This sale comes full circle with posters promoting consumer goods, food and beverages, Disney destinations, as well as premier selections of fine art, prints, and drawings.
· Lot #561, Camille Bouchet's (1799–1890) Cognac Jacquet, is estimated at $900-1,300. This iconic, linen backed color lithograph poster depicts a colorful peacock and a bottle of cognac. It measures 62-½ x 46-¼” and was printed in the 1920s in Paris by Vercasson.
· Lot #537, Ernest Vulliemin's Cycles Peugeot, is estimated at $800-1,200. This c. 1900, linen backed example was printed in Paris by Moderne M. de Brunhoff & Cie. It features a uniformed messenger standing beside his bicycle, handing a letter to a man in a military uniform sitting astride a horse. It measures 57 x 41-½” and has two period stamps affixed to its upper right.
· Lot #83, James Jebary's United Airlines Presents Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room / Disneyland, is estimated at $1,000-1,500. This linen backed poster from 1968 is illustrated with Jose the Macaw and measures 40-¼ x 24-¾”. In 2018, Potter & Potter sold a similar example for $4,500.
· Lot #822, James Abbott McNeil Whistler's (1834-1903) The Pool, is estimated at $900-1,300. This forth state etching on Japanese paper from 1859 is signed in plate and is one of 16 etchings published as a set in 1871 under the title Sixteen Etchings on the Thames and Other Subjects. This matted and framed work measures 17 x 21” overall with an image size of 5-½ x 8-¼”.
According to Joe Slabaugh, Director of Cataloging at Potter & Potter Auctions, "Travel and tourism posters are once again the backbone of our sale, and at nearly 500 lots, this section checks almost all the boxes a travel poster collector could hope for, from major and regional airlines, railroads, and ocean travel, to pictorial maps, winter sports, noted designers, and destinations the world over. But we're also thrilled with the second half of the sale, particularly 1910s-20s propaganda and European posters from the Milton Davidson collection of the Western Lithograph Co. which are hitting the market for the first time."
Potter & Potter Announces Vintage Poster Sale on January 29
Detail from Camille Bouchet's Cognac Jacquet, estimated at $900-1,300.
Chicago — Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce this 825 lot sale to be held on Saturday, January 29th starting at 10am CDT. The event will be held online and live streamed, with a limited number of bidders physically allowed in the gallery as determined by current Illinois public health attendance guidelines. Please call the auction house, located at 5001 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago, at 773-472-1442 to reserve seats, with first come, first served. Bidding will take place through Potter & Potter's website, at www.potterauctions.com. Phone and absentee bids are also welcome.
Antique posters featuring exquisite images of yesteryear take several of the top lot slots in this important sale.
· Lot #533, Kees Van Der Laan's (Dutch, 1903-1983) Leert Vliegen (Learn To Fly), is estimated at $4,000-6,000. This stunning and dynamic framed poster for a flight school is rendered in white, grey, and blue and was printed in Rotterdam by Kuhn & Zoon in 1931.
· Lot #515, Willy Sluiter's (Dutch, Jan Willem, 1873-1949) Oostersche Tapyten (Oriental Carpets), is estimated at $2,500-3,500. This bright, vivid, and rare linen backed Dutch advertising poster shows a man in a red fez presenting a Persian rug to a well-dressed lady patron. It measures 72-¼ x 39-½” and was published in 1916 in Amsterdam by Senefelder.
· Lot #73, a c. 1860s color lithograph advertisement for the Anchor Line, is estimated at $2,000-3,000. It was published in New York by Nesbitt & Company and is illustrated with a large vignette of a ship at its center and four corner vignettes of popular travel destinations. This matted example measures 20-½ x 25-½”.
Posters capturing important domestic and international events, political movements, and propaganda initiatives are another call to action in this can't miss event.
· Lot #673, William Dodge Stevens' (1870-1942) Teamwork Builds Ships, is estimated at $1,500-2,500. This linen backed lithograph poster depicts a trio of riveters working on the hull of a troopship under construction. It was published in 1918 by Forbes in Boston and measures 36 x 49-½”.
