?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
DESIGNER UNKNOWN [CLOWN.] Pre 1893. 87 3/4x40 inches, 223x102 cm. David Allen & Sons, London. Condition B+: restoraiton and overpainting in margins; unobtrusive restoration and restored losses along vertical fold. Three sheets. David Allen opened his printing plant in Belfast in 1857, and the first recorded poster he printed was for a circus. His son William opened a printing plant in London in 1888, and then one in Melbourne (which closed in 1893) and another in New York (which closed in 1899). The company was one of the largest-- if not the largest-- printer and billposter in Great Britain. They printed theatrical, propaganda and advertising posters for such major British companies as Colemans. In addition to printing advertisements for specific clients, David Allen also produced stock posters--generic images which smaller advertisers customized by filling in their own information. The Encyclopedia of Ephemera writes that the company "offered over 700 examples of off-the-peg lithographic posters for theatrical and similar performances in their catalogue for 1900" (p. 314). This poster was designed between 1890 and 1893. By this time printers no longer worked with wood blocks, as stone lithography was much cheaper and easier to produce. However, the public and the advertisers were still accustomed to the vivid colors and specific look of woodblock images, so printers turned out lithographs that resembled woodblock prints. This extremely rare poster is in all points remarkable. Although it was a stock poster that would have been produced in quantity, it is the only known copy of this exceptional image that we have been able to locate. The symbolism in the design belies the apparent simplicity of the image. Crossed keys, crossed-forks over a fish, a lock, a cup, a teakettle and coffeepot are all part of the image. It also, unintentionally can be considered one of the earliest printed appearances of the smiley-face.
![DESIGNER UNKNOWN. [CLOWN.] Pre 1893. 87x40 inches, 223x102 cm. David Allen & Sons, London.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//953\624953.jpg)
