Lot Essay
As the leading silversmith of the Art Deco period, Jean Puiforcat rejected earlier styles which till then had been cemented in traditionalism. His innovative designs abandoned surface ornamentation in favour of simplied shapes where the emphasis was on function and form. He combined basic geometric shapes to create pieces which were totally balanced and harmonious. This tete-a-tete (tea for two) is a perfect example of this approach, being that it incorporates spherical, cylindrical, square, rectangular and triangular elements.