From LMS and LNER to standard and narrow gauge in poster sale
RAILWAY posters issued by three of the Big Four and BR, with a contrast being offered by the 15in gauge Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, are to feature in an Onslow’s auction on November 25, headed by a circa 1930 LNER issue that is estimated at up to £6000.
The poster is titled ‘East coast route to Scotland’ and depicts an A3 Pacific on ‘The Flying Scotsman’ speeding beside the sea. It is the work of Frank Mason (1875-1965), who was admired not only for his railway art, but also other work including maritime, shipping, coastal and harbour subjects.
An LMS poster issued for the French market promoting Ecosse (Scotland) and giving a Paris address for brochures also has a four-figure estimate of up £1600. It is the work of the acclaimed artist AM Cassandre, who was born in Ukraine in 1901 of French parents and spent his career in Paris, where sadly he took his own life in June 1968 at the age of 67, having suffered from bouts of depression for a number of years.
From the Southern Railway comes a 1947 poster promoting Poole, which is estimated at up to £1500. It is the work of London-born Leslie Carr (1891-1969), who served in both world wars, in the Tank Corps in the first conflict and in the Auxiliary Fire Service in the second, and in the 1960s was art director of The Motor magazine.
‘Dungeness by the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway’ is the title of another railway poster set to go under the hammer. It is the work of N Cramer Roberts and depicts a lighthouse and a three-funnelled ocean liner, possibly Queen Mary.
Its issue date is not identified, but the RHDR was not opened until July 1927, while Queen Mary was not launched until September 1934.
From a more modern era, a BR Western Region poster from 1958 advertises camping coaches in England, Scotland and Wales that “provide delightful and inexpensive holidays” and are a “real change for the family.”The artwork, featuring a young family picnicking beside a coach, carries the signature ‘Barber.’