A hand-painted wooden model of the Savoia-Marchetti S81 Pipistrello (bat). In cream livery with hand-painted trompe-l’oeil windows, cockpit and tailplane, with a hand-painted flag applied.

The company of Savoia-Marchetti was formed in 1915. It took its name from Umberto Savoia, a founder of the company and one of Italy's earliest aviators, having taken his first flying lesson from Wilbur Wright, and from the chief designer Alessandro Marchetti, who came to the company with a design for a high-speed biplane. Mussolini liked the design of this plane so much he adopted it as his own personal plane of choice.

Size: 31 x 23 x 7 in. (79 x 59 x 18 cm).