Large Crocodile Skin Suitcase

Louis Vuitton large ‘Fly-el’ suitcase in LV monogram pattern coated canvas with edges trimmed in lozine, a layered leather flat handle and unpolished brass fittings. Securing the li...

A well proportioned natural leather covered Louis Vuitton cabin trunk that has built up an attractive patina with age. Has original leather handles & brass fittings and has its original interior in-tact (including the original tray); Circa 1930. One of the original handle supports is a newly made replacement of the original, that was beyond repair. Provenance: From the collection of Anouska Hempel, noted interior designer, hotelier and taste maker. Dimensions: 91 cm/35⅞ inches (length) x 52 cm/20½ inches (depth) x 34.5 cm/13⅝ inches (height). About Louis Vuitton From humble beginnings, Louis Vuitton laid the foundations for a luggage enterprise serving the upper echelons of 19th-century society. His son, Georges, expanded on his father’s work throughout the 20th century. Louis Vuitton was born on 4 August 1821 in Anchay, a rural village in Eastern France. His father, Xavier Vuitton, was a farmer, his mother, Coronne Gaillard, a milliner. In 1835, aged 13, Vuitton left Anchay on foot for his two-year journey to Paris. He found work as a layetier – a maker of wooden boxes and cases for transporting travelers’ possessions – and was selected as the personal layetier to Empress Eugénie de Montijo, a Spanish Countess and wife of Napoleon III. In 1854, at 4 Rue Neuve de Capucines, Paris, Vuitton launched his enterprise, gaining recognition among Parisian nobility. A second Parisian store opened at 1, Rue Scribe, after the 1871 Siege of Paris. Striped “Rayée” canvas and the first Vuitton Wardrobe Trunk arrived in the 1870s, expanding abroad to 289 Oxford Street, London, and introducing the Damier canvas in the 1880s. Louis Vuitton passed away in 1892, leaving the business to his son, Georges. He set about expanding the family firm even further, selling out at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. J.P. Morgan and family became valued clients, and Georges patented the iconic LV monogram design in 1896, paying homage to a medieval Franc box rosette motif from his personal collection. The early 1900s saw the Steamer Bag launch and new premises on the Champs Élysées. Georges was never one to shy away from a bespoke order; customers could, and regularly did, request whatever their heart desired. Legendary commissions included a “Malle Lit” explorer’s camp bed trunk...