Dressed in their white overall's, laden with paint brush and bucket and a shared plank of wood the two men on this pictorial enamel sign for Hall's Distemper are amongst a few truly iconic characters of early 20th century enamel advertising such as the Philip's Tea girl and the Black Cat Cigarette's Cat. This sign with it's nicely balanced graphics, vibrant colours and wonderful levels of detail is a stunning piece that could sit proudly amongst any good collection. 

 

Halls Distemper - the Oil Bound Paint was produced by Sissons Brothers and Co. Ltd. The Sissons Brothers firm was started in 1803 and became Sissons Brothers and co Ltd sometime in the 1880's. This sign was produced by the renowned Patent Enamel Co. of Birmingham it's likely to date to the 1920s.

 

This example has survived wonderfully; there are a few fairly small patches of enamel loss around the mounting holes and one small patch toward the end of the Glasgow address, but otherwise there's no notable damage. The colours remain bright and the gloss is also excellent (see fifth photo along). It's also worth noting that the 'registering' of the enamel layers is particularly good - often during production, particularly with larger pieces, there can be misalignment where coloured layers (like the red/yellow in the paint pots) doesn't quite line up with the shape they're supposed to fill but with this example though that's not the case. The detailed shadowing on the board and overalls hasn't washed out or faded either - from other examples that I've see, you'd be hard pressed to find better. 

 

The sign has been carefully mounted to two strips of wood to eliminate any risk of damage through flexing, it can be hung using mirror plates attached to the upper piece of wood or fixed directly to the wall using the original mounting holes. The sign measures 168cm (5 1/2') wide x 66.5cm high.