EDINBURGH.- Posters featuring the two most famous peaks of the Alps - The Matterhorn and Mont Blanc - topped The Ski Sale held live online by international auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull in partnership with poster specialists Tomkinson Churcher on January 27.

Testament to the enduring appeal of alpine imagery and two great early 20th century designers, striking 1920s designs of Zermatt, The Matterhorn by Emil Cardinaux (1877-1936) and Le Tour du Mont Blanc by Roger Broders (1883-1953) both achieved £11,250. Cardinaux, who grew up in Bern, designed over 130 lithographed posters as well as the iconic Matterhorn logo for the Swiss chocolatier, Toblerone.

Artist Roger Broders specialised in travel posters, working for the railway company Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) that connected Paris to the south-east of France.

For the many skiers deprived this year of the annual pilgrimage to the Alps, this auction held ‘live online’ by Lyon & Turnbull was one way to get at least something of the skiing ‘hit’.

The sale featured a fine selection of original lithographed posters focused on winter sports and travel curated by vintage poster specialists Nicolette Tomkinson and Sophie Churcher. The pair first teamed up with Lyon & Turnbull to launch dedicated poster sales in 2018.

"We are delighted to report that 93% of the posters in The Ski Sale found a buyer for a total of £145,775, demonstrating the continued strength of the market for vintage ski posters and our successful partnership with Lyon and Turnbull.”

Another Broders’ design, this one from 1924 for La Chaine Du Mont-Blanc, sold at £6,875, the same sum bid for an early poster for Suchard Milka - Joseph-Marie Hussons 1902 design depicting a St Bernard carrying a chocolate bar rather than a brandy cask around its neck.

Posters from the immediate post-war era also performed well. The 1948 poster by Martin Peikert (1901-1975) featuring the cable car at St Moritz sold at £3500 while another for St Moritz of the same date by Franco Barberis (1905-1992), was expected to bring £600-800 but took £2375.

The Ski sale is an annual event at Lyon & Turnbull, taking place in January each year. Other specialist auctions of vintage travel and advertising posters are held throughout the year as part of the house’s Design auction series.