Lot 34: MARCEL (BLOCH) DASSAULT (1892-1986)

MARCEL (BLOCH) DASSAULT (1892-1986)
A Walnut Wind Tunnel Model of an MB 175, circa 1939
metal details and painted decal
70½ in. (179 cm.) wide, 48 in. (122 cm.) long
marked MB175

Marcel Bloch (1892-1986) was a French aircraft industrialist who designed planes during World War I and in 1930 founded the Société des Avions Marcel Bloch. His company produced military and civilian planes throughout the 1930s and, by 1939, manufactured planes for the French air force until the Vichy government took over his factories in 1940. Bloch refused to collaborate with the Germans and was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp during the war years. After the war, he changed his last name to Dassault and continued his work in aeronautics.

The MB 175, with a larger payload than the MB 174, was a World War II bomber that flew for the French, and later, the German air forces. This wind tunnel model, constructed of glued walnut pieces, probably dates to around 1939, when improvements were made to the slightly earlier MB 174.