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Offered by Hermès, this highly detailed mascot reflects realistic details and traditional forms. The subject is Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, holding aloft the laurel crown awarded to winners. Perhaps Poitvin was celebrating the end of the Great War, thinking it would be the last…
Gustave POITVIN
Hermès
c. 1921-1925
France and Art
French Mascots of 1920s
Collection of Jon N. Zoler
This is a very rare document from 1896. At the time the term automobile had not been coined, you will notice they refer to them as Locomotives.
This document is extraordinarily significant to motoring in Britain. It freed British motorists from having to have a man walking in front to warn of their approach (the Red Flag Man), upped the speed limit from 4 mph to 14 mph - but local councils mostly instantly reduced it to 12 mph - and was the reason why Harry Lawson's Motor Car Club organized the Emancipation Day run to Brighton when the Act came into force on November 14, 1896. Which is why we've been celebrating the freedom of the roads with the Brighton Run in November since 1927.
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