Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood's second ever dedicated stamp auction is on Monday 27th April, made up of over 150 lots.
One of the single owner collections included in the sale belonged to Arthur, who was born in London in 1934, the son of a skilled stationer and illuminator. Patience, a keen eye for detail and the acquisition of craftsmanship were family traits.
Arthur loved the outdoors and applied his practical and leadership skills to be awarded the honour of the King’s Scout in 1950. He went on to National Service in the Navy and was assigned to the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious as a radio operator.
On completion he chose a career in sign-writing, evolving to become a director of Apollo Advertising, his own 7-person graphic design business based in East London. Apollo was awarded many commissions with Ronco, K-Tel and the Ford Motor Company UK, in particular the sales campaigns for the 1970s Escort, Cortina, Granada and Capri.
In later years he moved to Devon and taught photography and graphic design at Plymouth Art College. Students appreciated his real-world critical expectations of design, quality and workmanship.
In his leisure time he learned about the history of Dartmoor and walked thousands of miles across the moor with his springer spaniels in the pursuit of letter boxing. Later he got involved with digging on Victorian bottle dumps, recovering, restoring and preserving hundreds of items, including ceramic pot lids whose early logos and heritage designs were of great interest to him.
Arthur has always worked with care and attention to detail, so philately, collecting coins and postcards were perfect for him to retire to. He loved visiting the fairs with long, beautifully handwritten tabulated lists of the items he was hoping to find. Back in his studio, the sorting, cataloguing and presentation were all of utmost importance to him.
Such dedication to his work was surely a major contribution to his longevity. He would be delighted to know the passion and investment he made in his collections was continuing to provide interest and pleasure to a fellow collector.
