The Cotton Club - photo 1
The Cotton Club - photo 2
The Cotton Club - photo 3
The Cotton Club - photo 4
The Cotton Club - photo 5
The Cotton Club - photo 6
The Cotton Club - photo 7
The Cotton Club - photo 8
The Cotton Club - photo 9
The Cotton Club - photo 10
The Cotton Club - photo 11
The Cotton Club - photo 12
The Cotton Club - photo 13
The Cotton Club - photo 14
The Cotton Club - photo 15
The Cotton Club - photo 16
The Cotton Club - photo 17
The Cotton Club - photo 18
The Cotton Club - photo 19

The Cotton Club

Sold
£ 2 016
Auction dateClassic
29.09.2023 11:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1029106
Lot 455 | The Cotton Club
A collection of concert handbills, programmes, menu cards and other ephemera from the legendary Prohibition-era nightclub The Cotton Club in Harlem, New York, 1923-1940.

The Cotton Club was Harlem’s premier nightclub in the 1920s and 1930s during the Prohibition Era. Founded in 1923 and run by bootlegger Owney Madden, the club specialised in featuring prominent black entertainers and talent for exclusively white clientele, providing a springboard for the careers of many African American performers including Duke Ellington, whose orchestra was the house band from 1927 to 1931. Cab Calloway's orchestra replaced Ellington’s group in 1931 and Jimmie Lunceford’s band took residence in 1934. Lena Horne began her career as a chorus girl at the Cotton Club and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Sammy Davis Jr. performed as tap dancers. The club relocated downtown to Broadway and 48th in 1936 and remained in business for another four years, shutting its doors in 1940.

The collection comprising: two programmes for the 1927 and 1933 seasons, the first for the show Rhyth-mania, the second for Cotton Club Parade (22nd Edition), the largest 241 x 165 mm. The 1927 season marked the beginning of Duke Ellington’s relationship with the club, which put him on the road to stardom.

[With:] a programme for Ted Koehler’s Cotton Club Parade (26th Edition), 1935, opens 257 x 355 mm. Provenance: The Norman R. Saks Collection.

[With:] five Cotton Club food and drink menus, one c.1929 and three c.1930, all Prohibition-era, listing only non-alcoholic beverages, the other c.1933 after the repeal of Prohibition, showing an extensive list of alcoholic drinks available, the largest 278 x 216 mm. Provenance: The Norman R. Saks Collection (Vail, pl.259).

[With:] a souvenir club photofolder, 166 x 215 mm, signed on the window mount in green ink by Louis Armstrong, with corresponding gelatin silver table photograph showing a party of four at the club. Armstrong appeared in the very last Cotton Club show before it closed its doors in June 1940. Provenance: The Norman R. Saks Collection (Vail, pl. 256).

[With:] a programme for the Cotton Club, World’s Fair Edition, 1939, accompanied by a loosely inserted illustrated programme, 300 x 230 mm.

[With:] two Cotton Club Prohibition-era notices to guests - a table-card and thin card “collar” bottle neck slip, c. 1930. Provenance: The Norman R. Saks Collection (Vail, pl. 262 & 263).

[With:] a handbill for the 4th Edition of the Cotton Club Parade featuring Duke Ellington, 1938.

[With:] a minimum charge policy notice card, 1933.

[With:] a matchbook cover, c.1930. Provenance: The Norman R. Saks Collection (Vail, pl. 261).

[And:] a menu for ‘The Fabulous Cotton Club’ in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1958, apparently not affiliated to the famous Manhattan nightspot, inscribed on the back cover ‘musically yours, Dinah Washington’, accompanied by a vintage 8x10in. publicity portrait of Washington by James J. Kriegsmann studio.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
20.09.2023 13:00 – 17:00
21.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
22.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
23.09.2023 12:00 – 17:00
24.09.2023 12:00 – 17:00
25.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
26.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
27.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.