Printed by WE Berry of Bradford, this 2ft 6in x 4ft 4in (76cm x 1.32m) British quad, pictured left, sold for £18,000 (plus 20/23% buyer’s premium) at Aston’s Auctioneers of Dudley on January 17.
The poster was featured on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow in Canterbury in 1999, along with its late owner, a collector from Folkestone whose family consigned more than 200 British quad posters for sale. The estimate was £3000-5000 but bidding was opened at £13,000. A US collector, from Michigan, finally secured War of the Worlds thanks to an internet bid via thesaleroom.com.
“As far as we can ascertain there has only been one other auction appearance for this ‘style B’ poster,” said Chris Aston (another sold at Christie’s in 1997). “It is the only poster for the film that features artwork with flying saucers apart from the US half sheet.” In September 2005 Christie’s sold a US half sheet 1953 War of the Worlds poster for £14,000.
