“Automobile Club of Rhone,” Art Deco Bronze Desk Accessory, Talbot-Lago

This rare and striking desk accessory, consisting of a bas relief sculptural bronze plaque suspended above a bronze base, was sculpted by A. Augis for the Automobile Club of Rhone, and depicts a streamlined luxury car — probably a Talbot-Lago coupe — that was the height of elegance in the late 1930s. Adding a fascinating bit of local color, the sculptor included, in the upper right, a field of ripening corn, which was and is a major crop in the Rhone valley. The plaque swivels up and down, fastened to the side posts by a pair of bronze pins.