Wide and Big! (UPDATE III: tire iron)

• 

Suppose you have a large front garden and want some decoration next to the fish pond. What to choose, another nice Garden Gnome? Or would you prefer something that’s more inline with our hobby? If so, we suggest you have a look at the Automobilia that will be sold during Coys Ascot Spirit of Motoring Auction on October 3rd. Lot 36 contains a forecourt sized, three foot (almost one meter) high Mr Bibendum. To be honest, we don’t know if it’s pre-war, but it stands upon a shod Bugatti wheel and holds a spanner in his hand! Can you tell us more about this statue? (photo courtesy Coys)

UPDATE III by Kit Foster:"Bibendum has had many shapes and sizes over the years ( check this design website ). A modern repaint can easily differ in colour or paint scheme. The figures with an open mouth sometimes had a cigar, I believe, and those on compressors could appear with an air hose or tubing to suggest he was inflating a tyre with lung power. The "spanner" in the hand of Coys' Bibendum is a tyre iron, for prising a tyre on or off the rim. Probably few people under 40 have ever seen one or would know how to use it. "
Update II by Fer Cools: "I don't think it is made by or for Michelin. The shape is not right as are the colors. There was never yellow in Bibendums colorscheme. I think it is just what you suggested a "garden gnome" made by some company to profit from the Michelin fame."
Update I by Sandy Sanders who remembers having seen a similar (but older and smaller) version on the Antiques Road Show (click!): “It had a hole for it's mouth. The appraiser thought it could be for a cigar. I estimated it's height to be around 12-15". The value quoted was approximately $1500.00 dollars. It was more a grey color than white.”

Plaats een reactie, stel een vraag, geef uw mening, deel aanvullende informatie of start een discussie door de onderstaande velden in te vullen