Christofle: a brilliant history

At last! Long awaited and hoped for over several decades, such a rich Christofle exhibition can only please lovers of jewellery - and objets d’art in general - but its real success lies in the way it is perfectly presented and displayed, making the subject enjoyable and fascinating for a much wider audience! While detractors will see it as a purely commercial event, a simple visit is enough to realise that this is a far cry from the usual blockbuster of the genre, like Dior - to stay on rue de Rivoli - or Dolce & Gabbana at the moment. So for once we only have good things to say about an exhibition that had to be closely linked to the brand, which owns many of the pieces on display at the "Conservatoire Bouilhet Christofle", a museum of the Œuvre that brings together paintings, drawings, archives and exceptional objects, and which is now overseen by Caroline Radenac, who succeeded the late lamented Anne Gros. She passed away prematurely in 2021. She was the soul of the house about which she had written many articles but whose closure of the museum in 2008.

1. View of the exhibition "Christofle, a brilliant history" at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Photo: Christophe Dellière

See the image in its page

Now stored in Yainville, on the site of Christofle’s Normandy factory, these precious archives are just waiting to be utilised and promoted, even if this "brilliant history" perfectly staged by Martin Michel begins in the flames of the fire at the Tuileries Palace, which nevertheless failed to destroy Christofle’s masterpiece, the beautiful remains of which (ill. 1) - found among the smouldering debris - were donated to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the end of the 19th century and today inaugurate the tour of this fascinating exhibition! Delivered in February 1856 after triumphing at the 1855 Universal Exhibition, the one hundred place setting, intended for Napoleon III, is one of the most emblematic creations of a prestigious goldsmith’s house…