Enamel advert for Sandeman’s Port signs off at £100

Collectors of metal advertising signs are permanently on their guard against modern reproductions which are often “aged” with sublime skills. The best, though, are avidly collected. I believe the current auction record stands at £28,000 for a British Petroleum sign from the 1920s showing a speeding car.

Illustrated is an enamel advert for Sandeman’s Port. Wouldn’t it have made a classy prop for a Bogart movie, say Casablanca in 1942, when this sign would have been hung at railway stations and on gable walls?

The port and sherry firm was founded in London in 1790 by George Sandeman and it made his fortune. Within two years he had sold more than 100,000 bottles of sherry across the country.

In 1825, his relative Thomas Sandeman began a similar business in Perth, selling beer, whisky and wine. It was Thomas who took on a travelling salesman by the name of Arthur Bell. The rest, as they say…

Sandeman’s had a well-known logo that featured a full-length figure named Don dressed in a Zorro-style cape and wide Spanish hat. In the 1930s, the company introduced Sherry Girl to their advertising campaigns, with artwork by Edward Loxton Knight.

The 21in x 17in Sherry Girl sign appeared at Wotton Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire where it was lotted together with another five hand-painted enamels, including a superb Art Deco example titled Scotland – The East Coast Route, showing a train with billowing steam rushing northwards.

With the usual wear and tear, chipping and rubbing to enamel, the signs were cautiously estimated at £30-£50 for the lot, before being knocked down for £100.

Condition is everything in this market, though.

Picture: Sandeman’s advertising sign (Wotton Auction Rooms).