The 1930s, the age of the ocean liners and skyscrapers, brought great changes to the homes of the fashion conscious across the globe. And the French were the inspired leaders of this revolution as Art Deco spread from Paris to New York to Shanghai.
The present tea and coffee service by the famed French silversmith Jean Emile Puiforcat is a magnificent survivor of this period. No Edwardian flowers and scrolls – only sleek, fresh and simple geometric lines like those of great French liner, the Normandie. The set could not be from any other era, and yet the form has held its own, looking impossibly très chic and dashingly sophisticated in today’s world. Certainly a conversation piece for the after-dinner tea and coffee crowd.
Photo credit: © Christie’s. The present set to be sold in Paris, 21 June 2011, lot 107, estimate €4,000 – 6,000.
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