1. A Soviet poster
Antikbar, the vintage poster specialist in west London, will offer a collection of Soviet and Palestinian propaganda posters acquired during trips to the USSR and Lebanon in the 1960s-70s. The sale takes place on May 11.
A number of the Soviet posters were sourced in March 1969, when the vendor joined a UK delegation of the National Union of Students to Moscow, Leningrad and Tallinn. He also requested and received several poster parcels sent to his university from the Soviet authorities.
Estimate at £30-60, this 2ft 9in x 23in (86 x 58cm) Soviet Constructivist propaganda poster of Lenin overlooking an electrical installation, is a 1969 re-issue of a 1925 poster and was part of an official government series of poster design re-issues.
2. A copy of the 1916 Irish Proclamation
One of only three known surviving first anniversary copies of the Irish Proclamation of 1916 will be offered at Victor Mee Auctions on May 8-9 estimated at €10,000-20,000.
One of only three known surviving first anniversary copies of the Irish Proclamation of 1916 will be offered at Victor Mee Auctions of Cavan, Ireland, as part of a two-day sale on May 8-9.
Estimated at €10,000-20,000, the copy was printed by the Irish republican women’s paramilitary organisation, Cumann na mBan, a year after the 1916 Easter Rising using the same printing blocks as the original. These were gathered from the wrecked General Post Office in Dublin, used as the headquarters of the uprising’s leaders.
This example was taken down by a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police to avoid political unrest on the orders of the High Sheriff of Dublin. The piece was passed to Robert Bradley, a retired Sheriff of Dublin and passed to his friends, the McKay family, who kept it for over six decades, passing it down to the vendor.
3. A landscape by Lowry’s tutor
This oil on board landscape depicting Valldemossa on the island of Majorca by Pierre Adolphe Valette is estimated at £2000-3000 in Cheffins’ May 9 auction.
Six Impressionist landscapes by LS Lowry’s tutor, Pierre Adolphe Valette (1876-1942), will be hitting the auction block in an Art & Design sale at Cambridge saleroom Cheffins on May 9.
The group was purchased from The Tib Lane Gallery in Manchester in 1970 and includes views of Grasmere, Anglesey, Pravins and Palma. The highest-estimated work at £2000-3000 is a 14 x 19in (37 x 49cm) oil on board landscape depicting Valldemossa on the island of Majorca. Lowry called Valette “a real teacher… a dedicated teacher”.
4. A collection of Yeoman medals
A collection of medals relating to the Yeomen of The Guard will be offered in a two-day sale of orders, decorations, medals and militaria at London saleroom Dix Noonan Webb on May 8-9.
The group was assembled by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul William Denny (1940-2018) in 1990, just after he was appointed a Yeoman of the Guard himself. He continued collecting until his death last year.
Highlights of the 38-lot group include a Crimean War DCM group of four awarded to Sergeant-Major John Breeze, 11th Hussars and Yeoman of the Guard, who lost his arm at the battle of Inkerman. It comes with photographs of the recipient in his Yeoman of the Guard uniform and is estimated at £4000-5000.
5. British and Commonwealth stamp designs
A collection of British and Commonwealth stamp designs, hand-painted to scale in watercolour, will be auctioned at Hansons on May 9 with an overall estimate of £100,000-150,000.
A vast collection of British and Commonwealth stamp designs, hand-painted to scale in watercolour, will be auctioned at Derbyshire saleroom Hansons on May 9 with an overall estimate of £100,000-150,000.
The archive of 270 original stamp and 40 bank note designs was painted by Leonard Fryer, a designer for London’s Waterlow and Sons. Founded in 1810, the company was a worldwide engraver and printer of currency, postage stamps, stocks and bond certificates.
These tiny works, carried out from the 1920s-50s, had to be done with a paintbrush in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other. The archive has been consigned by Fryer’s granddaughters and consists of original watercolour sketches of stamp designs created for numerous countries including Malta, Peru, Antigua, Southern Rhodesia, St Lucia, Brazil, Cyprus, Jamaica and Nigeria.
