I visited a railwayana auction last year and realised that there was a lot of money in signs. A simple ‘this way’ pointer can go for £150. Part of the appeal is that you can put it in your replica station at the bottom of the garden.
Maps on the other hand seem to be undervalued in some ways (I guess if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all ?) . Sorry map lovers !
So where do we cross over? we’ve already taken a look at the amazing Planispheres of Luciene Boucher, an extremely artful map type object.
There are more low brow versions too, particularly in 1960s railway posters where most counties were featured at one time or another. RM Lander was probably Britains most prolific poster artists of all time, take this Isle of Wight example
Some of the detail of these maps is both interesting and amusing, I’m sure if you are from that area or county you may even give a map wall space but in the main they will not be highly regarded, the reason is simple : you can’t see it from a distance.
I have long said that the best posters have a clear written message so a sign type poster takes this one step further. That most famous of British posters ‘Keep Calm and Carry on’ is indeed pure graphic and halfway between a poster and a sign.
My latest offering for sale on Ebay is even more of a sign
Its probably going to appeal to Underground buffs and would look great if someone has a mini South Harrow station in their backyard !