Early London Underground Sign 'Emergency Stairs' (1906)
‘EMERGENCY STAIRS’
Vitrious enamel sign in original painted wood frame. Produced by Patent Enamel Co Ltd (B'ham & London) for Underground Electric Railways of London. Measures 123cm x 38cm. In lovely in-situ condition. Wooden frame has many layers of paint with some pealing, chips and loss. The upper horizontal of the frame has some loss to where the hanging brackets would have been. All of this adds to the charm and patina of the sign.
This charming sign dates to 1900-1910 and would have been situated at platform level in one of London’s first deep-level tube stations. These stations were initially accessed by a manned lift service before escalators were installed a decade or so later. Whilst the first Underground lines (Metropolitan and District) were just below ground, the later underground lines were tunnelled and therefore much deeper and required lifts to access them.
The sign features a classically Edwardian pointing hand device and there are areas where the exposed layers of paint reveal that it was once painted red. This became common practise at the turn of the century to make signage stand out from the crowded platform walls, where every square inch carried advertisements, posters and bills. It was for this reason that saw station names being highlighted with a big red circle behind them.. and so the roundel was born!
FREE UK DELIVERY. Non-UK Delivery available, please request a quotation
‘EMERGENCY STAIRS’
Vitrious enamel sign in original painted wood frame. Produced by Patent Enamel Co Ltd (B'ham & London) for Underground Electric Railways of London. Measures 123cm x 38cm. In lovely in-situ condition. Wooden frame has many layers of paint with some pealing, chips and loss. The upper horizontal of the frame has some loss to where the hanging brackets would have been. All of this adds to the charm and patina of the sign.
This charming sign dates to 1900-1910 and would have been situated at platform level in one of London’s first deep-level tube stations. These stations were initially accessed by a manned lift service before escalators were installed a decade or so later. Whilst the first Underground lines (Metropolitan and District) were just below ground, the later underground lines were tunnelled and therefore much deeper and required lifts to access them.
The sign features a classically Edwardian pointing hand device and there are areas where the exposed layers of paint reveal that it was once painted red. This became common practise at the turn of the century to make signage stand out from the crowded platform walls, where every square inch carried advertisements, posters and bills. It was for this reason that saw station names being highlighted with a big red circle behind them.. and so the roundel was born!
FREE UK DELIVERY. Non-UK Delivery available, please request a quotation
‘EMERGENCY STAIRS’
Vitrious enamel sign in original painted wood frame. Produced by Patent Enamel Co Ltd (B'ham & London) for Underground Electric Railways of London. Measures 123cm x 38cm. In lovely in-situ condition. Wooden frame has many layers of paint with some pealing, chips and loss. The upper horizontal of the frame has some loss to where the hanging brackets would have been. All of this adds to the charm and patina of the sign.
This charming sign dates to 1900-1910 and would have been situated at platform level in one of London’s first deep-level tube stations. These stations were initially accessed by a manned lift service before escalators were installed a decade or so later. Whilst the first Underground lines (Metropolitan and District) were just below ground, the later underground lines were tunnelled and therefore much deeper and required lifts to access them.
The sign features a classically Edwardian pointing hand device and there are areas where the exposed layers of paint reveal that it was once painted red. This became common practise at the turn of the century to make signage stand out from the crowded platform walls, where every square inch carried advertisements, posters and bills. It was for this reason that saw station names being highlighted with a big red circle behind them.. and so the roundel was born!
FREE UK DELIVERY. Non-UK Delivery available, please request a quotation