Keely, which I don’t think I’ve ever come across until now.

Pat Keely, 1943, est. $800-1,200 

Along with a ton of these, which are good if you like pictures of machinery but that’s about all I can say in favour of them.

Anon, 1942, est. $600-900

Anon, 1942, est. $600-900

The bottom one is apparently by Terence Cuneo, although that doesn’t seem to make any difference to the estimate.

Finally, there’s also an old favourite.

This is one of the posters which, a while back, led to my finding out a lot about Denis Constanduros and his aunt Mabel.  The short version is that he produced a few excellent posters and then was lured into broadcasting, quite possibly by his famous aunt Mabel.  Full details here and again here if you need to know more.

We’ve considered Posterconnection before – they offer vast quantlties of posters on eBay, generally for quite a high price.  All of which means that I’m not suggesting that you buy either of these two, but simply that you might want to take a look at them.

The first is by Hans Unger, but not for one of his usual clients like London Transport.  In fact, I’ve never heard of British United Airways before.  But the poster is lovely.

Yours for £378.12.  Precisely.

The second is even more interesting.  Its’s by Derrick Hass, who has been mentioned in despatches on here more than once, but whose poster designs don’t come up that often.

The listing says it dates from 1954, and who am I to doubt them, because it is a classic bit of early 1950s design.  Yours, however, for nigh on £500.

But it’s probably worth drawing your attention to the fact that, if you look at PosterConnections completed listings, that almost none of their sales go for the asking price, but instead for some unspecified ‘Best Offer’.  So it might be worth a punt.

Elsewhere on eBay, there is further evidence that it is turning into a proper market place for proper vintage posters.  Take a look at these pair, for example, both being sold by the same seller (and apparently with the same lumps of chewing gum holding the corners down).

Both posters have reached almost £300 with a few days ago, which does seem to suggest that they will get as good a price as they would in any auction.

What’s interesting about these two,  though, is that they are both a bit battered around the edges; they’re not the kind of posters, perhaps, that Christies would accept.  So is this just the poster market spreading out to eBay, or is it something subtly different emerging, a place where the B+ posters now go.  If anyone knows what these would fetch in top condition, do say, as it will help  me work out what I think.

On a similar note, and for those who like early infographics, this London Transport poster by Aldo Cosomati is also up for auction.

Although with a starting price of £199, it remains to be seen how well it will do.  By way of comparison, the Shell posters had a starting price of £100 and have now shot away.  Sometimes you need to be brave with starting prices on eBay in order to reap the reward.  I have no idea why that works, but it does.

Back in the world of things that I am more likely to afford, there are also some interesting items.  We would bid on this Lander, for example, were it not for the fact that we’ve got one already.

Although with a starting price of £90, perhaps we wouldn’t.  The colours are fantastic though.

And finally, despite the title of the listing, this coach poster isn’t by Daphne Padden but Studio Seven.

Something they do admit in the text, but even so it’s a bit cheeky.  And I wouldn’t have thought Daphne Padden gets that many searches on eBay, but then I might be wrong.  That starts at £65, but has (for what reason I do not know) been backed onto linen so who knows what it’s worth really?  Still, it’s an auction, so we can all find out in due course.

Back when we bought all the posters and artworks from Daphne Padden’s estate sale, there was one other lot we also bought and which I’ve never mentioned on here before now.  Admittedly, this is mainly because they’ve spent a good part of that time in storage, but at last, for your Friday delectation, here they are.

The lot was a selection of enamels designed  and made by Daphne Padden herself, and they’re rather wonderful, aren’t they?

There were many more than this in the lot but that box is still in storage I’m afraid – these are just a few of our favourites that were out on display and so got packed somewhere else.

What I love is that even working in a very different medium, and one with considerable constraints as to line and shading, she still produced a set of designs that could only ever be hers.

Look at this picture, which has just come up for sale on eBay.

Now obviously no one is going to buy it, and not only because it’s on offer for the frankly ridiculous price of £23.61, but more importantly because it is being sold by people who butcher books and sell the plates.  Ought to be a crime, but isn’t.

However, their evil doings have, this time, brought up something which I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.  What the picture shows is the building of Shell Corner on Kingsway, in 1920 (about which I know nothing except that this isn’t Shell-Mex House).  So Shell clearly asked McKnight Kauffer to decorate their hoardings for them.  They don’t even look like standard size posters, so I’m assuming the images were specially commissioned for this location.  I only wish I could read the captions.

But it’s a reminder of one of my pet subjects, that people don’t just commission posters because they like art, or design, or want to advertise their product.  Companies are much more likely to make posters if they already own the hoardings.  This, obviously, is a slightly unusual case, but it’s none the less the same principle in operation.