A popular ski auction, mainly comprising ski posters, is expected to fetch up to £250,000 sterling (€392,000) next month at Christie's in London. Estimates range from £250 to £11,000 for individual posters.
The annual ski auction probably attracts greater interest internationally than any other poster sale held by the auction house. According to Ms Nicolette White, poster specialist at Christie's in London, collecting ski posters has been an ongoing tradition since the early 20th century. "But in the last five years it has really taken off. I think it's because people didn't realise that they could collect them. For example, in Chamonix today one of the early posters is used on the back of the ski pass. Things like that are increasing people's awareness of these early designs.
"Also, many people are very passionate about skiing and go there regularly and have chalets in France and Switzerland. And the kind of thing they like to have up on the wall is a piece of early history."
She describes the ski sale as "probably the sale that attracts the greatest interest worldwide. We get emails literally from all over the world about this sale. That really shows the popularity of this sport".
Christie's has held specialist ski sales for the past four years. Previously they were auctioned in general sales. "But the specialist sale helps the market. When they're all together in one sale it's much easier for people to see them all and find the resort that they're looking for." Two of the earliest posters in the auction carry the highest estimates. A 1905 poster by Jules Faivre entitled Sports D'Hiver Chamonix depicts a woman in a long ankle-length skirt skiing with one pole on very early wooden skis. "It's a good example of what people wore to ski at that time," she says. It is expected to fetch £9,000 to £11,000.
A second exceptional poster entitled Chamonix Mont-Blanc is by Francisco Tamagno. It depicts a couple, male and female, jumping off the mountain. Produced by Paris-Lyon Meditee (PLM) railways circa 1900, it advertises winter sports of bobsleighing, ice-skating and skiing. It is also estimated at £9,000 to £11,000.
Ski resorts from throughout Europe are represented, including several from Chamonix, St Moritz and Klosters. A colourful image of a laughing man and woman sledding down a mountain is estimated at £700. Posters from the first Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 include one by Roger Soubie of a woman skater, which is expected to make £1,200 to £1,600. An official 1924 Winter Olympics poster by Auguste Matisse showing a bobsleigh team descending a run being watched by an eagle is expected to fetch £1,500 to £2,000.
Posters with the St Moritz rabbits, used to advertise the resort during the 1930s, are popular. For instance, a poster of a skiing rabbit carries an estimate of £1,000 to £1,500, while another of bob-sleighing bunnies could fetch £600 to £800. Meanwhile, a famous St Moritz poster showing two elegant women and their companion admiring a winter scene from the Palace Hotel balcony is estimated at £4,000 to £6,000.
A bronze Olympic medal from the 1924 Winter Olympics recently discovered in a French junk shop is included in the auction. It is expected to fetch up to £5,000.
Mr Ian Whyte, director of Whyte's auction rooms in Marlborough Street, Dublin, says that ski posters don't tend to turn up in Ireland. One US ski poster depicting an "attractive girl with very few clothes on her" fetched £40 or £50 at Whyte's in recent years. "But I haven't seen anything since," he says.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
