London Underground Poster Archives

Bird/dog

Sound the klaxon, there’s a bargain in the area. It doesn’t get to blare out that often these days, posters being what they are, but the objects of interest today aren’t paper but ceramic.

The London Transport Museum Shop had the wit and discrimination to commission a range of Harry Stevens pottery. Now I have banged on about how under-rated Harry Stevens is so much on here that I had hoped that the whole world now appreciates his style. It seems not. The range appears to have appealed only to a few afficionados, and so are now in the sale, dirt cheap.

You can have a four piece expresso set (two cups, two saucers) for just £5.

Harry Stevens 1961 poster design on saucer

This comes in either bird or dog.

Harry Stevens design on saucer with pink cup

Or you can get a dog mug for a ridiculous £2.50.

All three designs come from this poster, ‘In the Vernal Seasons of the Year’, which he designed in 1961.

poster of bird and dog in sixties stained glass style

The quote is from Milton, the picture from the London Transport Museum.

You will not be in the slightest bit surprised to learn that we have bought all of these. What are you waiting for?

Dogged

auctions, London Transport

There’s a certain amount of urgency to this post as the next Bloomsbury poster auction is tomorrow (Tuesday). I do wish I could get a bit more excited about the Bloomsbury Auctions, I really do, as they really ought to be the missing piece of the jigsaw, the auctions which hoover up all the lower-priced pieces of good design which Christies no longer deign to touch. But somehow, it just doesn’t quite work.

Nonetheless, shall we get stuck in and see what we can turn up? Perhaps we should begin with this post-war Shell poster, seeing as I was over in that direction this weekend.

George Hooper, est £200-300

It’s rather hard to decide where to go next, in part because the poster part of the auction (there are film posters first, but I’m ignoring those) is arranged in alphabetical order of artists. Which is I admit entirely logical, but does make it hard to construct any kind of narrative out of the whole thing beyond saying that there are posters. Mind you, I think that if this selection of stuff was arranged in almost any order, it would still feel scattergun, it’s just that kind of sale.

So, here is a poster I like for no good reason other than it’s kitsch and quintessentially 1950s.

Anonymous, est. £300-500

So if the bulldog represents Britain, and the poodle Europe, what is the black one up to? Answers on a postcard please to the usual address.

Meanwhile this one is a classic, and a deserved one too.

Abram Games, 1951, est. £200-400

Although by rights that should mean that it is worth more than the dogs, but there you go.

The one feature worth noting is that once again they’ve landed a whole haul of small GPO posters (for the last outbreak, see here).

As last time, they come in lots of ten with only one of each photographed, which isn’t really an enormous lot of use if you are thinking of bidding on them.

Browning, 1950, est. £150-250

Farnhill, 1950, est. £150-250

Armengol, 1951, est. £150-250

This set are definitely not as stellar as the last selection. Even though there is an Eckersley amongst them, it’s not one of his greats.

Tom Eckersley, 1952, est. £150-250

Other than that, however, it is a miscellany. There are three of Henrion’s posters for Punch – I’ve chosen this one because it is the least frequently seen of them.

FHK Henrion, est. £150-250

They are an interesting case, though, these posters as they appear quite regularly on the market, which leads me to suspect that they must have been sold or given away at some point. Perhaps a trawl through early 1950s Punch might reveal the answer.

Also available are two very nice London Transport posters by Betty Swanwick.

Betty Swanwick, est. £200-400

Betty Swanwick, 1949, est. £300-500

For once I agree with the estimates, as the second one, Woolwich Ferry, is by far the better of the two and would look wonderful on the wall, should any of you be tempted.

There is also further proof that P&O and the Orient Line commissioned a lot of very good design before the war, even if I can’t tell you any more about it than that.

Anonymous, est. £150-250

There’s also a chance once again to appreciate the hallucinogenic colour choices of Percy Drake Brookshaw.

Percy Drake Brookshaw, c.1950, est. £150-250.

Along with a tram poster.

Gregory Brown, 1934, set. £200-400

And that’s basically your lot.

One final thing to say, though, which is I hope you are appreciating this blog post as it is the most expensive one I have ever written. Half way through, my computer keeled over once again and this time it looks terminal (or at least rather too expensive to repair). So I have been to the Big Town and come back with a new laptop, all in time to get this piece out before the auction begins tomorrow. It’s not every blog that gives service like that, you know.

