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Edward McKnight Kauffer, ‘Actors Prefer Shell,’, estimated at £1,500-£2,000

Lyon & Turnbull’s high-powered poster auction set for Apr 29

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Edward McKnight Kauffer, ‘Actors Prefer Shell,’, estimated at £1,500-£2,000
Edward McKnight Kauffer, ‘Actors Prefer Shell,’, estimated at £1,500-£2,000

LONDON – Lyon & Turnbull will offer selections from the Shell Heritage Art Collection during the first day of its April 29-30 Modern Made auction. Proceeds will benefit the National Motor Museum Trust. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Comprising 50 lots, the vintage posters feature imagery by sought-after artists such as Edward McKnight Kauffer, an American-born graphic designer whose works appear at least seven times in the sale. Shell chose him as its principal poster designer, and he created more than 180 pieces for the company during the 1920s and 1930s.

John Stewart Anderson, ‘Motorists Prefer Shell,’ estimated at £1,800-£2,200
John Stewart Anderson, ‘Motorists Prefer Shell,’ estimated at £1,800-£2,200

Carrying the highest estimate of the group of Kauffer images is a 1933 lithographic poster colloquially known as Actors Prefer Shell. Rated as being in A/A- condition and measuring 76cm by 114 cm (30 by 45in), it carries an estimate of £1,500-£2,000. Other Kauffer-designed posters in the sale have estimates in the triple-dight range, including For Pull, Use Summer Shell, dating to 193o and estimated at £600-£800; Winter Shell From October to May, a 1939 poster estimated at £400-£600; and Summer Shell May to October, also from 1939, and bearing the same estimate as its winter counterpart.

Artist unknown, ‘Shell For Anti-Knock,’ estimated at £2,000-£3,000
Artist unknown, ‘Shell For Anti-Knock,’ estimated at £2,000-£3,000

The poster that earned the highest presale estimate does not appear to have an attribution to an artist. It depicts a fast-moving yellow car with the phrase “Shell For Anti-Knock” and dating to 1930, it is estimated at £2,000-£3,000.

Paul Nash, scene of Kimmeridge Folly, Dorset, estimated at £1,500-£2,000
Paul Nash, scene of Kimmeridge Folly, Dorset, estimated at £1,500-£2,000

Several of the posters encourage drivers to visit British landmarks. Paul Nash’s 1937 design featuring Kimmeridge Folly in Dorset, England boasts the highest estimate in the subgroup, at £1,500-£2,000.

Ben Nicholson poster for Shell, featuring a Guardsman, estimated at £700-£900
Ben Nicholson poster for Shell, featuring a Guardsman, estimated at £700-£900

A pleasing Art Deco-style vision of pistons with a period car in the background, rendered by John Stewart Anderson and known as Motorists Prefer Shell, should sell for £1,800-£2,200. A 1938 poster by Ben Nicholson prominently features a red-clad guardsman in familiar bearskin headgear and promises the viewer that he and his colleagues rely on Shell. It is estimated at £700-£900.

The current rate of exchange between the British pound (GBP) and the U.S. dollar is 1 = $1.38.

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