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Rare vintage poster featuring Balmoral Castle to be sold at auction

Kenneth Steel designed the poster which features a painting of Balmoral Castle. Image: Lyon and Turnbull.
Kenneth Steel designed the poster which features a painting of Balmoral Castle. Image: Lyon and Turnbull.

A rare vintage poster featuring a painting of Balmoral Castle is among a collection to be sold at auction this week.

A selection of railway posters depicting tourist destinations from across Scotland will be sold during a live online event on Thursday.

It has been organised by fine art and design auctioneers, Lyon and Turnbull, in partnership with poster specialists, Tomkinson Churcher.

The collection of seven lithographic posters were produced between 1934 and 1955 to encourage people to travel by train.

Full poster of the Royal Deeside, featuring Balmoral Castle, by Kenneth Steel circa 1955. Image: Lyon & Turnbull.

The poster featuring the royal family’s Scottish residence was created by artist Kenneth Smith in 1955 to highlight Royal Deeside.

Another colourful design by Frank Henry Mason shines a light on Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.

Both posters have been estimated to bring in between £400 and £600.

Poster depicting Rothesay on the Isle of Bute by Frank Henry Mason circa 1950. Image: Lyon & Turnbull.

‘Evoke a warm nostalgia’

The poster which is expected to fetch the highest sum on Thursday is an art deco style depiction of the Forth Bridge.

As the centerpiece of the collection, it has been valued at between £6,000 and £8,000.

It was designed by Henry George Gawthorn, an exhibiting fine artist and commercial artist for LNER, in 1928.

The other posters feature striking images of the Fife Coast, The Scots Guard marching on Princes Street, and Loch Katrine with Ben Venue in the background.

Henry George Gawthorn’s poster of the Forth Bridge from 1928. Image: Lyon & Turnbull.

Sophie Churcher, from Tomkinson Churcher, said: “The posters being offered for auction evoke a warm nostalgia and represent a time when travelling by train was considered a real adventure.

“They are much sought-after as a result and we expect them to be popular with collectors eager to own a piece of transport history.

“With a starting price of £400 for some of them, it will be interesting to see what they fetch.”

Posters bring in thousands

Rail enthusiasts have paid out large sums for rare travel posters being auctioned off in recent years.

A 1932 LNER poster of the Night Scotsman, designed by Robert Bartlett, was bought for £15,000 in 2019.

It was part of a 14 piece collection, which also featured a depiction of Eilean Donan Castle, which was sold for more than £20,000 in total.

Another poster designed to promote Scotland’s railways featured the Gleaneagles Hotel when it was newly-opened.

It was auctioned off for £6,825 in 2018.

A poster showcasing Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute was part of a selection discovered in the attic of a former railway worker in Auchterader.

The eight posters were auctioned by Perth-based Lindsay Burns Auctioneers in April 2019.

The selling price of just one of the posters was published afterward, but it sold for £600 rather than its estimated £120.

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