Bentley 1920s Bronze Winged ‘Flying B’ Mascot

1900 - 1920

Sold by Kendall House Antiques Ltd.

Description

Mounted on solid oak plinth with original nut & bolt fixing.

THE FLYING B

In the 1920s, a bonnet mascot was the ultimate automotive accessory, and embodied effortless power and speed and announced your arrival in style.

As well as creating Bentley’s winged B badge, celebrated artist F. Gordon Crosby also designed an ‘Icarus’ bonnet mascot. This appeared in some of the first Bentley catalogues but never went into production, perhaps because of copyright infringement.

Instead, owners of Cricklewood-era Bentleys from the mid-1920s were offered the option of the first company-approved Flying B mascot – an ornate, upright brass ‘B’ featuring wings held horizontally, also thought to be a Crosby design, by the 1930s Bentley had commissioned a new sleeker mascot.

Height 7.5cm (without base) 17cm (with base) width 22cm

Physical Dimensions

Height

17cm (6.69")

Width

22cm (8.66")

Declaration

Kendall House Antiques Ltd. has dated this piece to the 1920s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA978728

Dealers Internal Reference

23306

Dealers Notes

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Description

Mounted on solid oak plinth with original nut & bolt fixing.

THE FLYING B

“

In the 1920s, a bonnet mascot was the ultimate automotive accessory, and embodied effortless power and speed and announced your arrival in style.

Kendall House Antiques Ltd.

fig 1. Bentley 1920s Bronze winged ‘flying B’ mascot — fig 1. Bentley 1920s Bronze Winged ‘Flying B’ Mascot

As well as creating Bentley’s winged B badge, celebrated artist F. Gordon Crosby also designed an ‘Icarus’ bonnet mascot. This appeared in some of the first Bentley catalogues but never went into production, perhaps because of copyright infringement.

fig 2. Bentley 1920s Bronze winged ‘flying B’ mascot — fig 2. Bentley 1920s Bronze Winged ‘Flying B’ Mascot

Instead, owners of Cricklewood-era Bentleys from the mid-1920s were offered the option of the first company-approved Flying B mascot – an ornate, upright brass ‘B’ featuring wings held horizontally, also thought to be a Crosby design, by the 1930s Bentley had commissioned a new sleeker mascot.

Height 7.5cm (without base) 17cm (with base) width 22cm