?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
E. THELEM (ERNEST BARTHELEMY LEM, 1869-1930)
CYCLES PEUGEOT. Circa 1897.
59x41½ inches, 149¾x105½ cm. G. Elleume, Paris. Condition B: repaired tears, small replaced losses, creases and abrasions in margins and image and along vertical and horizontal folds; mismatched overpainting along restoration; reds attenuated.
The Peugeot family began their rise to industrial power with the discovery of iron in the Doubs Valley, in the east of France. Initially producing tools, in 1885, they began manufacturing bicycles, then moved on to motorcycles, and eventually to automobiles. This poster clearly positions Peugeot as the brand of aristocrats and the well-to-do. Here, on the immaculate grounds of a stately home, women are engaged in a game of lawn tennis. A dashing gentleman on his motorcycle entices one of the women to leave the game and flirt. Associating wealth, style, status and sex appeal with motorcycles is a powerful advertising concept that thrives through the present day. Le Tennis A l'Affiche p. 37, Tennis p. 39, Gold 75.
