June 25-28, 2018 Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/26/2018
This rare 1910 issue entitled "Dawn of the Open Season" was produced for Winchester as a poster only. It was originally painted by the most famous of all Winchester illustrators, N.C. Wyeth. It still retains both of the original bands. This beautiful image features two hunters with their model 1897 Winchester 12 gauge pump shotguns, with leashed bird dogs. Poster is dated. It is in excellent original condition, it has been black lighted, poster shows no signs of any in-painting or restoration of any kind. Does have the usual small edge cracks here and there, nothing serious. Color is as brilliant as the day it was produced showing no fading. It was beautifully custom framed and ready to hang. While it is true that the Winchester calanders were meant to be thrown away at the end of every new season, they were available to the general public and could be mailed to your house upon request, whereas the posters were not generally available to the public, but were intended for use at dealers stores and or retailers, thus far fewer were produced. Given their fragile nature, if they were not thrown out, they did not store well and therefore very few have survived the ravages of time such as bugs, sunlight, dry rot, mildew, etc. This poster will be the focal point of your gunroom.