Model No: 1135 Coq Nain. Created February 1928
1928 was also the year of the accession to the throne of Emperor Hirohito. This distant emperor of Japan was a fervent admirer of René LALIQUE. On several occasions, during his life, he ordered items from Lalique (as did the Imperial Family of Asaka). This design in particular caught his attention, the cockerel or rooster symbolising courage in Japanese culture.
Indeed, the Coq Nain by René LALIQUE is a miniaturization inspired by the Far Eastern design language whilst retaining the lyricism of the LALIQUE style.
In France, the rooster is a very important symbol. Heralding the dawn and dispelling evil spirits, as set out in the Edmond Rostand play Chantecler (1910) for which Lalique designed a leather cover embossed with a rooster design in a limited-edition of 1000 copies.
Height: 20.5cm
Clear (white) glass and Topaz (fume) colour examples are catalogued and exist. Press molded
Price (1932 Lalique et Cie Catalogue): 400FF (clear), 435FF (colour)
Breves of Knightsbridge, London UK titled this model ’The Cockerel’ and listed a price of £5/5/0 ‘unilluminated' or £6/6/0 ‘for light’ using the patented Breves illuminated mount. A bulb was 3/s and Duty was 15/s. No price was listed for a colour example though presumably this could be ordered at additional cost.
Nil Melior, a prominent auto accessories company whose showrooms were located at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, listed the Coq Nain in their marketing catalogue as "Cocq" at $55 with an illuminated base $10 additional.
Other names for this mascot - Coq Nain, Dwarf Rooster, Small Cockerel, Dwarf Cockerel, Bantam Cockerel, The Cockerel, Chantecler, Chanteclair, Cocq. Mascotte, Hood Ornament, Car Mascot, Bouchon de Radiateur, Radiator Cap.
Appeared in 1928 and 1932 Lalique Catalogue. Removed from 1937 Catalogue (though available as book-ends at this time and continued as a paperweight).
Reissued in crystal post 1947 as a paperweight and again in 1951 in clear crystal without the molded R. Lalique signature. No longer marketed today.