A rare Supermarine S6B Schneider Trophy seaplane mascot by Louis Lejeune, 1933-39,

Footnotes

In 1931 the British government withdrew support, but a private donation of £100,000 from the wealthy and ultra-patriotic Lucy Houston allowed Supermarine to compete. When the French and Italian teams dropped out, leaving no other competitors, the British team flew the course alone on 13 September and won the coveted Schneider Trophy outright, having beaten the time record from the 1929 competition. Reportedly half a million spectators lined the beachfronts. The Italian, French, and German entrants failed to ready their aircraft in time for the competition. The remaining British team set both a new world speed record of 610 km/h (380 mph) and won the trophy outright with a third straight win.:   The following days saw the winning Supermarine S.6B with Rolls Royce engine further break the world speed record twice, making it the first craft to break the 400 mph barrier on 29 September at an average speed of 655.8 km/h (407.5mph. John Nelson Boothman was the winning pilot.

The A E Lejeune Limited company was founded in London in 1910 by a French silversmith Emile Lejeune and his wife Augustine (known as "Mimi"), who had arrived in England from Paris in 1904. The company initially made small ornamental bronze sculptures and architectural fittings. It later found a market for car mascots, the first of these was probably the "Speed Nymph", the design for which was registered in 1917. Lejeune went on to commission mascots from sculptors such as F.Bazin and Charles Paillet. In 1926, they moved premises from Hallam Street to Great Portland Street. By 1929, AEL was being described as "the world's largest motor car mascot manufacturer". They were commissioned by leading British motor manufacturers to produce their official mascots; these included the Star, Crossley, Alvis, Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

In 1933, Emile's 25-year-old son, Louis took over and renamed the company Louis Lejeune Limited, although "Mimi" was appointed chairman and managing director. The Company dropped the use of AEL and adopted the LL signature. In 1940, Louis Lejeune was in France during the Battle of France and did not return to England until 1945, when he replaced his mother as managing director. Louis Lejeune died in 1978.