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Rare Xavier Cugat Set of Six Hand Painted Mambo Tango Dancers Drinking Glasses

About the Item

Rare, 1950s set six of hand painted drinking glasses drawn by bandleader extraordinaire, Xavier Cugat. Glasses measure 5.75" in height by 2.75" diameter and are signed X. Cugat on each glass. In very good vintage 1950s condition. Hand wash only. The following information was taken from Wikipedia with thanks: Cugat was born Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. His family emigrated to Cuba when he was three years old. He studied classical violin and worked as a violinist at the age of nine in a silent movie theater to help pay for his education. In 1931 Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel. He replaced Jack Denny as leader of the hotel's resident band. For sixteen years, he led the Waldorf–Astoria Orchestra, shuttling between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next 30 years. One of his trademark gestures was to hold a chihuahua while he waved his baton with the other arm. His music career led to appearing in the films In Gay Madrid (1930), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), Bathing Beauty (1944), Holiday in Mexico (1946), A Date with Judy (1948), On an Island with You (1948), and Chicago Syndicate (1955). In the 1920s, he led a band that played often at the Coconut Grove, a club in Los Angeles. Cugat's friend, Charlie Chaplin, visited the club to dance the tango, so Cugat added tangos to the band's performances. Seeing how popular the dance was becoming, Cugat convinced the owner to hire South American dancers to give tango lessons. This, too, became popular, and Cugat made the dancers part of his orchestra. In 1928 he turned his act into the film Xavier Cugat and His Gigolos. Cugat owned and operated the Mexican restaurant Casa Cugat in West Hollywood. The restaurant was frequented by Hollywood celebrities and featured two singing guitarists who would visit each table and play diners' favorite songs upon request. The restaurant began operations in the 1940s and closed in 1986. He had five wives, the fifth was to Spanish guitarist and comic actress Charo (1966–1978). Cugat spent his last years in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, living in a suite at The Hotel Ritz. He died of heart failure at age 90 in Barcelona and was buried in his native Girona. He was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Dimensions:

Height: 5.75 in (14.61 cm)Diameter: 2.75 in (6.99 cm)

Sold As:

Set of 6

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Glass,Hand-Painted

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

1950-1959