Collection Gift Guide: Mirror, Mirror
12/01/2006
Sure, you park a Rolls-Royce Phantom in the garage, but where do you put a Rolls-Royce mirror? The hand-polished fan-blade mirrors are fashioned from circa-1960 turbojet engines, which originally were designed and made by Rolls-Royce for the Royal Air Force. The jet engines were made to power the single-seat English Electric Lightning supersonic interceptor fighter—the first and the last, according to F.M. Allen, all-British supersonic fighter. “It was the angriest aircraft ever to fly,” says Nicholas Brawer, managing partner at F.M. Allen, creator of the high-flying mirrors. “It was one seat and all engine.”The blade diameters range from 26 to 29 inches, while the 13-to-16-inch beveled mirrors are fitted into what would have been the core of the engine. “This piece is the new movement in a field of aesthetic fashion—form follows function,” explains Brawer. “This is industrial design at its best.” Each part of the huge sculpted frame is completely authentic, and can be verified by the serial number stamped onto each of the individual blades. The Rolls-Royce Fan Blade Mirror is priced at $12,000.
F.M. Allen
212.737.4374
www.fmallen.com