Milk Pitcher

The firm of Christofle & Cie, founded in 1831 in Saint-Denis, France, was one of the earliest and most important European suppliers of japoniste, or Japanese-inspired metalwork. The firm still flourishes and remains a leading European producer of silver and electroplate. Christofle & Cie displayed this "pot à lait" (milk pitcher) at the Exposition des Arts du Métal, held in Paris in 1880 and sponsored by the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. The pitcher is one of the first examples in which Christofle & Cie used mixed-metal decoration applied to silver. It is one of only six such pitchers made by the firm. One is currently in the Musée Christofle, Saint-Denis; another is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Of the original six, these three are the only specimens known today.

Japanese influence on Western decorative arts emerged during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This trend came to Paris by way of prints in the late 1850s. Japanese virtuosity in mixed metalwork, particularly in sword furniture, inspired the use of mixed-metal decorations of copper and gold on silver, as seen in this pitcher. The spot-hammered surface, which suggests that the piece was handmade, is also inspired by the Japanese, as is the applied decoration of gold and copper flowers and insects.