Vintage Posters at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions

A 1950s Pan Am airline poster was among a number of vintage posters offered at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions on Wednesday 12th February.

The famous American illustrator and graphic designer Raymond Ameijide (1924-2000) created the piece for Pan Am airline to promote Bermuda as the holiday destination of choice. The original offset lithograph, which was created in the 1950s, helped Bermuda’s tourism reach it’s peak in the 60s and 70s. It sold for £2,480 [Lot 13]

A Peter Pan map of South Kensington by early 20th century graphic designer Gill MacDonald, sold to a UK buyer online for £2,232. MacDonald found notoriety for his 1914 ‘Wonderground Map’, a humorous but accurate representation of the London Underground map. It hung at every underground station and was sold commercially to the public. [Lot 88]

Elsewhere in the sale a 1939 lithograph poster, by the Scottish born artist Gordon Mitchell Forsyth achieved £1,736. Better known as a ceramic designer, Mitchell had an exceptionally successful career as the art director of the Staffordshire tileworks Minton Hollins & Co and later as art director of Pilkington Tile and Pottery Co, near Manchester. His career spanned 40 years and left a lasting legacy on the British ceramic industry. Having fought in the First World War he became superintendent of art instruction at Stoke and Burslem Schools of Art where he tutored a number of prominent students including Susie Cooper, Glyn Colledge, Clarice Cliff, Charlotte Rhead, and Mabel Leigh. He later became an adviser to the British Pottery Manufacturers Association. [Lot 79]

Full results from this auction are available online at www.bloomsburyauctions.com