Collection Gift Guide: Mirror, Mirror
December 1, 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
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