French silver cutlery of the XIXth century

Cutlery is the one form of silverware to which we can all relate, whether we eat simply in the kitchen or formally in the dining room, whether we are alone, with our family, or entertaining friends. Starting with the fiddle thread pattern, as well-known to our grand-parents as it is today, a wide variety of individual and serving pieces that are no longer used are presented: such as ice-cream servers, lemonade spoons, foie gras spades and mango forks, just to name a few. The influences of Japonism are reviewed, as well as the Art Nouveau style
at the end of the century. David Atlan draws upon an important collection of unpublished period archives, in addition to colour photographs of 371 pieces.