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A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.

New discoveries in Onslows’ poster auction Dec. 9

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.
A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.

STOURPAINE, England – Onslows’ winter auction, Friday, Dec. 9, offers some rare posters not seen on the market before. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the auction, which will start at 2 p.m. UK.

First up is a wonderful British art deco design, probably by Reginald Higgins, for the London Midland & Scottish Railway titled Best Coast Holiday Coast. The main sheet of a two-sheet design, this unrecorded poster and carries a £1,000-£1,500 ($1,569-$2,354) estimate. Found folded in the bottom of a box of books is an LMS Rhyl beach poster (est £3,000-£3,500, $4,708-$5,492).

Another noteworthy group is a rare group of early Shell posters by the French artist Charles Fouqueray, who is better known for French World War I posters. Also known as lorry bills, these posters were commissioned by Shell in 1925. Onslows will be selling five of the 18 that Fouqueray designed. Perhaps the most evocative of the group depicts Ben Lomond, a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. This poster is estimated at £1,000-£1,500 ($1,569-$2,354).

Onslows also has an excellent collection of early French automobile posters, with estimates ranging from £1,000 to £2,500 ($1,569-$3,923).

British World War II home front posters will also be sold, along with shipping, airlines, railways and other subjects in what Onslows describes as one of their best poster auctions in recent years.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.
A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.