Thinking about shipping posters links me to the Royal Mail Lines.
That Leads to Percy Padden w seems to be somewhat of an In House artist
Another poster mystery is upon us …….
This poster is on the Bonhams site as having sold for $23 !!!
Wish that I had been there on that day !! Typically they go for 800 to 1200 by the way !
There is little about him in terms of biog
Studied at the Royal College of Art and went on to become one of the foremost poster designers of the early 20th Century. He worked mainly for the post office producing sumptuous works advertising cruises on Mail Boats. His work is characterised by strong images with use of colour and form.
Interestingly Invaluable has some of Percy’s work by Daphne so the internet is certainly fraught with danger as far as this duo is concerned.
His daughter however is a presence writ large across mid century design. A British Bjorn Wiinblad if you like. Whilst Wiinblad enjoyed the patronage of Royal Copenhagen however, Padden seems to dot around the scene, majoring on the relatively downmarket coach companies between some stunning work for British Railways.
This style of figures doing different things in the same scene has been described as paddenesque by some American art dealers.
More about the younger Padden tomorrow !!