A lovely Art Deco Napier Penguin cocktail shaker, circa early 1930s. This smaller in size shaker (which Napier referred to as a Single Serve cocktail shaker) is gold-plated and features a Penguin's head Finial and penguin "fins". An extremely scarce Napier piece, this shaker has a magical feel to it.
If desired, the buyer could re-plate this piece as Sir Jack's did, for a restored, vibrant gold-plated finish:
https://sirjacks.com/products/napier-gold-plated-figural-penguin-cocktail-shaker?srsltid=AfmBOoqPPnR82cGqV__kJDONRFpKasT_aKadniABbzjVVA9hcchE0yt-
A quick bit of history on Napier: The Napier Company was named after its president, James H. Napier, who led the company from 1920 to 1960. But the company's history can be tracked back to 1875 when it was founded as Whitney and Rice in Attleboro, Mass., manufacturing silver products. The firm changed hands and name in 1882 and became Carpenter and Bliss and shortly thereafter, E.A. Bliss and Co., Inc. After rapid expansion in the late 1880s the company moved to Meriden, CT in 1890. After WWI, the firm shifted emphasis from silver products to production of modern jewelry. James Napier became president in 1920 and the company adopted the name Napier - Bliss Co. In 1922, the name was changed to Napier Company. Like many jewelry companies Napier got into lines of art objects and other utilitarian objects like cocktail shakers. In the early to mid 1930s they started producing several cocktail shakers (most notably the "Dial a Drink shaker" and this Rooster motif shaker) as well as others including this Figural Penguin shaker.
Hallmarks: "Napier Silver Plate Pat Pend" is stamped on the bottom of the shaker
Condition: Good/Fair condition. We're including "Fair" due to some minor age. Here's a full summary.
1) The gold-plating is in okay condition overall but shows age and wear for a piece that's 90+ years old
2) There's a shallow ding on the left side of the lid (see photo #10, where our finger is pointing)
3) There's what we refer to as general surface wear that includes micro fine scrapes and scratches (from past handling, how it might have been stored, etc)
4) There's a micro shallow/small ding on the back of the shaker
5) The interior is in great shape and perfectly clean
6) There's a tiny spot of residue on the bottom on the shaker's exterior (likely from the original department store sticker) - see photo #11
7) There are a few small spots of wear to/through the gold-plating here and there
In short, this shaker is in very Good/Fair condition (again, we're including Fair as there's signs of age/natural wear). Cheers!
Measurements: The shaker measures just shy of 6 1/2" tall
**On shipping: We take our packaging very seriously and carefully wrap all pieces to ensure safe delivery. This piece will be shipped with a receipt confirmation to ensure it was received by the right recipient.
****Important to note pre-purchase: Buyers, please examine all photos carefully as we cannot accept returns due to the fragile nature (the possibility of breakage when being shipped back) of our vintage/antique pieces. Our items are true vintage pieces that might have manufacturers flaws, flaws from age, or imperfections in general from being vintage. We try to explain the condition/description in an accurate and thorough manner but we ask that you please examine all photos carefully and ask all questions before purchasing an item as we are unable to accept returns due to the risk of breakage. Cheers!