· Lot #710, The Decree on Peace, is estimated at $1,200-2,400. This linen backed example from the 1960s measures 38 x 78" and features Lenin standing against a royal blue background, flanked on either side by red curtains. The text above his head reads, in translation, “Peace Decree / Passed unanimously at the meeting of All-Russian Congress of Soviet Workers, Soldiers, and Peasant Deputies. October 26, 1917,” while the text below reads, “Our Peace policy is approved by the vast majority of the world population.”
· Lot #758, The Ensign, is estimated at $800-1,200. This linen backed lithograph spotlights President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton looking down lovingly upon a small child eagerly tugging at the president’s arm. It was published in the 1890s in Cincinnati by The Strobridge Litho Co. and measures 83-¾ x 39-¾”.
Posters featuring American travel destinations and transport services are also hot tickets in this sale.
· Lot #124, Charles Allen's 1960s era Hawaii, is estimated at $1,000-1,500. This offset, linen backed lithograph travel poster measures 37 ½ x 25 ½” and features surfers catching a huge ocean wave.
· Lot #198, David Klein's (1918-2005) TWA / Las Vegas, is estimated at $900-1,200. This linen backed, ca. 1957 silkscreen and offset lithograph contrasts leisure in Las Vegas in the sun and after dark. It measures 40 x 25-¼” and is the earliest printing of this iconic poster.
· Lot #224, Maurice Logan's (1886-1977) The Alamo / Southern Pacific, is estimated at $800-1,200. This linen backed, offset lithograph measure 23 x 15-15/16” and depicts the famous historical site. Logan and five other artists were members of the Society of Six, a group of California plein-air painters. Logan’s paintings of the American West were used on Southern Pacific posters for numerous national parks, cities, and landmarks.
No passport is required to appreciate this event's premier selections of posters promoting overseas travel and adventure.
· Lot #413, a lithographed poster for Velke Karlovice, Raj Lyzaru - a picturesque ski resort in today's Czechia - is estimated at $900-1,300. This linen backed example is illustrated by Czech artist Ladislav Horak, measures 33" x 23-¼”, and features the profile of an athletic man skiing down an idyllic, snow covered run.
· Lot #219, Paul George Lawler's Peru of the Incas / Pan American, is estimated at $1,200-1,800. This airline destination poster from 1938 depicts men looking up at a Pan Am Douglas DC-3 flying over the Andes. It is linen backed and measures 41 ½ x 27”.
· Lot #324, Australia / New Zealand / Pan American World Airways, is estimated at $1,000-1,500. This c. 1950s silkscreened airline poster measures 39 ¾ x 25 3/16” and is illustrated with the flora, fauna, indigenous people, and art of Australia and New Zealand.
· Lot #93, Aaron Fine's London / Pan Am, is estimated at $900-1,300. Dating from c. 1960, this rare, linen backed example measures 41-5/8 x 28- 1/8”. It features a London double-decker bus conductor pulling one letter from the title, while additional buses circle Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain at Piccadilly Circus.
Also on offer are eye-catching posters specifically featuring India and Indian themed celebrations, culture, and attractions.
· Lot #138, Austin Cooper's (1890-1964) See India / Amber, is estimated at $900-1,200. This linen backed color lithograph, spotlighting an elephant with a howdah on its back in a procession below the city walls of Amber (Amer) in Jaipur, was published in London by the Lochend Printing Co. Ltd. in the 1930s. It measures 40 x 24-7/8”. Cooper designed over 50 posters for the London Underground, many examples of which are held at the London Transport Museum. This is one of only a few posters he designed for destinations outside the British Isles.
· Lot #146, Vic Veever's See India / Darjeeling / “At a Lama Dance.”, is estimated at $900-1,200. This linen backed example measures 38 ¾ x 24 ½” and is illustrated with two traditionally dressed men playing musical horns. It was published in Bombay by Bolton Fine Art Offset Litho. in 1934.
· Lot #139, Air India / Rome, is estimated at $800-1,200. This linen backed, offset lithograph airline poster depicts the airline’s Maharajah mascot playing a pungi, charming his bowl of pasta into spelling out the word “Rome." It measures 39-½ x 25-3/16” and was published in 1971 by the New Jack Printing Works in Bombay.
