A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
The object
the two Bass pale ale bottles on the bar counter, marked with the red triangle trademark
The story
Manet painted Suzon at her counter in 1882, six years after the Bass brewery's red triangle became the very first trademark registered under the UK's 1875 Trade Marks Act. The story goes that a Bass employee slept overnight on the steps of the registry office to be first in line on opening day. On the counter — champagnes, crème de menthe, a bowl of oranges — sit two Bass pale ales. A working-class British beer placed centre- stage in a Parisian temple of luxury. Now at Courtauld Institute of Art, London @courtauld
The reel
The painting