Art Deco Silver Plated Center Piece by Christofle Designed by Luc Lanel

A polished, sculptural centerpiece bowl by Luc Lanel for Christofle, France, executed in silver-plated metal. The shallow, wide oval bowl has a mirror-polished interior and rests on three distinctive ring-form feet — each a bold, doubled loop of silver, giving the piece a light, almost architectural stance despite the substantial weight and presence of the bowl above. The interplay between the smooth, unadorned curve of the bowl and the graphic, geometric rings of the feet is a hallmark of Lanel's mature Art Deco style at Christofle, where clean, reflective surfaces were set off by a single strong sculptural gesture rather than applied ornament.
The underside is stamped "CHRISTOFLE FRANCE" with the house's oval maker's mark. As artistic director of Christofle from 1922 to 1942, Lanel was responsible for many of the house's most recognizable Art Deco silver models, including the celebrated services created for the ocean liner Normandie, and this centerpiece reflects the same restrained, modern sensibility — equally suited to fruit, flowers, or simply as a striking sculptural object on a table or sideboard.

Location: Madrid
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Luc Lanel (1893–1965) was one of the defining designers of French Art Deco silver, best known for his long tenure as artistic director of Christofle, the storied Paris silversmith founded in 1830. Trained at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Lanel joined Christofle in 1920, heading its electroplating (galvanoplastie) department before being named artistic director in 1922, a post he held until 1942. He also worked for a period with the decorating firm Süe et Mare, and collaborated with the furniture designer Jules Leleu and the architect Jean-Charles Moreux on interior commissions, including work for ocean liners.
Lanel's design language evolved through the Art Deco period: in the 1920s he favored stylized floral and foliate decor, moving by around 1930 toward pure geometric forms, and after 1935 toward the simpler, hammered, unornamented silver surfaces associated with high modernism — the register in which the present centerpiece sits. His most celebrated body of work is the silver and silver-plate he designed for the SS Normandie, the flagship ocean liner of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, including the iconic "Atlas" flatware pattern and pieces from the "Ondulations" line, created for the liner's first-class dining rooms in the 1930s. Lanel left Christofle in 1942 and, after the war, chose not to return, devoting the rest of his career to ceramics in partnership with his wife, Marjolaine Giradet. His work for Christofle remains among the most sought-after French silver of the Art Deco period, held in institutional collections including the Bouilhet-Christofle Museum outside Paris.