Decorative car mascots
Jul 17, 2008
The Hood Ornament Flickr pool features an impressive range of antique car mascots from the age when motor vehicles were emblazoned with mythological motifs and pedestrian safety was an afterthought. Most of them tend to be Art Deco-styled but a few display the florid elegance of Art Nouveau, a design trend that was being eclipsed as car ownership became more popular. I have one of these sphinx mascots, the trademark of Armstrong Siddeley motors for several decades. I always thought the similarity to London’s Embankment sphinxes was a coincidence but it appears not.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• The Feminine Sphinx
• Lalique’s dragonflies
• The Decorative Age
• Frémiet’s Lizard
2 comments or trackbacks
#1 posted by Alyx
Jul 17th, 2008
These reminded me of the collection of Lalique glass my father’s employer had when I was a child. As well as bowls and lampshades, this included several of their beautiful glass car mascots. Ther are some good pictures of them here:
http://finesse-fine-art.com/Lalique/lallist.htm
#2 posted by John
Jul 17th, 2008
Hi Alyx. Thanks for the link, I love Lalique’s work. You reminded me I’d made a post before which I forgot to add to the “Previously” list. That included his amazing dragonfly mascot.
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