Few objects capture the romance of the interwar age more completely than the Zeppelin cocktail shaker — a tour de force of German industrial design in which the world's most thrilling aircraft was reimagined as a barware set for the well-appointed drawing room. This example, stamped by J.A. Henckels Twin Works, Solingen, Germany, is among the most sought-after variants of this celebrated form.
The shaker body is modeled in the unmistakable profile of the great dirigibles: a sleek, bullet-nosed fuselage rising from four swept tail fins that serve as the base, with a hinged side attachment functioning as the gondola. In silver plate throughout, the piece disassembles into its full complement of components: the body itself serves as cocktail shaker with integrated juicer and strainer; the nose cone lifts free; the tail section with cover doubles as a sugar container; the cup with cover is for dried fruit; a funnel accommodates refilling; and four graduating cups nest within the whole. A decanter with wings and wheels could be added to transform the shaker into an aeroplane — the convertible configuration that commands the highest collector premiums today. The complete set comprises 19 pieces.
The Zeppelin shaker was produced in Solingen — Germany's great center of metalwork — and retailed in America for $24.95 at original issue, a considerable sum for the era. The form celebrates the Graf Zeppelin's triumphant 1928 Atlantic crossing and the golden age of transatlantic airship travel that followed. Its commercial life was brief: the Hindenburg disaster of May 6, 1937 ended the Zeppelin era almost overnight, making surviving examples of all Zeppelin barware genuinely scarce.
The Henckels Twin Works stamp is one of the most desirable attributions in this category. Illustrated and described in the standard reference on the subject.
MAKER: J.A. Henckels Twin Works, Solingen, Germany DATE: c. 1928 MATERIALS: Silver plate DIMENSIONS: 12 in. (30.5 cm) height MARKS: Stamped "J.A. Henckels Twin Works, Solingen, Germany" to body COMPONENTS: 19 pieces: body/shaker, nose cone, gondola, four graduated cups, four spoons, one funnel, strainer with juicer, cap, decanter, tail with cover (sugar), cup with cover (dried fruit) CONDITION: [To be completed]
LITERATURE Stephen Visakay, Vintage Bar Ware (1997), pp. 49–50.
Few objects capture the romance of the interwar age more completely than the Zeppelin cocktail shaker — a tour de force of German industrial design in which the world's most thrilling aircraft was reimagined as a barware set for the well-appointed drawing room. This example, stamped by J.A. Henckels Twin Works, Solingen, Germany, is among the most sought-after variants of this celebrated form.
The shaker body is modeled in the unmistakable profile of the great dirigibles: a sleek, bullet-nosed fuselage rising from four swept tail fins that serve as the base, with a hinged side attachment functioning as the gondola. In silver plate throughout, the piece disassembles into its full complement of components: the body itself serves as cocktail shaker with integrated juicer and strainer; the nose cone lifts free; the tail section with cover doubles as a sugar container; the cup with cover is for dried fruit; a funnel accommodates refilling; and four graduating cups nest within the whole. A decanter with wings and wheels could be added to transform the shaker into an aeroplane — the convertible configuration that commands the highest collector premiums today. The complete set comprises 19 pieces.
The Zeppelin shaker was produced in Solingen — Germany's great center of metalwork — and retailed in America for $24.95 at original issue, a considerable sum for the era. The form celebrates the Graf Zeppelin's triumphant 1928 Atlantic crossing and the golden age of transatlantic airship travel that followed. Its commercial life was brief: the Hindenburg disaster of May 6, 1937 ended the Zeppelin era almost overnight, making surviving examples of all Zeppelin barware genuinely scarce.
The Henckels Twin Works stamp is one of the most desirable attributions in this category. Illustrated and described in the standard reference on the subject.
MAKER: J.A. Henckels Twin Works, Solingen, Germany DATE: c. 1928 MATERIALS: Silver plate DIMENSIONS: 12 in. (30.5 cm) height MARKS: Stamped "J.A. Henckels Twin Works, Solingen, Germany" to body COMPONENTS: 19 pieces: body/shaker, nose cone, gondola, four graduated cups, four spoons, one funnel, strainer with juicer, cap, decanter, tail with cover (sugar), cup with cover (dried fruit) CONDITION: [To be completed]
LITERATURE Stephen Visakay, Vintage Bar Ware (1997), pp. 49–50.
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