Posted 9 years ago
PhilDMorris
(223 items)
Centaur by Francois Bazin who became one of the most innovative and recognized sculptors of automobile mascots of the 20th century. The sculpture is chased well on both sides. I usually buy 90 per cent of my mascot purchases from Paris, France since I prefer the French mascots over the American hood ornaments.
This model was specifically presented for the UNIC 8 cylinder type produced between 1928 and 1929. The second photo shows the complete original version with cast aluminum thermometer and facetted radiator cap. The UNIC Centaur mascots, designed by F. Bazin, can have two particularities even when perfectly authentic : either the bow is an integral part of the mold and cast in bronze : or the bow is a simple brass rod.
The third photo is a letter dated November 6th, 1922 from Automobiles UNIC demanding an exchange of a Centaur mascot with a broken tail. The Centaur logo was used from 1921 onwards.
The 4th photo is of Francois Victor Jose Johannes Bazin in his studio. I did the coloring on the photo. Bazin was a Sculptor of statues and engraver of medals. He was born October 31, 1897 in Paris and died in 1956. Between 1920 and 1935 François Bazin creates a large number of automobile radiator caps: Stork (1920 Hispano Suiza), head Woman Mangbetu ( Black Cruise Citroën), Triumph (Isotta Fraschini), elephant head (Latil) , Centaur (Unic) Licorne (Unicorn). He won first prize of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1925. He was a student at L'Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in 1913. Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, promoted to Beaux Arts Class of 1928, national fine arts prize (Greece, Italy, Egypt) 1929.
Info from the Ency of Sculptors on Bazin apart from what is on the net is that he was born in Paris. He studied under Navellier, Denis Puech, and also Injalbert who I admire as a sculptor. Bazin became an Associate and winning an Honourable Mention 1923, a bronze medal in 1924, and a gold medal in 1929. He specialized in heads and busts of his contemporaries and his work includes the portraits of the Bishop of Quimper in 1932, Henri Levesque in 1933, Madame A. Le F. in 1934 and Charles David in 1935. He also produced a group called Mermaids. In these days he is regarded as one of the best sculptors of French car mascots there ever was and a lot of his designs for cars were in the new Art Deco taste !~
This is wonderful !.... So glad to see you're posting again Phil.
I second that.....both parts!
I missed your treasures, Phil!
Welcome back :-)
Long time...no see!!
Thank you mikelv85, sklo42, kyratango and Moonhill for the nice comments, very appreciated.
Welcome back mate.
Stunning piece and loved the write up . Welcome back my friend and anxious to see more posts of your fantastic collections and sharing your knowledge on mascots with us who never get chance to see some of these master pieces xo
So happy to see you again Phil, a hug to you!
Ben tornato PHIL !!!
Very Nice!
Welcome back, love the mascots you post.
My budget only allows me to collect the 1/2 scale replica versions.
Super Phil!! love your posts and Glad your back !!!
Big hugs! Hope all is well
Thank you blunderbuss2 for the welcome, appreciatd.
Great design and very informative post, look forward to more!
OMG!!! Hieeeeee! I have missed you so much and although I'm not able to be here much I am sooo glad to see you! lol I got so excited I couldn't even read your post!!! YEA!
Phil, do you need more evidence of how much you have been missed !! LOL!!! Made serious note & avoid the bum'ble clot. You are more valuable to us by far !!
Hey Phil! good to have you back!
Phil. Seems you have a fan club !
Thanks Blunderbuss2, have missed you also, we all had our 15 minutes fame back on this site it seems.
Thank you Manikin, love to you also.
Great post!
Late to the party! But happy to see you're back. Can't wait to see your stunning pieces again. This mascot is gorgeous and your post is what I like to read here, with all the info and details about the piece and the sculptor.
Nice to see you back Phil !!
Love to both of you Aimathena and Verginia.vintage
Amazing stuff! Love the photo as well....
Welcome back:) missed all your hood ornaments!!
Thanks Trey, I appreciate that !~
Thanks olebodie there are those that talk behind peoples backs and then try to claim they had no part, when I read what they were saying before they deleted it. Sean who...?
very cool...
Thank you antiquerose, much love to you !~
Wow, I hadn't seen this before - I guess someone must have spotted it and "loved" it! I do too. What a powerful, sleek, streamlined piece of sculpture. Absolutely stunning.
Thank you rhineisfine, not sherman but loved as much equally !~
https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/2017/5/15/f/5/b/f5b03c88-398b-11e7-9a4e-68f2222bf719.jpg
I got this image above when I googled 1928 UNIC.
Yes, that is one also. However I think that one is over 3000-6000 dollars.
If you have the Queen's ear, could you ask if it's too late for the lower colonies to surrender ? They don't seem to be doing too well right now.