ART DECO.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Bakelite album, labelled on front cover: "Souvenir of Germany - Bavaria". A flamboyant example of Bakelite - or possibly casein plastic - being used to eye-catching effect for a souvenir album, here repurposed and comprising illustrations of art deco furniture and interiors: a perhaps incongruous use for a binding redolent of the marbling in Bavarian baroque churches. Few such fragile and fascinating albums could have survived repeated handling.Bakelite, a synthetic resin, was invented in 1907 by Belgian-born American chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland. It was widely used in the 1920s and by the 1930s "enjoyed a vogue in colourful costume jewellery and novelties" (Ency. Brit.). Casein plastics - the product of formaldehyde and the milk protein casein - readily absorbs dyes and can therefore often be coloured. "It can be made translucent and opaque … [and] is used mainly for jewellery, buttons, brushes, and handles (for example umbrellas). In the early 20th century it served as an imitation of natural materials such as ivory, tortoiseshell and horn" (Plastic Identification Tool website).The single smaller half-tone print present here bears the logo of "AVVR", presumably a Spanish furniture company, and is titled "Comedor No. 63" ("Dining room No. 63"). In commerce, we trace a similar binding being used as a photograph album by GIs in early 1950s Germany, differing in colour and labelled "Murnau-Bavaria".

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