Final Auction Price
*Final prices include buyers premium
$2,640.00
Starting bid: $1.00
This poster is signed in black ink by the artist the late great Alton Kelley!
We are pleased to present this SIGNED HIGH-QUALITY CGC Graded example of this masterpiece poster in our auction! This Alton Kelley design pokes fun at the D.I.Y. nature of the Carousel. The Carousel Ballroom was a short-lived venture that was funded and managed by the Dead and Airplane. After they lost enough money and realized it was not their game the space was taken over by Bill Graham and became the Fillmore West.
Hot on the heels of our June Mega Sale when we auctioned the ORIGINAL ART for this incredible poster a couple of weeks ago for a breath-taking $24 000 this sparkling SIGNED example of the poster arrived at our door from a long-held collection owned by a VIP who wanted the story of this museum piece told the way ONLY WE CAN.
As you already know the creator of the poster Alton Kelley was one of San Francisco’s “Big Five” concert poster artists. Kelley and his partner Stanley Mouse were fixtures of the San Francisco psychedelic culture. Kelley belonged to the original Family Dog collective and was responsible for creating the poster for the very first Psychedelic Dance Party in San Francisco “A Tribute to Dr. Strange”.
Don't let the 9.2 Grade fool you. CGC is very strict on this issue all the time due to its heavy black design that is NEVER fully and evenly printed without slight unevenness to the all-black areas. Just 500 examples of this poster were created. Most specimens are & found with big tears paper loss and pinholes. This is tied for the finest quality we have ever seen or handled. Last year we auctioned another 9.2 graded example for $2 400 - BUT IT WASN'T signed like this one is.
This is the epitome of a “blue chip” vintage concert poster. A famous design a famous band a famous artist ultra-low issuance ultra high quality and SIGNED by the artist. Everything a collector could possibly want all wrapped up together in one amazing offering that most likely won't come close to be repeated anytime soon!
Poster – Grateful Dead Carousel Ballroom
Subtitle- AOR 2.172 Sore Thumb
Grade – CGC 9.2
Bands/Bill – Grateful Dead Jefferson Airplane
Venue – Carousel Ballroom
City – San Francisco CA
Date – 3/15-17/68
Dimensions – 14” x 19 15/16”
Printing – OP-1 Original Pre-Concert First Printing
Artist – Alton Kelley
Condition Details - Super clean with no nicks cuts tears or pinholes! 100% Original with no restoration. In our opinion UNDERGRADED. View the detailed high res photo of this lot. Click on the thumbnail photo to see an enlarged photo. Click a second time on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the enlarged photo. A super high res image with every millimeter will now be clearly displayed. For a personalized eyewitness examination call 410-464-6180 11:00 am to 6:00 pm eastern.
*****This Poster is available for inspection at our gallery by appointment. *****
*A 20% Buyers Premium will be added to the final hammer price of this lot.*