AUCTION Sales round up

The 1968 film poster sold for £1,900 at the Surrey auction house

The pencil drawings were by Louis Wain’s sister

Claire

Artwork for the sci-fi film was by well-known illustrator Tom

Chantrell

Ewbank’s, Woking A poster advertising the 1968 film, Girl on a Motorcycle, starring Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull, sold mid-estimate when it fetched £1,900 at the Surrey auction house’s vintage poster sale on November 4.

At the same sale a rare poster for the 1969 film Moon Zero Two, featuring artwork by renowned artist Tom Chantrell (19162001) more than doubled its low pre-sale guide price when it sold for £480. Chantrell was one of the most famous British illustrators and film poster artists of the 20th century, noted as the designer of the Style-C poster advertising the 1977 release of Star Wars in British cinemas.

Such is the current popularity of film posters the auction house is set to increase its number of dedicated sales in 2023.

Catherine Southon, Fairley A screenprint of four tins of Tesco Value tomato soup by the anonymous Bristol-based graffiti artist, Banksy (b. 1975), more than trebled its low estimate of £10,000 at the Kent auctioneer’s recent sale when it fetched £31,000.

Four Soup Cans (Gold and Cream), was signed and numbered 39, from an edition of 54, and accompanied by original receipt and invoice. Banksy’s provocative stencils are among the most iconic and controversial images in Street Art. At the same sale a George III gilt mirror sold for more than 10 times its low pre-sale guide of £300 when it fetched £3,100.

The gilt mirror smashed its pre-sale guide price

In July 2019 Banksy was voted

Britain’s favourite artist

Halls, Shrewsbury Seven original drawings of cats by Claire Wain (1868-1945), sister of Louis Wain (1860-1939), estimated to make £50-£80, sold for £750 at the Shropshire auction house on November 9.

Louis Wain was known for his anthropomorphised pictures of felines; last year his life was portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film The Electrical Life of Cats. At the same sale, more than 400 Observer books, ranging in theme from lichens to country houses, sold for £1,000, double their pre-sale estimate.

The well-known educational series sold for

£1,000 in Shrewsbury

Fellows, Birmingham A cigarette case belonging to the doctor who invented the crash helmet rushed past its low pre-sale estimate of £1,800 when it sold for £2,535.

Pioneering Dr Eric Gardner became a specialist in the complexities of injuries caused by high-speed motor accident after working at the Brooklands racetrack in Surrey while still serving as a GP in a nearby practice.

The cigarette case crashed past its low estimate in the Midlands

Seeking to prevent damage before it happened, he developed a helmet of reinforced canvas, strengthened by a shellac coating. His innovative design was first used to good effect at the Isle of Man TT races in 1914.

14 ANTIQUE COLLECTING