28.04.2017

Bringing Luck Mascots of René Lalique

A new thematic photo album is posted in our Photo Gallery. It is dedicated to the creative work of the outstanding French artist René Lalique, whose birthday we celebrate in April. René Lalique – a jeweller, gold and silver artisan, designer and art glass maître - belongs to a pleiad of eminent artists. His biography is in the section “Authors”. Our thematic photo album features a number of fascinating exhibits - glass mascots for automobile radiators. In our thematic photo album, there are glass mascots for cars radiators made at the René Lalique plant in limited edition in 1928 - 1930. Those stylish figurines, fixed on a car’s radiator, are called "mascots" (fr. Mascotte). Their usage as a talisman and an emblem has its own history. In the ancient times, the carved figures fixed on the ships’ snouts were the indispensable attribute of décor. It was considered that they bring good luck and success to those who travel. In the contemporary age of high speeds and modern vehicles, glass and metal emblems shifted to automotive radiator grids and became the must-have attributes, emphasizing the car’s brand status and prestige.
Fashion for mascots appeared in the mid-20s of the last century and was closely associated with the development of design and serial automotive production.

 René Lalique created several thematic series of mascots for various car brands. All of them were meet with enthusiasm. A new car of Prince Gallic, for which Lalique made a glass figurine of “A Rushing Greyhound”, caused a real sensation. A mascot “Five horses”, created for the famous Citroen 5CV model, was successful as well.

Mascot-roosters, created in 1928 - 1930  are presented in the Museum Collection. Decades later those glass figurines continue to admire the audience by the perfection of form and the highest technique of execution. For the record, according to the Oriental calendar - a rooster is a current year symbol.