19th Aug, 2025 10:00
Out of the Ordinary
367
The 'Human Factory' medical poster
1931, designed by Fritz Khan, printed by George Phillip & Sons, sketch of the chemical functions of the body - this is the English version of the iconic Der Mensch als Industriepalast poster (first issued in 1926) long portrait-oriented chromolithograph poster, attached at head and foot with pink ribbon and nails to wooden poles for display, complete with original brochure
96 x 48 cm, with wooden hangers 97cm x 51cm
Kahn, a German gynaecologist, was 'arguably one of the most successful popular science writers internationally between 1920 and 1960' (Borck, p. 495). His heavily illustrated books combined science with the zeitgeist of Weimar Germany: new technologies, rapid industrialization, and the Bauhaus and Dada movements. Das Leben des Menschen was Kahn's greatest achievement, a copiously illustrated five-volume set on human anatomy and physiology which took nearly a decade to complete.
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Sold for £1,200
Condition Report
Condition: Part of the top edge of the canvas is coming away from the pole - see photos. Extremities frayed and cracked with some small areas of loss, surface lightly soiled and creased but colours remaining bright, a few closed tears neatly repaired, patches of damp staining on verso resulting in small loss to linen (not affecting recto image), top edge expertly reattached to pole: in very good condition. Varnished and on original wooden hangers.
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Auction: Out of the Ordinary, 19th Aug, 2025
Viewing
Stansted Viewing | Auction
Viewing will be held at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE, as follows:
Friday 15 August, 10am - 4pm
Sunday 17 August, 10am - 1pm
Monday 18 August, 10am - 4pm
The auction will take place at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE.
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