Pullman Gallery Issue No
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PULLMANTitle The magazine of the Pullman Gallery Issue No. 26 ‘ACCORDÉONISTE’: pride of place for issue 26 is reserved for one of Jan and Joel Martel’s finest pieces, created in 1927. The Martel twins (see page 23) proved themselves to be artists not just of quality, but true originality, and worthy of the most discerning collectors. 1 The World according to Pullman Collecting is a singular business, based principally on love of the object. Art Deco influenced pieces are a case in point, their enduring appeal sustained by loyal and discriminating collectors - pieces as covetable as anything yet to follow those inspired by the 1925 Paris Exhibition. Art Deco, the decorative style at its most sophisticated and refined, is well represented in the pages of our latest PULLMAN magazine, issue 26, our largest so far. We have cast our net far and wide in offering an exposition of some of the most respected artists and designers of their generation – Lalique, Cassandre, Mallet-Stevens, Desny, Goupy, Kelety, Focht and the Martel twins among them. By any objective consideration, PULLMAN’s collection of original posters is outstanding. A significant group reflecting the response of some very creative minds, Cassandre for instance, to the influences current in an exciting time, and more than enough to satisfy the discerning and to intrigue the curious. No less interesting and persuasive are French master Lucio Perinotto’s paintings of the air, invoking a bygone era of luxury passenger flight, John Elwell’s superb rendering of a Supermarine seaplane and, witness to history, a complete set of espresso cups with saucers from the glorious Graf Zeppelin airship service. Infinite variety is offered by the powerfully expressive Locomotive II by Emmanuel Zurini, an important pair of statuary bronze busts of Rolls and Royce, makers of the ‘Best Car in the World’, and a consummate collection of Dunhill Aquarium lighters created by Ben Shillingford for Alfred Dunhill. Glittering prizes from the field of polo include the historic 19th Century Polo Challenge Cup and a unique Tiffany pitcher, once the property of Alice Lee Roosevelt, daughter of President Theodore. Trophies of their time, and in the most positive sense. The equine theme continues with a regal bronze Combat de deux Cavaliers XVeme siecle, the only recorded example of Niewerkerke’s 1839 masterwork. PULLMAN’s rear cover is reserved for a very special Porsche poster featuring Steve McQueen. The Hollywood star was a classic motorcycle collector and intense motor sport enthusiast - movie backers threatened to pull out if he actually raced cars - yet ‘The King of Cool’ was never anything but entirely his own man. Until next time, Simon Khachadourian 14 KING STREET 116 MOUNT STREET ST JAMES’S MAYFAIR LONDON SW1Y 6QU LONDON W1K 2NH TELEPHONE: (+44) 020 7930 9595 Email: [email protected] IssueWebsite: No: 26 www.pullmangallery.com Simply the Best Mixology: collectors share an admiration for ‘Tells-U-How’ cocktail shakers dating from the 1930s, one of the most creative periods in shaker design. (Left to right) a fine two-colour silver and gold-plated shaker, the outer-sleeve rotating to display 16 recipes, patented by luxury English maker Asprey, 1932 Ref 3004; highly distinctive Sterling silver shaker, also designed by Asprey, the edge extensively inscribed with 16 recipes Ref 1509; a very good silver-plated shaker, of similar design, introduced by Asprey, 1932 Ref 3003; unusual shaker of Italian origin, the removable glass body rotates to show two of 24 classic recipes listed Ref 3023. Recommended for the discerning who, like James Bond, prefer their cocktails ‘to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made.’ Novelty value: nickel-plated cocktail shaker in the form of a genial polar bear. The head is removed to reveal a strainer. One of the rarest. Austrian, circa 1930s. Height: 10" (26 cm). Ref 2934. Esquire: Art Deco shaker portraying the enduring image of Esquire Man. The convivial caricature, first featured on the cover of ‘The Magazine for Men’ in 1933, continued to enchant, entertain and amuse urbane Esquire readers for years thereafter. Signed Napier, American, circa 1935. Height overall: 12" (30 cm). Ref 3000. www.pullmangallery.com 3 Tantalising Marcel Goupy (French, 1886-1977). A fi ne Art Deco tantalus decanter set, housed in an ebene-de-macassar frame with stylised Art Deco bronze carrying handles, each decanter engraved in stylised Art Deco script ‘GIN’, ‘WHISKEY’, ‘VERMOUTH’, ‘SHERRY’, ‘PORT’, and ‘BRANDY’, French circa 1930. Length: 17" (43 cm). Ref 3032. Glass master: a magnificent Art Deco cave à liqueurs by René Lalique, dating from 1931. The oblong Tantalus frame, in nickel- plated bronze, is signed, bearing registered trademark detail. The three hand-blown decanters are of recent origin, commissioned by Pullman to interpret the French glass master’s Art Deco – influenced style (the survival rate of the delicate decanters produced in the 1930s is virtually nil). Examples of this exceptional model rarely surface, at auction or elsewhere. Length: 13" (32 cm). Ref 2705. 