Antoine Bofill — Signed Art Deco Pelican Automobile Mascot, Circa 1920s

Antoine Bofill — Signed Art Deco Pelican Automobile Mascot, Circa 1920s

An evocative Spanish Art Deco motoring sculpture depicting a pelican, signed Bofill and retaining traces of its historic plated surface.

Highlights

• Signed “Bofill” for Antoine Bofill

• Spanish Art Deco automobile radiator mascot

• Dating to circa the 1920s

• Distinctive pelican modelled with dramatically opened beak

• Cast brass retaining traces of original plating

• Stepped brass mount with later display plinth

• Documented Charterhouse Auctioneers provenance

• Formerly in a West Country collection

• An appealing intersection of sculpture, animalier art and early motoring history

• Supplied with a Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution from Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®

Introduction

An engaging signed Art Deco automobile mascot by the Spanish sculptor Antoine Bofill, representing a pelican with its characteristic elongated beak dramatically opened.

Dating to circa the 1920s, the work belongs to the fascinating early motoring tradition in which sculptors and manufacturers transformed functional radiator caps into miniature works of decorative sculpture.

Bofill's unusual choice of the pelican gives the mascot considerable personality. Viewed in profile, the sweeping line of the bird's bill creates a particularly effective silhouette, while the compact proportions and richly aged surface give the sculpture considerable decorative presence.

Originally intended for mounting upon an automobile, the mascot has subsequently been positioned upon a stepped brass base and later resin display plinth, presenting it today as an independent sculptural object.

Catalogue Details

Artist: Antoine Bofill

Nationality: Spanish

Subject: Pelican

Classification: Automobile radiator mascot / decorative sculpture

Period: Art Deco

Date: Circa 1920s

Medium: Cast brass with traces of original plating

Mount: Stepped brass base with later resin display plinth

Signature: Signed “Bofill” to the pelican

Catalogue Note

The emergence of the automobile during the opening decades of the twentieth century created an entirely new arena for decorative sculpture. Radiator mascots — sometimes referred to as hood or bonnet ornaments — allowed manufacturers and individual motorists to personalise their vehicles with miniature sculptural emblems.

Animal subjects proved especially popular, their movement, character and instantly recognisable silhouettes translating naturally into this new form.

The present pelican is particularly appealing for the sculptural treatment of its most distinctive anatomical feature. Its long bill is held dramatically open, creating an expressive profile and giving the relatively small work an unexpectedly commanding presence.

The surviving traces of plating are consistent with the work's historic function as a motor-car mascot. Rather than disguising the sculpture's age, these areas of wear contribute to its authenticity as an object that has passed from the world of inter-war motoring into that of modern collecting.

Its later display mounting allows the mascot to be appreciated independently as a piece of small-scale Art Deco sculpture.

The Artist

Antoine Bofill, also known as Antonio Bofill-Conill, was a Spanish sculptor whose career bridged the artistic worlds of Barcelona and Paris during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Associated particularly with small-scale decorative sculpture, his repertoire included human figures, genre and Orientalist subjects, animals and objects intended for fashionable domestic and automotive settings.

Bofill exhibited in France, including at the Paris Salons, and his sculpture reflects the flourishing international market for finely modelled bronzes and decorative casts around the turn of the twentieth century.

His work was especially well suited to the intimate scale demanded by mantelpiece sculpture, decorative objects and automobile mascots. The present signed pelican belongs to this tradition and demonstrates the strong modelling and instantly recognisable silhouette that made animal subjects so effective within early motoring design.

Provenance

Property of a West Country collector.

Charterhouse Auctioneers & Valuers, The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne, Dorset, Automobilia & Enamel Signs, 2 April 2025, Lot 116.

The auction house catalogued the work as a brass Pelican mascot by Antoine Bofill, circa 1920s, signed Bofill, retaining traces of original plating and mounted upon a later base.

Acquired at the above sale by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®.

Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD® collection.

The accompanying auction documentation provides a valuable documentary link within the sculpture's modern provenance.

Dimensions

Height: approximately 18 cm

Width: approximately 13 cm across the base

Depth: approximately 13 cm across the base

Charterhouse recorded the mascot at 20.5 cm high in its April 2025 auction description; the dimensions given above are those subsequently recorded by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®.

Condition Report

Presented in fine antique used condition, displaying the surface character expected of an automobile mascot dating from the early twentieth century.

There is an attractive and naturally developed patina throughout, together with general surface wear, rubbing, scuffs and scratches commensurate with age and historic use.

Traces of the original plated surface survive. The lower resin display plinth is a later addition and allows the former automobile mascot to be presented as an independent decorative sculpture.

These signs of age and previous use contribute considerably to the historical character of the object.

Please refer closely to the accompanying photographs, which form an integral part of the condition assessment.

Shipping

Worldwide shipping is available.

This sculpture will be professionally and securely packed for transit, with particular care taken to protect the pelican's projecting beak and the associated mount and base.

International buyers are responsible for customs duties, import taxes and other destination-country charges where applicable.

Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution

The artwork will be supplied with a Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution issued by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®, recording the artwork’s catalogue details, attribution, provenance as stated, and details of the sale. This document accompanies the work as part of its ongoing ownership and provenance record.

Attribution and Research

The historical observations, provenance research, attribution analysis and contextual commentary presented within this catalogue entry represent the professional opinion of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®. They are offered in good faith as informed scholarly assessments based upon the available evidence, comparative research, published reference material and our experience within the international fine art market.

These observations should be understood as professional opinions rather than definitive statements of fact or guarantees of authorship, attribution, date, origin, provenance or historical interpretation. As with all historic works of art, future documentary discoveries, technical examination, conservation analysis or advances in academic research may refine, expand or revise current interpretations.

Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®

Specialising in carefully curated British and European fine art, antiques and historic works of art.

Every artwork is professionally researched and catalogued using comparative scholarship, published reference material and more than two decades of experience within the international fine art market. We are committed to offering collectors works of artistic and historical merit accompanied by transparent provenance research, detailed catalogue descriptions and professional, client-focused service.

Additional photographs and further information are available upon request.