This wonderful, early, double-sided enamel sign for an 'Agent for Achille Serre - High Class Dyer & Cleaner - London" features some fantastic Art Nouveau stylings and is an interesting piece of social history... Achille Serre and his wife Eugenie were Parisian ribbon dyers who travelled over to England in 1870 and continued that business here. In 1976 they expanded to garment dyeing and the new technology of cleaning clothing with chemical solvents - a process that was becoming very popular in France but was virtually unheard of in England... Essentially Achille Serre introduced dry cleaning to the UK! The company was very successful and soon occupied a huge premises in Walthamstow, London. They had agents all round country where clothing and linens could be dropped off for / collected from cleaning (it was one of these agents that this sign would have advertised). Achille Serre's company (latterly run by his son Eugene) was very focused on their public image and had a fleet of delivery vans painted in a 'smart green with gold letterings'. The green we see in this enamel sign was obviously part of the same 'branding'. 

 

The sign is a wonderfully early example of enamel advertising - probably dating to the 1900s/'10s. It was produced by the Potter Bros - a manufacturer I've not encountered before... It's stylings were undoubtedly inspired by the Serre's French heritage - it's wonderfully Art Nouveau and would look perfectly at home on the Paris Metro! 

 

For an early piece of enamel advertising the sign has survived the past century or so in reasonable condition with both sides remaining fully legible. Each face has encountered some mottling / discolouration to the green background, each has a little chipping around the outer edges and one face has a patch of enamel loss near the A of Achille, while the over has one over the L.  As per the angled photographs the sign has the lovely thick enamel layers that you would expect from an early piece of signage but both sides have lost their glossy surfaces in each instance it's more of a matte sheen. But generally this is the sort of ageing that would have to be expected with an original, early piece of advertising and gives it the sort of character that just can't be replicated. 

 

The sign can be hung using it's original mounting holes and would look fantastic suspended so that both sides can be seen, otherwise it'll work perfectly well to pick your favourite side and display against a wall... 

 

The sign measures 51cm high x 42cm wide. 

 

S/N: #1286