News-Antique.com - Aug 26,2011 - A superb collection of Lalique car mascots, perhaps the ultimate status symbol for the motor enthusiast, dating from the 1920s and 1930s will be a major attraction at The Chelsea Antiques Fair. 21st – 25th September 2011.
Titled "Unique Lalique Mascots" the display is the most comprehensive to be seen in the UK for many years. It is presented by The Lalique Mascot Collectors' Club and will celebrate the 151st anniversary of René Jules Lalique's birth. Forty Bouchons de Radiateur Mascottes will be on display, many now widely recognised as classic examples of Art Deco design. Today Lalique is known as one of the most influential designers of the Art Deco movement.
The display will include the most famous mascots and others not so familiar. The largest is the 'Spirit of the Wind', which epitomises Art Deco styling and was used in the 1928 Paris Motor Salon, mounted on a Minerva. Measuring ten inches long, it would grace the bonnet of even the largest limousine of the day. The most infamous mascot is the Eagle's head, which was reputedly fitted to Nazi officers' staff cars. Other pieces include Siren (or small mermaid), The Wild Boar, The Perch, and St Christophe, a Roundel. (Lalique exhibits are not for sale).
The first Lalique mascot, 'Five horses', was commissioned by Citroen in 1925 for the 5CV. Twenty-seven more followed in a variety of shape, size, and variation, depicting horses' heads, various bird and animal forms, nude figures and a shooting star. The mascots were made mostly in clear glass, although some have satin or frosted finishes and others are tinted in amethyst and pink hues, or in a variety of colours: purple, blue, amber, brown topaz, grey. A number were also made in opalescent glass, ranging from deep blue to milky white.
René Jules Lalique (1860-1945) produced an extensive range of jewellery, watches, cut glass and moulded crystal glass decanters and vases, in addition to designing the incredible Art Deco interior of the SS Normandie, the superb panels decorating the Cote d'Azur Pullman Express Train and the interior of a church in Jersey. His company continued to produce a prolific range of
glass bowls, animals, birds and special commissions for famous department stores around the world.
Now in its seventh decade, the world famous Chelsea Antiques Fair takes place at Chelsea Old Town Hall and features thirty-five leading dealers exhibiting a wide range of high quality art and antiques. The fair is organised by Caroline Penman every March and September and consistently provides connoisseurs and collectors with a wide range of ‘portable’ antiques vetted for quality and authenticity.
Specialist dealers offer fine silver and jewellery, early English pottery, British, European and Oriental ceramics and fine glass from Georgian to the 20th century, enamels, rare scent bottles, tortoiseshell boxes, fine bronze statuary, Art Nouveau and Art Deco furniture and vintage collectables, traditional town and country furniture, early tapestries and textiles, oil and watercolour paintings, decorative prints and many objets de virtu including Grand Tour
