Car Mascots by Rene Lalique - or are they ?
.Originally these were designed by Rene lalique in both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco Styles but read on for a suprise...
The most famous is the Victoire but there are Czech Copies of this car mascot from the original moulds around.The originals are much crisper and copy Lalique Car Mascots are often from moulds acquired during WWII and used in Czech factories to produce realistic copies.
One of the ways to tell a fake is the glass itself - modern copies have really perfect glass without inclusions = and they show no signs of wear at all - real car mascots were almost always used rather than kept in boxes and the bases underneath will always show signs of wear and attachment. Chips are commonplace on real mascots and should have been caused by flying chips.
Beware of too perfect examples as these are almost always Czech or Tawanese copies.

VICTOIRE

The most Expensive Car Mascot (and the most faked !)

Lalique was really famous for his Car Hood Mascots

Car Mascots by Rene Lalique.

These were designed by Rene lalique in both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco Styles.
The most famous is the Victoire but there are Czech Copies of this car mascot from the original moulds around.The originals are much crisper and are engraved signatures. The copies are with acid etched signatures.

These were either of Glass or a mixture of Bronze and Glass.
Some have been copied by other manufacturers so please ensure the Lalique Signature is on the piece.

Especially popular with collectors are the range of semi-draped or nude ladies and the Eagle Head mascots.

The VICTOIRE ( a ladies head with Flying hair streaming back) is the most sought after car mascot.

Things to look out for - chips and scratches on the glass are not unusual and are a sign sometimes of authenticity as it shows the piece probably was used on a car.
Some pieces have the bronze base removed and have been used as rather classy paperweights - they are more valuable with the base.
Some earlier models were actually also produced as paperweights too.

One of the earliest Car Mascots was Grand Libellule (a dragonfly).
Some but not all were also fitted with a light bulb in the base to make them glow at night. These look gorgeous.Some had a filter compartment so that you could change the colour that the mascot glowed.

Car mascots in coloured glass are fairly rare.
Many were actually produced as paperweights and bookends.
There was a larger market for bookends and paperweights at the time so it was only reasonable to expect Lalique to fill the deamand.