Mammoth sale

auctions

Right, in my attempt to keep on top of things, a quick scamper through the forthcoming Swann Galleries auction. Which is tomorrow, so you’d better be quick if you actually want to buy any of them. Me, I’m just window-shopping, especially at these prices.

All the prices are high, but then that’s a posh auction in America for you, but the one I slightly take exception to is this.

McKnight Kauffer, 1924, est. $1,500 – 2000

But that’s only because we sold one at the last Onslows sale, and it went for £230, which seemed quite reasonable at the time. And it was backed on linen too.

Kauffer is also represented by this rather magnificent Art Deco mammoth (now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d have recourse to).

McKnight Kauffer, 1924, est. $2,000 – 3,000

There are a few other London Transport posters in there, like this rather splendid Zero.

Zero, 1935, est $800 – 1,200

Although I do end up wondering whether I’d ever put that up on the wall. Maybe if I were a museum.

There is this rather lovely pair of Barnett Freedmans too.

Barnett Freedman, 1936, est. $700 – 1,000 the pair

Of more interest to me are these two Orient line posters, mainly because I wrote about the first one a while back.

Richard Beck, 1937, est $600 – 900

Reimann Studios and Kraber, 1937, est. $600 – 900

The second one is at least partly by Kraber, whose work I keep discovering and each time I say that I will find out more about him. I must make good on this promise one of these days, because every single design I come across by him is great. This is no exception, and I would happily put that poster on the wall if someone would like to buy it for me.

This, being an early airline map by Moholy Nagy, ought to be interesting.

Moholy-Nagy, 1936, est. $10,000 – 15,000

But it just isn’t, is it. The price suggests that other people might not agree with me though.

And finally, as is customary with these sales where there are just a handful of British posters, a dip into the furrin. This is a Savignac rough design that I just like.

Savignac, 1951, est $3,000 – 4,000

But this is much more interesting.

Savignac, 1950s, est. $800 – 1,200

These are two designs from a set of 39 roughs, which Savignac clearly did for a British firm. Now I did know that he and Colin, amongst others, had worked over here, but evidence of it doesn’t come up often enough if you ask me.

Your goodwill eases our daily task

auctions

Right, I have got behind again (apologies) and so the next few posts are going to be mostly me catching up with the auctions. And there seem to be quite a lot to get through, too. Although I do also have some thoughts on 1930s railway posters which need an airing one of these days as well.

First up, because the auction is next weekend, is London Transport Auctions. On the plus side, they do at least, unlike most railwayman auctions, include a guide price. On the downside, the pictures in their catalogue are minute. Like this one, for example.

That, to save your eyesight, is a road and rail timetable for St Albans in 1937. I suspect that the cover design may be quite nice, but I can’t really tell.

Fortunately The Saleroom have come to our rescue, so we can actually have a look at some of the posters that are on sale. Which is a relief, because there are some nice ones in there. Let’s start with the classics (for which you can read really quite valuable posters) represented here by Anna Zinkeiesen.

Anna Zinkeiesen, 1934, est. £150-200

There’s also a design of hers for the Aldershot Tattoo, but it’s not as mice as the one above. Or this one below, come to that. which is by John Stewart Anderson.

John Stewart Anderson, 1939, est. £150-200

He did some work for Shell in the 1930s as well, in the same kind of airbrush style, but that is pretty much all I can tell you. And I don’t know anything about Charles Mozley, either, except that he designs in a style very reminiscent of Barnett Freedman crossed with a Punch cartoon.

Charles Mozley, 1939, est. £100-150

Although, when I google, it turns out that I probably should have heard of him.

Elsewhere in the classics department, there are a couple of World War Two posters.

Eric Kennington, 1944, est. £75-100

James Fitton, 1943, est. £100-150.

A James Fitton is always a joy to see, at least for me.

As is this Eckersley-Lombers, which I would say was rare, on the basis that I’ve never seen it turn up at auction before. Except that there are two of them in this very sale, each slightly different. Go figure.

Spot the difference. Both are double royal, both from 1936 and both on offer for £100-125 which, if you ask me, would be a bit of a steal. (Actually I think that quite a few of these prices are at the low end of what even a notorious cheapskate like me would be prepared to pay, so it will be interesting to see what things actually go for).

Elsewhere, there are also some lovely post-war poster which are, inevitably, a bit more up my own personal street. Cream of the crop is probably this very colourful Kensington Palace Coronation Special.

Sheila Robinson, 1953, est. £75-100

I could quite happily decorate a room in those colours. And with that poster too.

