Topic: European Flower Frog & Flower Black/Vase

[Dumas]

Hi Pamela - Here are photos of my green satin glass fish that appears to be identical to the ones Inwald used for flower frogs. Note that mine has a metal attachment firmly mounted on its underside which leads me to believe that it is  a car mascot (radiator ornament) rather than a flower frog component.  The attachment is rather heavy, is firmly affixed to the fish, and appears to be factory installed.  What do you think?

http://www.pixclix.com/cdnoblin/Car-Mascot-002.JPG

http://www.pixclix.com/cdnoblin/Car-Mascot-005.JPG

[Dumas]

Hi Again Pamela - After I posted the photos of my green satin glass fish (which I initially thought might be an authentic vintage car mascot), I ran across a site which leads me to seriously question my "car mascot" hypothesis. Compare this glass fish (which is described in its accompanying narrative as a modern Czech piece), with the flower frog fish discussed elsewhere in this forum:

http://www.mascot-mania.co.uk/

[Dumas]

Oops . . . the URL didn't access the correct photo. Go into http://www.mascot-mania.co.uk/ and type in Czechosovakia in the search feature at the top of the page. That will bring you to "Accessory Mascots, Fakes and Reporoductions." Please look at the photos and the accompanying narrative, and let me know what you think about this. Thanks.

http://www.mascot-mania.co.uk/

[Mosquito]

As suggested, your fish is one of the Poisson Volant figures, originally produced by Inwald. These have a ground bung/ stopper type base to fit into a glass frog and were certainly in production in the mid to late 30s and also for many years after the war. I can't say whether or not they were ever offered as car mascots - I suspect yours may have just become separated from its bowl so the owner fashioned a stand/ holder for it. The example on the website you linked to (http://www.mascot-mania.co.uk/orphanage.html?/zzsalmon.html&19orphan57) is described as a fake because of the spurious Warren-Kessler mark. I would also disagree with the comments made that it is 'worthless' and 'mass produced'. Flower frogs are quite collectable, and there's no significant difference in production technique between these figures and the glass mascots that fetch thousands.

Equally, it's not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that these were used by some as mascots back in the day, it's just that I've seen no evidence for it. In fact, many of the Lalique and Sabino figures that are always described as car mascots were also available as paperweights/ stand alone figures. It seem that the premium associated with vintage automobilia means that they are all now catalogued as mascots, whether or not they were ever mounted on a car...

[Dumas]

Hi Mosquito - Thanks very much for your prompt and informative response to my recent post regarding the Inwald Poisson Volant figurine.