Mullard mantle radio in mottled brown Bakelite case

 

Bakelite. Bakelite was the first completely synthetic man-made substance. Bakelite was invented in 1909 by an independent New York chemist Leo H. Baekeland. It was called the "material of a thousand uses" and used to make everything from car parts to jewellery. We often think of the colour of Bakelite items as dark brown, but it was manufactured in various colours including yellow, butterscotch, red, green and brown. Bakelite could also be transparent, or marbleised by mixing two colours. Coco Chanel featured bakelite items in her accessories collection and the material was praised frequently in Vogue magazine. Manufacture of some consumer Items were suspended in 1942 in order to concentrate manufacturing on the war effort. Bakelite pieces are now valuable collectables. Andy Warhol was an avid collector, and when he died in 1987, his pieces sold for record prices at Sotheby's.

The buyers premium is an additional percentage charge on the hammer price of the item, imposed by the auction house to cover administrative costs. The buyers premium percentage varies between auction houses, with a range of 12.5% to 22%.