Mascotte Victoire, par René Lalique, Circa 1928 - Radiator cap in satin-finish and glossy pressed white glass, signed R. LALIQUE France in relief in the mass.
Mounted with a ring on a black marble base.
Dimensions: Height: 15 cm; Diameter: 6.6 cm; Overall length: 25.5 cm
Used condition.
Exceptional mascot that became a symbol of the Art Deco period.
Called Victoire or Spirit of the Wind, probably created as a tribute to the Allied Victory of 1918.
René LALIQUE (1860-1945):
Trained as a jeweler and glassmaker, René Lalique linked his talent with the world of automobiles for the first time in 1906 with the design and creation of the trophy for participants in the Targa Vincenzo Florio. The eponymous race, named after its founder, rewarded its winners with a Targa - meaning plate in Italian - engraved by René Lalique, showing a racing car against a Sicilian landscape.
Encouraged by this initial success, as well as by the development of the automobile and its accessories through mascots, René Lalique also contributed to the fashion of the 1920s and 1930s.
Lalique and radiator caps (1925 -1937):
From 1925 onwards, René Lalique created no fewer than 30 models of these mascots. Glass and its transparency provide René Lalique's workshops with an internal light source. This was the height of luxury that Lalique had just created with its luminous radiator caps. These mascots become veritable sculptures of light, illuminated from within by a dynamo powering a 6V lighting system. The patent applied for on January 22, 1929 was for a "luminous radiator cap for motor cars".
Created in 1928, Victoire remains one of the most magnificent mascots ever, representing an allegory of peace. Designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, this moving female face comes to life at the heart of the material, a glass both satin-finished and shiny. The hair, reminiscent of a streamlined Indian headdress, and the half-open mouth, revealing a shrill cry, create a unique effect of speed and power.
In this way, automobile mascots represent a specific period in automotive history, reflecting both artistic craftsmanship and the evolution of automobile design over the decades. Victoire de Lalique is the finest representation of this, not only in its material, signature and design, but also in its posterity, as much a symbol of Art Deco as of Automobile passion.
Lalique patents :
- N° 472.382, issued August 4, 1914, process for decorating glass or transparent materials with patterns illuminated by means of concealed or concealed luminous foci.
Bibliography:
Félix Marcilhac, "René Lalique, catalog raisonné de l'œuvre de verre", Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2011, Section Bouchons de radiateur, model referenced under no. 1147 reproduced on p. 502.
Michel Legrand, "Mascottes Automobiles", Edition E.P.A, Paris, 1993, model number 251 reproduced on p. 91.
Estim. 6,000 - 8,000 EUR
