Description
Two oversized clown portraits dominate this vibrant Art Deco circus banner. A white-faced pierrot in a red hat and a friendly auguste with a green polka-dot bow tie beam out from a whirl of action: tumbling acrobats, a performing dog, jugglers and a violin-playing clown, all set against rich orange and blue panels. A blank yellow panel at the very top was left for local over-printing of circus names and dates.
Printed by Willsons Show Printers of Leicester in the 1930s, this was a stock design supplied to travelling British circuses and fairs, then pasted up outside town halls and fairgrounds to advertise the evening’s performance. Few survived hard outdoor use, especially in this impressive oversize format.
The strong primary colours, stylised faces and crisp black key line are typical of British Art Deco show printing. Produced as a stone/offset lithograph on thin poster stock, it was originally folded for shipment and display. Today it makes a striking, ready-to-hang statement piece for any room that celebrates circus history and graphic design.
