Posters celebrating the effort of Britain and its allies in the Second World War have become familiar images in Western popular culture. But how was the war reported from the perspective of the other side?
20 January 2022
THE CHURCHILL OCTOPUS
c.1941, a Vichy France World War II propaganda poster
£4,000-5,000
Our Out of the Ordinary sale on 15-16 February includes a chromolithograph propaganda poster published in occupied Paris by the Vichy government in 1942.
Signed with a monogram of the artist ‘SPK’, it depicts Winston Churchill as an octopus with its tentacles representing British military intervention in the Middle East and Africa.
The text reads Confiance... Ses Amputations Se Poursuivent Methodiquement (Have Faith – The Systematic Amputations Are Continuing).
The desire was to spotlight the areas of conflict that existed between Vichy French forces and the British and the Free French. The cutting of these tentacles reflects the thwarting of British actions in Norway, Germany, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Mers el Kebir and Dakar by Axis forces.
This well known but rare image is guided at £4,000-5,000.
With an enduring link between important designers and department stores, works from a variety of these stores often prove extremely popular at auction, and we are proud to present examples of these in our 27 January Design auction.
8 January 2026
Our upcoming auction 'Peter Petrou | Outward Bound' will be held on Tuesday 24 February 2026.
Join us as we look back at some of the most notable highlights from our 2025 sales and celebrate another excellent year.
18 December 2025