Following up on last week’s auction, today sees Jackanory and Zig Zag art by Paul Birkbeck go under the hammer in auction house Ewbank’s latest Antique & Collector’s inc. Books, Silver & Jewellery sale.
The auction also includes a huge range of books and magazines about films, film making and the theatre, some dating back to the mid twentieth century, including rare children’s annuals.
You must be logged in to bid on either the Ewbank’s or The Saleroom website to bid on vintage art created for two fondly-remembered BBC children’s shows, including illustrations that brought Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol and more to life.
As we previously noted in our coverage of the first auction, Paul Birkbeck (1939-2019) illustrated storyboards for a wide range of shows, including Jackanory, Play School, Crystal Tipps and Alistair, Zig Zag, Magnus Magnusson’s epic TV series The Vikings, and more.
The artworks in this Ewbank’s sale were prepared in various mediums used by the artist and often in conjunction with one another, including pen and ink, crayon, watercolour, gouache, pastel, and oil and acrylic paints on card or on paper.
Many show the extraordinary detail that Birkbeck went into to capture the imagination of the viewer, making it almost impossible to understand how he could have completed so many to such a high level of accomplishment by the deadline for the TV shows.
The items on offer today are those unsold that were among some 350 artworks on offer through Ewbank’s, auctioned on 14th December.
Today’s auction, which also includes fine art by illustrators such as William Bennett, Arthur Knowles and Leonard Richmond, film books, books on horror films, figurines, furniture jewellery, watches and vintage camera equipment, and even a Atari game system, opens at 9.00am today. You can bid through the Ewbank’s site or The Saleroom, but you must pre-register to bid.
• View artworks by Paul Birkbeck for sale on The Saleroom here
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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