There are also a few nice later examples too, like these two by Victoria Davidson and Anthony Rossiter.

Victoria Davison, 1959, est. £75-100

Anthony Rossiter, 1964, est. £30-50

But you should probably go and have a look at the catalogue, if only because it is full of many and diverse delights apart from posters. If I spend more than a few minutes in there, I find myself wondering about bus conductors’s satchels and cap badges, about poster frames and brochures. Or why not buy a bus stop?

Yours for £100-125 if you want it. But I think I’d better end there, before I get entirely carried away. On a bus, of course.

Undated

auctions

On 16th July, Bloomsbury are holding their Poster Sale, in what I’m hoping will be the last auction for a while – I say this mainly because I want to write about other things for a chance.

I’m not so jaded that I am going to do this, but I am aware that I could almost substitute what I wrote about Onslows in here with different illustrations, because the two sales are following a very similar pattern.

In particular, they both have a big selection of GPO posters, although in the case of Bloomsbury, they sell them in lots of ten so the estimates, although nominally higher than Onslows are actually cheaper on a per poster basis. Which is confusing, in a trying to work out which brand of cornflakes in the supermarket is actually best value kind of way. Perhaps we should price posters per square centimetre for the sake of clarity. Anyway, these are what’s on offer, but bear in mind that each one comes with nine unphotographed others.

PIeter Huveneers, 1954, est. £150-250

Browning, 1955, est. £150-250

Gapp, 1951, est. £150-250

This also connects up with the Onlows sale in that these – rather than the set on offer at Onslows – are the ones rescued from a skip when the Post Office were having a clear out. So it’s an interesting coincidence that two sets have come on the market at the same time. There is one more lot on offer at Bloomsbury as well, fronted by this Tom Eckersley classic.

Tom Eckersley, 1955, est. £150-250

In another resemblance to Onslows, Bloomsbury also have a few fantastic Games posters tucked away at the end. I won’t go through them all, but mostly they are good but not news to me because they have been much reproduced, like this London Transport example.

Abram Games, 1950, est. £150-250

This one, however is both new to me and utterly wonderful.

Abram Games, 1952, est. £200-400

It’s apparently a British Railways poster – and given that it’s in the collection of the NRM I see no reason to doubt this – but it doesn’t say BR on it anyway. Which is unusual, but I imagine just the kind of thing Abram Games got away with and no one else was allowed to.

Onslows was full of Shell posters; Bloomsbury have but two. They are, however, this kind and so both preferable and more valuable.

Roland Suddaby, 1937, est. £300-500

After that, however, I start to run out. There are foreign posters (lots), film posters (just as many) and car posters (quite a few) but little to tickle my fancy. The best thing I could find is this Lander, and it’s not one of his best.

R M Lander, 1960, est. £200-400

The only other thing that is of interest, although strictly speaking it’s more of a print, is this item by James Fitton.

James Fitton, 1942, est. £300-500

Now I’ve come across one of these before. It’s a print by CEMA, wartime fore-runner to the Arts Council and the prints look to be precursors of the School Prints and Lyons editions. But I can’t find anything about them anywhere – do you lot know where they might be documented? Or even a decent history of CEMA itself would do. Anyway, there are actually a whole set available in the lot, so the estimate looks like somewhat of a bargain, if you like that kind of thing.

Even though it’s a bit short on my personal favourite kinds of posters, I still think the sale is good though, because I think Bloomsbury have answered the question that I asked a week or two ago, which was where are we to buy and sell mid range posters now that Christies have turned us away at the door? Here, it seems.

F M. 1960, est £200-400

That said, I do still have a couple of reservations. One is very simply that they are not trying very hard with their catalogue. For several of the posters I’ve illustrated up there, no dates have been given in the catalogue; in each case it’s been the matter of moments with Google for me to find out. And given that two of those posters are for the GPO and London Transport, who in each case have comprehensive online catalogues, with dates, it’s pretty poor.

The other is the estimates. They’re both wide and well, a bit vague. Surely that fantastic Games of Blackpool has to be worth more than the average Lander? So then I look at the catalogue and wonder how much they really know about their lots. Still, I don’t suppose it matters too much. This is, after all, an auction, and the market can judge for itself what a poster is worth. But I do still feel very slightly cheated.

Finally, in a shameless piece of self-advertisement, we are selling some posters on eBay. However, they are mostly world war two, mostly a bit shabby (OK, some a lot shabby) and surplus to requirements, so keep your expectations low and you won’t be disappointed.

