The first resort for posters

Not an image that they had offered before, the 3ft 3in x 2ft 31/2in (99 x 70cm) lithographed poster features Gstaad, a resort that is fairly infrequently depicted on posters although of course a very popular one with skiers.

The poster also featured a specific landmark – the Royal Hotel and Winter Palace – adding another layer of attraction for those who may have stayed there. Its early date, 1913, and its A-condition were further bonuses which helped to take the bidding to four times the auctioneers’ estimate. It sold to a private collector, as did the vast majority of the other 223 lots (according to Christie’s specialist Nicolette White, 95 per cent of their buyers are private).

The February ski sale, now into its fourth year, is much the most successful of CSK’s many poster auctions in terms of overall take-up and this latest offering was not about to buck the trend, recording selling rates of 83 per cent by lottage and 94 per cent by value. Alongside Gstaad, posters advertising St Moritz and Chamonix were also in the top league, providing five of the ten highest prices.

The auctioneers’ general poster sale, held two weeks earlier on February 8, did not see a similar success rate. Again these events are traditionally not as keenly contested as the more specialist poster sales, but, even allowing for this, the 58 per cent sold by lot was low and a reduced presence from Americans played a part in the lack-lustre response. The two potential star turns: a 96-plate run of L’Estampe Moderne, running from May 1897-April 1899 and an Alphonse Mucha set of The Seasons, both joined the unsolds when they were bought in at £6000 each, leaving as the sale’s top price David Hockney’s 6ft 9in x 3ft 5in (2.06 x.1.04m) 1981 silkscreen poster advertising Parade at the Metropolitan Opera which sold for £4200.