Lagondaforum

Subject: Vitreous enamel Lagonda sign in the 2014 Aston Martin Works sale

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Hi Folks
You may have looked a the recent Bonhams Aston Martin Works sale. I am particularly interested in the results of lot 42 which included vitreous enamel Lagonda sign (http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21900/lot/42/. This sold for £275 (inc. premium).
This sign is one of a batch of enamel signs that I had made in the 1990s by a now-defunct company called Garnier and Co. in Willesden, on North West London. This is close to where I grew up.
Garner were founded in the 1890s and amongst others made many enamel signs for London Transport. Many of the signs on the tube were made by them.
This example was one of a second batch of signs they made for me, and are characterised by having pure gold lettering silk screened on a vitreous enamel substrate. They used a gold-loaded ink which fuses when put into the oven. This technique is used quite widely for thick film electronic thick film circuits and I discovered that the lettering is conductive.
Garnier mastered the process after some experimentation, and I had a batch made which I sold (and in some cases gave away) to fellow Lagonda Club owners. It is highly amusing to see my efforts resurfacing in places like the Aston Martin Works sale. Those of you who have one of these signs can be pleased to see that something made in deepest Willesden is now a collector’s item.

Colin M34


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