?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
A.M. CASSANDRE (1901-1958) PHILIPS MINIWATT. Carboard box. Circa 1938. 18x7 inches. Condition B+: minor abrasions and creases on the four faces of box; losses, scuffing and staining on top and bottom flaps. Although based in Paris, Cassandre's connection with the big Dutch advertising agency Nijgh and Van Ditmar landed him many commissions from Holland, especially for Droste chocolate and Philips. In 1931, when Philips began selling their new Miniwatt Radio Bulb, Cassandre designed a poster for the company featuring a hyper-realistic image of the product. In many ways that design can be related to the Object Posters of the new Swiss objectivity. Philips used Cassandre's image on the packaging in which the bulbs were sold and also for in-store point-of-purchase advertising. Very few examples of these have survived. In 1935 Philips improved the Miniwatt, and the design of the bulb changed. Although Cassandre did not design a new poster for this product, he likely revamped the package design, which is depicted on this bulk-shipment box. This image has never before been referenced. The packaging for the earlier Miniwatt is well documented in Cassandre / Netherlands p. 72, 73 and 76.
