dolls house source information about Art Deco silverware

Art Deco Silver

Art Deco silverware tended to be one of the more conservative art forms in this genre because of the nature of its clientele. The Modernist principle of removing all surface decoration was not introduced immediately but took a number of years to be established.

In place of surface detail the skilled silversmith had to add light, shadow and reflection to the surface of the silver by means of a series of planes and curves. Another popular way to add interest to pieces was to inlay them with semi precious stones, unusual woods, ivory and glass. During the 1930’s gold panels known as vermeil were applied to the surface as an additional means of decoration.

Jean Puiforcat was a well known Art Deco silversmith. He attempted to do away with unnecessary embellishment in favour of fully functional design. Much of his work concentrated on the sphere cylinder and cone. Using these simple prisms he created cruet dishes, sword guards, tea services, cutlery and other serving implements.

Silverplate, produced by electroplating had been developed during the 1840’s and was virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. Christofle were a French firm who produced ranges of fairly utilitarian and decorative silverplate, including inlaid vases with machinery applied stamped blanks.

The introduction of electricity saw a huge influx in designs of clocks. New clocks were smaller, able to sit on tables and shelves or hang on the wall without requiring constant winding. Vertical and horizontals became key to design. Traditional hands were replaced with balls on moving plates, or hands that stayed still whilst the face rotated around them. Numerals were replaced by geometric symbols, rectangles or arcs.

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