Category:Bassett-Lowke
From BTMM_Wiki
| Toy Brands and Manufacturers |
|---|
Bassett-Lowke |
Whynne Bassett-Lowke started a model engineering company in 1899, and became a Northampton-based manufacturing company in 1910.
Much of Bassett-Lowke's production was bought-in, from Bing, Carette and Märklin on the Continent, and from Winteringham Ltd. in the UK. Ramsay's Guide lists the most popular models of the period as being the "Precursor" tank, George the Fifth, Sydney, Deeley Compound, GNR "Atlantic" and Sir Sam Fay.
Basset-Lowke helped to launch 00-gauge in the UK in the shape of the Bing Tabletop Railway, which came first in clockwork and then in electric versions (both on display in the Museum).
Bassett-Lowke ceased trading in 1965, although the name resurfaced on some products in the late 1960s and mid-1990s. Corgi bought the company's assets and launched a new "gauge 0" Basset-Lowke range under the umbrella name "Corgi Classics". Corgi was then bought by Hornby in 2008.
78 Derngate
In 1916 Bassett-Lowke commissioned the acclaimed designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh to redesign his house, 78 Derngate, Northampton. This turned out to be Mackintosh's last interior design project of this type. 78 Derngate is now preserved and open to the public as a gallery. Some furniture from the house is also on display at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. Part of Mackintosh's design brief was to incorporate some of the new plastics that Bassett-Lowke was familiar with in his work, and the furniture has blue plastic inlaid panels.
Further Information
- Pat Hammond, Ramsay's British Model Trains Catalogue (6th Edition, 2008) pp.73-94 ISBN 9780955619489
- Basset-Lowke's current website
Pages in category "Bassett-Lowke"
The following 24 pages are in this category, out of 24 total.