4 PULLMAN Issue No: 26 Desny-land Maison Desny, Paris: a rare and important Art Deco cocktail set comprising cocktail shaker and six goblets, each piece stamped ‘DESNY PARIS, MADE IN FRANCE’. French, circa 1928. Height of shaker: 10" (26 cm). Ref 3065. Confusion surrounds the brief history of Maison Desny, established in 1927 by the designers Jean Desnet and Rene Nauny, from whose name the contraction of ‘Desny’ was derived. By 1935 it seems that it was all over for Desny, but if their career was brief, their works – with their geometric precision and architectural properties - appear novel and avant-garde to this day. Produced in very limited numbers, their ‘service a cocktail’ dating from 1928 is one of the most coveted of all Desny’s works, and consequently appears very rarely. Farewell Piccadilly: exceedingly rare Edwardian crocodile-skin Travelling Bar companion of cylindrical form. Three stylish curved flasks – marked GIN, FRENCH and VERMOUTH – screen a centrally-mounted cocktail shaker. A nostalgic glance at a more genteel age of travel, the feeling of luxury further enlightened by the markings of Piccadilly maker Fortnum and Mason. Rare in pigskin, virtually unheard-of in crocodile. English, 1910. Height: 8" (22 cm). Ref 3009. www.pullmangallery.com 5 Stairway to the Sparks The Age of Aquarium: unmatched line-up of aquarium–themed cigarette lighters by Alfred Dunhill. Rarity and condition add to the values of the most desirable of the luxury maker’s classic lighters. Ben Shillingford (1904-2001), the expert engraver responsible for carving out the Perspex using the reverse intaglio technique, famously remarked that ‘whoever created the panels did not know much about fish.’ His finished panels were then passed to London art students to colour-in the design, again in reverse. Launched in 1949, no two lighters were the same – each example was bespoke. Sir Winston Churchill, one of numerous prominent owners, kept one on his desk at Chartwell while writing his memoirs. Pullman is widely recognised as holding the largest collection of Aquarium lighters – greater in number than Dunhill’s own archive. An unrivalled selection including some of the rarest of them all, the ‘Service’ size. The ‘non-aquatic’ models, comprising fox-hunting, ships, horse racing and other sporting scenes, are especially scarce, and several of these are to be found in the collection. 6 PULLMAN Issue No: 26 . Model behaviour: a stand-out piece in the form of a newly discovered spiral staircase model. Made by 19th Century architectural students, the beautifully made fruitwood staircase has the rare distinction of being constructed to double the size of conventional examples of the period. A total of 16 steps rise in a double spiral. French, circa 1880. A staircase was traditionally wound in a clockwise direction to place attacking swordsmen at a disadvantage. French, circa 1880. Height: 24" (61 cm). Ref 3040. www.pullmangallery.com 7 Inside the White House Presidential: impeccable large-scale cigar humidor modelled Elliptical: distinctive silver-plated on the historic White House, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington. cigar drum of oval form, cedar The façade is finished to resemble the white-painted Aquia lined to the interior, and sandstone of the original. Lifting the lid on the ‘White House’ raised on conforming base reveals a cedar-lined interior, with removable trays, and with ball feet. The baying capacity for approximately 250 cigars. American, late 20th stag affixed to the hinged Century. Architect James Hoban took the ducal Leinster House, lid provides the finishing Dublin as inspiration for his most celebrated commission, touch. A late 19th Century fashioned in late Georgian style. Length: 25" (64 cm). Scottish rarity. Height: Ref 3041. 9" (23 cm). Ref 3046. 8 PULLMAN Issue No: 26 Smoke Signals (Above) Checkered history: among the most recognisable and desirable of all travelling cigar humidors, made by Louis Vuitton, circa 1930. The interior has been expertly re-lined with Spanish cedar, and the humidification is modern. Length: 19" (48 cm). Ref 3008; a grand malle cigares by the luxury Paris maker, circa 1920. The spacious interior has removable trays and quadruple humidifiers and, exceptionally, room for up to 600 cigars. Brass binding to the exterior and the leather handle to the lid add distinction. French, c.1930, length: 23" (58 cm). Ref 3007. (Right) Sterling area: a fine and massive Sterling silver cigar box of unusually heavy gauge. A thumb piece is integral to the design, and the interior, lined with cedar, is fitted with two adjustable dividers. The largest Sterling silver cigar box we have seen. American, c.1950, length: 11" (28 cm). Ref 2103. www.pullmangallery.com 9 Who Let the Dogs Out..? L’homme aux chiens: dramatic representation of four untamed hunting dogs straining at their master’s leash.