British Council Collection
Mrs Phyllis Mabey donated this collection of over 300 posters to the British Council. In August 1977, she wrote: "I should be very glad to hand the collection to The British Council as a gift, as I feel sure that it could not be in better hands, and it will be kept as a collection and not broken up.I wish that the collection be preserved as an entity and that it should be known as the ALAN MABEY COLLECTION."
This collection was originally administered and toured by General Exhibitions Department whose work, over the years, became subsumed into Design Department. In 1996 the poster collection was handed over to Visual Arts Department.
The bulk of the collection covers the first half of the century and includes prime examples of London Transport posters from the 1920s and 30s designed by commercial artists such as Edward McKnight Kauffer, Tom Purvis and Frank Newbould, some 40 posters commissioned by Shell from artists such as Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland and Ben Nicholson, posters advertising various department stores, dry cleaners, hair styling products and the like. There are also a number of early theatre posters by Dudley Hardy and John Hassall, as well as advertising posters by Aubrey Beardsley for magazines. Since the bequest the collection was augmented by post-war works by leading British artists and designers acquired by General Exhibition Department.
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CANADIAN PACIFIC HAPPY CRUISES 1937
Tom Purvis (1888 – 1959)
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CANADIAN PACIFIC CANADA FOR HOLIDAYS 1937
Tom Purvis (1888 – 1959)
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AUSTIN REED'S OF REGENT STREET NO DATE1932
Tom Purvis (1888 – 1959)
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PINK FLOYD THE WALL
Gerald Scarfe (1936 – )
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DOVERCOURT BAY HOLIDAY LIDO 1937/8
Septimus Edwin Scott (1879 – 1965)
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GIRLS ARE POWERFUL 1983
See Red Women's Workshop (1974 – )
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CREAM
Martin Sharp (1952 – 2013)
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SMOKERS PREFER SHELL 1936
Charles Green Shaw (1892 – 1974)
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POPULAR HOLIDAY CRUISES TO NORWAY
Shep (Charles Shepherd) (1892 – )
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ROYAL MAIL BRITAIN'S FASTEST SERVICE TO SOUTH AMERICA
Kenneth Shoesmith (1890 – 1939)
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ROYAL MAIL 'ATLANTIS CRUISES'
Kenneth Shoesmith (1890 – 1939)
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CRUISE WITH THE SUN ROYAL MAIL LINE 'ATLANTIS CRUISES'
Kenneth Shoesmith (1890 – 1939)
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JIMI HENDRIX 1967
Donald Silverstein (1934 – 1975)
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LNER GOLF NO DATE
Graham Simmons
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TATTINGSTONE WONDER, TATTINGSTONE, NORFOLK
Walter J Steggles (1908 – 1997)
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'A BOUT DE SOUFFLE' JEAN-LUC GODDARD
Peter Strausfeld (1910 – 1980)
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FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT'S "LOVE ON THE RUN"
Peter Strausfeld (1910 – 1980)
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TO SUMMER SALES BY UNDERGROUND 1926
Horace Taylor (1881 – 1934)
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KELPRA PRINTS 1970
Joe Tilson (1928 – )
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HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT 1936
Herbert Alker Tripp (1883 – 1954)
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NORWAY ORIENT LINE CRUISES NO DATE
Bernard Venables (1907 – 2001)
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POSTER FOR THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM 1926
Edward Wadsworth (1889 – 1949)
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SIGNALS 1942
Edward Wadsworth (1889 – 1949)