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A PAIR OF LARGE WILLS'S CIGARETTES ENAMEL SIGNS

A PAIR OF LARGE WILLS'S CIGARETTES ENAMEL SIGNS

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W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco importer and manufacturer formed in Bristol, England. It was the first UK company to mass-produce cigarettes.

 

These two large enamel signs advertise the company's "Star" and "Flag" brands of cigarettes. The signs probably date from around the 1930s and featuring bold typography and a eye-catching red and white colour-way.

 

Although both pieces are showing signs of a life lived, it's fairly rare to find this larger (over 1m high) format and more unusual still to find two examples of the same format that have survived the decades together and in my opinion they're rich in history and patina providing a fantastic vintage look that would work well in similarly themed cafe / pub / bar or home... 

The "Star" cigarettes sign has heavy discolouration along the left side; a deep rust brown that has stained the enamel and can't be cleaned off; this is most noticeable against the white enamel layer, but is still present over the red lettering. There are patches of enamel loss around the multiple mounting holes scattered around the outer edges, as well as a strip of additional mounting holes that runs vertically on the right side of the sign and an additional one through the 'W'. Both of the lower corners have additional losses. 

The "Flag" cigarettes enamel sign is definitely cleaner / brighter and retains a fairly decent surface gloss (see the last photo). It also has a quantity of mounting holes around the outer edges that all sport surrounding enamel loss, it also has some loss /corrosion around the "W" and "F". 

Both signs hang fairly flat, have many options for hanging / mounting and display well. 

 

They each measure 114.5cm high x 76.5cm wide. 

 

S/N: #0295/6

00f28b37-8745-4ea9-a41b-d40f837e65f0

00f28b37-8745-4ea9-a41b-d40f837e65f0

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