United Nations Archives Auction
This sale probably includes the highest percentage of unique items ever offered in a single auction. Of over 2,800 lots, more than 2,000 are unique. We don’t normally associate the term ‘rarity’ with United Nations philately, yet within this catalogue there are enough rarities to satisfy the tastes of any connoisseur. In addition to the unique items, the vast majority of the remaining lots in the sale exist in quantities of five or less.
Ironically, the auction does not include even one single regularly issued stamp or cover, yet it offers something else never before seen in a philatelic auction. Look through this catalogue, especially the artwork submitted by artists from more than forty nations, and you’ll get a very compelling glimpse of the world of the early postwar era, with its slow but definite emergence of a global consciousness. Here is a planet devastated by war, trying to find its voice as it seeks a badly needed fresh start. The earnest, almost desperate desire for world peace comes through in the UN art as in nowhere else.







![UN Artist's Drawing by Jack Weiss: UN Artist's Drawing for Proposed 5c Design; by Jack Weiss [USA]. Acrylic and gouache on card, 306x254mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161295_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![Artist's Drawing by Leon Helguera: UN Artist's Drawing for Proposed 6c Design; by Leon Helguera [Mexico]. Pencil on card, 162x147mm. Stamp-size photograph of design mounted at bottom right. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161296_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![Artist's Drawing by Leon Helguera: UN Artist's Drawing for Proposed 8c Design; by Leon Helguera [Mexico]. Pencil on onionskin, mounted on artboard, 250x330mm, matted. Stamp-size photograph of design mounted at bottom right. Some](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161297_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![Artist's Drawing by Leon Helguera: UN Artist's Drawing for Proposed 15c Design; by Leon Helguera [Mexico]. Pencil on onionskin, mounted on card, 210x103mm. Stamp-size photograph of design mounted at bottom right. Some toning and](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161298_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Engraved Die Essays by S.L. Hartz: UN Six Engraved Die Essays in Different Colors for Proposed 15c Design; by S.L. Hartz [Netherlands]. Matted on Enschede presentation card, 233x208mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161299_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Original Sketch by Ole Hamann: UN Original Sketch for Plane & Gull Allegory Design; by Ole Hamann [Denmark]. Pencil on art paper, mounted on artboard, 228x150mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161300_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Artist's Drawing by Ole Hamann: UN Artist's Drawing for Proposed 10c Design; by Ole Hamann [Denmark]. Acrylic on artboard, 150x102mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161301_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Photographic Essay by Olav Mathiesen: UN Photographic Essay for Proposed 15c Design; by Olav Mathiesen [Denmark]. 116x76mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161302_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN 3 Pencil Sketches by Olav Mathiesen: UN Three Pencil Sketches for Similar 15c Swallows Designs; by Olav Mathiesen [Denmark]. Pencil on artboard, each ranging in size up to 157x117mm. Also Photographic Essay of another design. Unique](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161303_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Artist's Drawing by Olav Mathiesen: UN Artist's Drawing for Proposed 15c Design; by Olav Mathiesen [Denmark]. Oil and gouache on artboard, 135x86mm. Minor surface cracking. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161304_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Artist's Drawing by Olav Mathiesen: UN Approved Artist's Drawing for 15c Design; by Olav Mathiesen [Denmark]. Crayon on onionskin, mounted on artboard, 152x107mm. Repaired tears. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161305_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Artist's Drawing by Olav Mathiesen: UN Approved Artist's Drawing for 25c Design; by Olav Mathiesen [Denmark]. Oil and gouache on artboard, 133x89mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161306_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN 1952 Artist's Painting by Ole Hamann: UN 1952 5c UN Charter (Scott #12) Artist's Painting for Proposed Design; by Ole Hamann [Denmark]. Oil on thick card, 293x240mm. Design shows diagonal view with the building remarkably similar to the](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161307_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Preliminary Sketch - Jean Van Noten: UN Composite Preliminary Sketch; by Jean Van Noten [Belgium]. Watercolor and pencil on wove paper, mounted on cardboard, 195x245mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161308_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Preliminary Sketch - Jean Van Noten: UN Similar Composite Preliminary Sketch; by Jean Van Noten [Belgium]. Gouache, watercolor and pencil on wove paper, 233x368mm. Larger designs much more developed than in the previous lot, with](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161309_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Artist's Painting- by Jean Van Noten: UN Artist's Painting for Proposed Design; by Jean Van Noten [Belgium]. Oil, acrylic, and gouache, mounted on thick card, 380x262mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161310_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Artist's Painting- by Jean Van Noten: UN Another Painting for Proposed Design; by Jean Van Noten [Belgium]. Oil, acrylic, and gouache, mounted on thick card, 370x244mm. Placement of UN Emblem and Inscriptions closer to the approved](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161311_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)
![UN Approved Painting- by Jean Van Noten: UN Approved Design Painting; by Jean Van Noten [Belgium]. Oil, acrylic, and gouache, mounted on thick card, 375x276mm. Unique.](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/220/334/161312_1_x.jpg?height=310&quality=70&version=1068151446)


