Sci-fi film and travel posters are top attractions at Potter & Potter, Aug. 20
1954 poster for the sci-fi film ‘Tobor the Great,’ est. $1,200-$1,800
CHICAGO – Potter & Potter Auctions will conduct a 735-lot Vintage Posters sale on Saturday, August 20 starting at 10 am Central time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
The sale lineup contains a selection of film and entertainment posters, including several representing 20th-century science fiction and cult classic movies.
Chief among them is Tobor the Great, a poster produced in 1954 to promote this now cult-classic film. It features artwork of a helpless damsel in the arms of the monster Tobor (which is “robot” spelled backwards). This mid-century marvel is estimated at $1,200-$1,800.
1955 poster for ‘The Devil Girl from Mars,’ est. $1,500-$2,500
Another head-turner is a 1955 poster touting The Devil Girl from Mars, estimated at $1,500-$2,500. This linen-backed poster promotes the British sci-fi film starring Patricia Laffan as Nyah, the titular Devil Girl, and her invading force. This army came to Earth to capture human males and return them to Mars, whose own male population was in severe decline, but, evidently, not so small that it couldn’t afford to dispatch a battalion or two across galaxies.
Joseph Feher’s mid-century travel poster for Hawaii via United Air Lines, est. $2,000-$3,000
Posters featuring travel destinations are also hot tickets in this auction. An unparalleled delight is Joseph Feher’s midcentury masterpiece Hawaii / United Air Lines, estimated at $2,000-$3,000. This linen-backed image features a hula dancer standing larger than life on one of the Hawaiian islands, surrounded by fish and plants, men and women on surfboards and outriggers, and a United Boeing Stratocruiser flying overhead.
Circa-1960 Gaston Van den Eynde poster for Sabena / Boeing Jet International, est. $600-$900
Centering transport rather than a travel destination is Gaston Van den Eynde’s circa-1960 poster for Sabena / Boeing Jet Intercontinental, estimated at $600-$900. It features a close-up view of a Boeing jet propeller, with travelers deplaning in the background and another jet taking off in the night sky above. Sabena became mainland Europe’s first airline to offer trans-Atlantic jet service via Boeing 707; this is one poster from a series designed by Van den Eynde heralding Sabena’s jet age.
1927 Cognac Monnet poster by Leonetto Cappiello, est. $2,500-$3,500
Also on offer are posters promoting legacy European brands and products, led by a framed and glazed example of Leonetto Cappiello’s Cognac Monnet from 1927, estimated at $2,500-$3,500. It is illustrated with a flapper woman in red and purple kissing her snifter of cognac, which contains a sun emanating rays of sunshine that are as soft as her dress.
1892 Eugene Grasset poster for Encre L. Marquet ink, est. $1,600-$2,400
Just as alluring is Eugene Grasset’s 1892 poster for the ink brand Encre L. Marquet, estimated at $1,600-$2,400. This color lithograph poster – the larger of two formats – features a contemplative woman looking upward at the sky on a cloudy night. She holds a quill pen and sheaves of paper, ready to set down her thoughts with the fine ink advertised on the poster.
View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
