Bar and Barbara Enamel Pin

This enamel pin has been made exclusively for House of Voltaire to coincide with Studio Voltaire’s major exhibition Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland, bringing together the work of these two cultural icons for the very first time. The pin features two of Cook’s friends, Bar and Barbara, on an imagined trip to New York in their furs. 'The Algonquin was opposite our hotel on 44th Street and each time we passed it I mingled with the people going in and out, hoping to hear some witty conversation. Expectations rose further when we were invited to tea there one afternoon by a journalist acquaintance, but after finding that we were not sitting at a big round table — only a small square one — all our attention was directed to the sandwiches and cakes. I was discussing this with these two friends, who were talking about their forthcoming trip to New York, and I grew more and more excited as they described the fur coats they'd be wearing and the parts of Manhattan they would be visiting. So much so that I transposed them to this location, one in Persian lamb and one in sable, before they had even left these shores.'