Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

I purchased it in 1972 at a flea market in Paris. I worked for Pan Am at the time as a flight attendant, and I would go over about four times a month, and I started collecting the posters. I could roll them up and carry them on the plane in a tube. They were easy to transport. And on one of the trips, I saw this poster, and it was a lot smaller than the other ones I had been buying. But the dealer assured me that it was a genuine vintage poster. About 15 years ago, I started seeing a lot of these images on posters in stores for, like, $20, and they were really big. And that concerned me.

APPRAISER

And at the flea market, how much did you pay for it?

GUEST

$30. Which at the time, in '72, was a lot.

APPRAISER

It's this wonderfully romantic, Valentines-y image...

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

With little Cupid with his bow holding up a glass of port for these two archly Art Deco lovers, who are, they're trying to kiss, and Cupid's, like, "No, you've got to get drunk first." It's compelling and so well-composed, too, how our, our attention is drawn right to the center of the image. It's a masterpiece of graphic design. It's interesting that you've seen bigger copies.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

And you worried that the small one might be a reproduction.

GUEST

Right, or might devaluate it because of that.

APPRAISER

In fact, it's the absolute opposite. The, this was only ever done in a small format, and all of the bigger ones...

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

Are reproductions.

GUEST

Aha.

APPRAISER

And so this is an original.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

It dates to the 1920s.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

It's by Ren Vincent, who was one of the great Art Deco poster artists of the era. He did a lot of advertisements for Peugeot.

GUEST

Wow.

APPRAISER

And for different department stores.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

This one is one of his best-known images, specifically because they printed so many copies of the poster. Because it was small...

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

Not only was it easy for you to carry on a plane, but they could print a lot, and they could store a lot.

GUEST

Uh-huh.

APPRAISER

So a lot of the originals have survived.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

But at its high-water mark, this piece has sold for as much as $1,600 at auction.

GUEST

Hmm, really, wow.

APPRAISER

I would say, in the current climate, a more realistic auction estimate would be between $800 and $1,200.

GUEST

Wow, okay, so, so, it is real.

APPRAISER

So, it is real, and it's wonderful.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.