Humanoid mascot that once graced the hood of a luxury automobile. Image credit: UK National Motor Museum
Thanks to a private collector, French lifestyle brand Lalique’s contribution to luxury motoring will be on view at the United Kingdom’s National Motor Museum in Hampshire, England.
Visitors to the National Motor Museum at the Beaulieu Estate will have the opportunity to view 28 Lalique glass hood ornaments, shown together for the first time, as the centerpiece of “The Luxury of Motoring” exhibit. Opening this month, the exhibit will be focused on the golden age of luxury motoring and will take visitors up to present-day through aspirational vehicles on display.
On the hood
At the heart of the exhibit will be the privately-owned Lalique collection of glass car mascots. This will be the first time the collection is on view at the National Motor Museum at the Beaulieu Estate.
The collector’s first Lalique purchase was a perch fish mascot, which was bought in part due to his love of fishing. Once the collector bought one, he was hooked and continued searching for examples of Lalique founder Rene Lalique’s car mascots.
Lalique car mascots, or hood ornaments as they are also referred, graced the bonnets of the most stylish automobiles during the golden age of luxury motoring.
The collector’s 28-piece collection is near complete, but he has not been able to source Lalique’s comet, owl and fox mascots in top notch condition.
Pieces in the collection include a dragonfly, falcon and other animals as well as human forms.
A Lalique dragonfly mascot will be on view at the National Motor Museum's Luxury of Motoring exhibit. Image credit: National Motor Museum
On loan courtesy of Dawson’s Auctioneers & Valuers, museum visitors will be able to see the collection and even reveal the full beauty of Lalique’s glass dragonfly by pushing a button that illuminates the mascot with light.
While Lalique is not an official participant in The Luxury of Motoring exhibit, the brand has organized similar events that explore how it has traveled by land and sea.
Lalique also explored the impact travel in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had on its creations in a 2016 museum exhibition.
Held at Musée Lalique in Wingen-sur-Moder, France, the “Lalique and the Art of Travel” exhibition examined how different modes of transportation left a lasting impression on Mr. Lalique’s creative inspirations. During this period of innovative travel, Lalique worked with automakers, ocean liners and railroads, making a name for itself by heightening the comfort of affluent travelers (see story).