After a hard winter in the Antarctic, the expedition was called off but the beer lived on and an unopened bottle of Allsopp & Sons restorative ale, right, embossed Brewed for the Arctic Expedition 1875, was the highlight of a specialist Art of Advertising sale held by Mellors & Kirk (15% buyer's premium) on April 28.
The near sell-out advertising section followed an equally well-received 283-lot medals outing and the sale totalled an overall £90,000. It was a medals dealer who contested the bottle to £1200 against pre-sale hopes of £500-600.
The lion's share of the 270 lots of advertising ephemera comprised lithographed show cards from the collection of a retired publican, P. Harrison, removed from Derbyshire's The Old Crown Inn in Shardlow. The collection totalled £25,000 and among the most sought-after entries was the c.1900 card, right, advertising Lambert & Butler's Log Cabin tobacco. It fetched £2000 against £40-60 expectations.
