CHRISTOFLE – Silver-plated metal sauce boat, Atlante model

Silver-plated sauce boat by Christofle, Atlante pattern.

Hallmarks:
• CHRISTOFLE in full,
• OC, a chess knight,
• OC, a four-star, two-armed balance within an oval.

• The numbers 2 and 4;

Dimensions:
• Height: 10 cm.

• Length: 23 cm.

• Width: 15 cm.

Condition Report: Some minor scratches from use. Silver plating in very good condition, no dents.

This sauce boat from the Atlante collection was created in 1968. "These are streamlined pieces with strict shapes and no ornamentation. Functionality takes precedence over decoration" (source: Christofle).

An identical gravy boat is offered by Christofle as part of its resale business for €490.

Founded in 1830, Christofle became a supplier to His Majesty King Louis-Philippe, with a commission in 1846 for a dinner service for the Château d'Eu.
It achieved renown thanks to a commission by Emperor Napoleon III, upon his accession to power, for a grand ceremonial dinner service of 4,000 pieces, the centerpiece of which was a monumental centerpiece, presented at the Universal Exhibition of 1855. Despite the tragic fate of this service, most of which perished in the fire at the Tuileries Palace in 1871 [1], the company's fame became immense. Goldsmith to the King and Supplier to the Emperor, the firm was sought after by major foreign sovereigns and their courts, such as Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, the Tsar of Russia, the Kaiser, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire… The firm's growth was exponential, and Christofle established itself as one of the leading goldsmiths of the late 19th and 20th centuries, with increasingly extensive expertise, even undertaking the gilding of the roofs of the Opéra Garnier.

Developing pieces with modern, Art Nouveau and Art Deco lines, which triumphed at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, Christofle also created services for the largest ocean liners of the time, such as the Atlantique, the Île-de-France and the Normandie, for luxury hotels like the Ritz, and for major rail and maritime transport companies[2]. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Christofle commissioned highly talented designers to produce avant-garde pieces, until it left the family in 2014.

Christofle pieces can be found in the world’s greatest museums, such as the Louvre, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Grand Palais in Paris; the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the MoMA in New York; the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum in London; and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, as well as on the tables of heads of state, embassies, ministries, and other high-ranking officials.

[1] The centerpiece was discovered in the smoldering ruins of the Tuileries Palace by Henri Bouihlet, nephew of Charles Christofle and vice-president of the company. It is now on display at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, in its original state.

[2] In 1935, for example, 40,000 pieces of silverware were delivered for the ocean liner Normandie.

Ref: SJB9UX9SR6