Claire Tole-Moir
Head of Department
Lot 83
The Beatles: An Abbey Road street sign,
Amended
15 December 2016, 12:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge£8,000 - £10,000
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Stephen Maycock
Specialist Consultant, Collectors, Popular Culture
The Beatles: An Abbey Road street sign,
composed of nine ceramic letter tiles and one blank spacer tile, remnants of cement to reverse, majority of tiles 4 1/4 x 6in (11 x 15cm)
Footnotes
The exact date of these tiles is unknown although this style of street sign was used in several north London areas from the 1880s-1890s. The tiles are of a consistent colour and size, apart from the letter 'Y' which is slightly larger and of a slightly different hue, indicating it to be a later replacement for a damaged tile. According to the vendor, this sign was salvaged from a wall that was demolished in the mid-1990s in the vicinity of Snowman House, a block of flats bulit in the 1960s, located towards the northern end of Abbey Road.
This style of sign has become instantly recognisable after being featured on the back cover of the Beatles' penultimate album, 'Abbey Road'. In addition to the six photographs taken on Friday 8th August 1969 of the Beatles on the crossing outside the recording studios, one of which became the front cover, Iain Macmillan also photographed one of the tiled street signs which were then located in Abbey Road. The sign he photographed was north of the studios, at the junction with what was then Alexandra Road, which no longer exists following the building of the Abbey Road housing estate in the early 1970s.
Saleroom notices
Please note this lot is accompanied by two letters concerning the provenance.
Additional information
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