A late Art Deco mosaic vase by Jean Gerbino This large mosaic vase was made by the naturalised French ceramist, Jean Gerbino. With its stylish triangular handles, it has a whiff of Art Deco about it. That fits, since Gerbino produced this shape around 1940, though he continued making it into the next decade. Like…
Leune, and a brace of exotic birds This flamboyant Art Deco vase is a perfect example of the taste for enamelled glass in France in the 1920s. It was made by Maison Leune, a Paris glass factory in business from around 1900 to 1930. What strikes you first are the ‘hot’ vitrified colours, the vibrant…
Loys Lucha, where flowers bloomed all year round This luxury Art Deco Loys Lucha light first adorned a room in a fashionable Parisian home. Its original owner, Madame X, went to the Loys Lucha boutique to choose it in person, before sallying off to Angelina’s for tea and patisseries. Visiting the Loys Lucha light showroom around…
Foxy cocktails Stylish barware from the age of Art Deco Who could resist the this dapper fox, with his paw on his breast, as he prepares to charm the cheese from the crow’s beak? This French Art Deco cocktail stick set perfectly captures the humour of one of my favourite fables by La Fontaine…
Legras glass, the powerhouse of Pantin You can almost smell the crisp, wintry air. Forest scenes like this appear again and again on Legras glass. They recall the forests of the Vosges, where François-Théodore Legras (1839-1916) worked, like his father, as a woodcutter – before going on to build one of France’s great glassmaking empires. A…
You’re never too young or too old to be fascinated by France’s transatlantic ocean liners. The luxury, the glamour, the style, the spirit of adventure or the technical prowess… there’s something to seduce everyone.
In the last century, the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (also known as The French Line) operated some of the finest passenger liners in history. Among them, the Normandie and the France were legends for their fabulous decor, the last word in French decorative arts.