Is it really efficient?

auctions

On we must go with the endless stream of auctions. Today it is Onslows, which takes place on Friday. What can I tell you about it?

Well the first thing that will strike you as you browse through the catalogue is precisely what a tonnage of Shell posters they have – and there are more too, tucked away at the end.

Keith Grant, est. £100-150

I really must take a look at what these actually sell for, because the higher estimates of £100-150 do always strike me as slightly fanciful, but then a few always manage to reach that. Certainly, I don’t see them going as high at other auctions or on eBay. Watch this space and I will report back.

That would, however, be an utterly reasonable price to pay for these Tristram Hillier items, which have the same estimate. I’ve written about them before but, frankly, any excuse.

What I haven’t ever written about properly, however, are the Shell educational posters themselves. Must do that one of these days.

Meanwhile back at Onslows, the other thing that will strike you about the auction is a job lot of GPO posters, some being sold singly, some as individual lots.

Harry Stevens, 1950, est. £70-100

Sams, 1954, est. £60-80

Now I happen to know the story behind these posters, and it’s one to make any archivist’s hair curl. Back in the early 1980s, the Royal Mail in their Mount Pleasant HQ were having a sort out. Sensibly, they decided that two copies of each of the posters they had produced should go to an archive – these are the ones which the BPMA have now. Rather more bogglingly, they put the rest in a skip. The seller rescued a selection that he liked. Some were sold at Bloomsbury in March, this is another batch.

Martin Aitcheson, 1950, est. £40-50

Other than that, the other two interesting items are two rather lovely sets of proofs, one by Barnett Friedman and the other by Edward Ardizzone.

Barnett Friedman, 1952, est. £200-300

Edward Ardizzone, est. £30-50.

I like them a lot, but what you’d actually do with them I’m not entirely sure.

Meanwhile the rest of what is on offer is the usual mix of foreign stuff that I am going to ignore, railway and travel posters, and, as ever, a fair selection of World War Two Home Front posters.

This is probably the stand-out railway poster for me.

Frank Newbould, 1930, est. £700-1,000

Although, as even a cursory flick through this blog would reveal, I am always a sucker for this series.

L A Wilcox, 1960, est. £600-700

The main event in the travel poster section, at least if you are me, is a stream of these black and white British travel posters. A couple are quite interestingly early.

Anonymous, 1938, est. £50-70

The vast majority are not.

Anonymous, c. 1948, est. £50-70.

While this in no way constitutes a recommendation to buy one, these posters are quite interesting as historical artefacts. Take a look at the date: it’s just after the war has ended, and Britain is desperate to pay back the war loans. And one of the ways to do that, is of course American tourist dollars; so these posters wing their way over to the States to try and persuade our American cousins to come over here. But I often wonder just how well they worked. Because America is sleek, glossy and most of all technicolour, but Britain is broke. So our posters come in black and white and are printed on the cheapest, thinnest paper imaginable.

Of course none of this explains why the 1938 poster is equally as shoddy. Perhaps the British Travel and Tourist Association were just cheapskates, all the time.

The reason I’ve thought about these posters so much is that Mr Crownfolio and I, some years ago, bought a whole roll of these posters from America for about £30. We tried to sell a couple on eBay but basically got laughed at. But then, a couple of years later we tried again, and the prices started rising – so much so that one of the last ones went for over £100. And now they are at Onslows, well I never.

In the war section, meanwhile, this is probably the most classic poster.

Norman Wilkinson, 1940, est. £300-400.

While this is my favourite.

Anonymous, 1940, est. £40-50

Just look at the difference in prices, I am clearly in a minority of one on this.

For a change, there aren’t that many London Transport posters in there, but it’s worth persevering through the whole catalogue, because a pair of gems, both by Abram Games, are tucked away at the end.

Abram Games, 1976, est. £100-150

Abram Games, 1950, est. £400-500.

In fact that poster above is the very last one in the sale. And probably one of the best. But it’s an exception, and I am slightly worried by the general lack of good posters like that from the Onslows sale. Because with Christies having got so expensive, there’s a real need for an auction house selling the stuff that, well, Christies used to – the Games, the Eckersleys and the Royston Coopers to start with, never mind the Daphne Paddens. But they aren’t appearing here – so where have they gone? They haven’t entirely migrated to the railwayana auctions, so where have they all gone? Do any of you know, because I certainly don’t. And I’d like to.