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Not currently on display at the V&A

Champagne Bucket

1933-1935 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Luc Lanel was a ceramicist by training and in charge of the Christofle design studio in the 1920s and 1930s. Christofle provided the entire silverware for the liner Normandie, the flag ship of the French Line before the Second World War, which sailed between Le Havre and New York. The Normandie measured 313 metres overall, had a beam of 36 metres and displaced 83,423 tons. She took to the seas on May 5, 1935 with a crew of 1,320 including 200 cooks, pastry cooks and butchers, and 700 stateroom personnel. She could accommodate 2,230 passengers. The total amount of silverware supplied to the liner by Christofle totalled 45,000 pieces. The Normandie was stranded in New York at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and burned at her pier in February 1942. She was subsequently sold for scrap, and in 1979 her fittings were sold at auction.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Electroplated nickel silver
Brief description
Champagne bucket, electroplate, France, Paris, 1933-1935, mark of Christofle, designed by Luc Lanel for the French transatlantic liner, Normandie
Physical description
Champagne bucket, the base circular, the sides are plain and slightly flared rising to a rolled over rim. A single incised line encircles the wall of the vessel at both the rim and the base. The handles, placed diametrically opposite each other, consist of a flat, horizontal section of metal bisected by a spherical ball. The underside of each handle is strengthened by a quarter section moulding at the junction with the wall. The side of the vessel is engraved.
Dimensions
  • Height: 20.5cm
  • Width: 26.5cm
  • Diameter: 19cm
Style
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • Engraved on the side of the bucket, in French: 'L'EQUIPAGE DU / "CASSARD" / à son Commandant / 1936-1938'
    Translation
    'The crew of the 'Cassard' to their Captain, 1936-1938'
  • Maker's mark for Christolfe and the name: CHRISTOLFE
Object history
This champagne bucket was originally designed to be supplied to the French tranatlantic liner, Normandie.
Summary
Luc Lanel was a ceramicist by training and in charge of the Christofle design studio in the 1920s and 1930s. Christofle provided the entire silverware for the liner Normandie, the flag ship of the French Line before the Second World War, which sailed between Le Havre and New York. The Normandie measured 313 metres overall, had a beam of 36 metres and displaced 83,423 tons. She took to the seas on May 5, 1935 with a crew of 1,320 including 200 cooks, pastry cooks and butchers, and 700 stateroom personnel. She could accommodate 2,230 passengers. The total amount of silverware supplied to the liner by Christofle totalled 45,000 pieces. The Normandie was stranded in New York at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and burned at her pier in February 1942. She was subsequently sold for scrap, and in 1979 her fittings were sold at auction.
Bibliographic references
  • Forest, Dominique. Lanel, Luc & Marjolaine. Paris: Norma, 2005. ISBN 2909283992
  • Bouihlet, Henri. Christofle, Silversmith since 1830. Paris: Chêne / Hachette, 1981.
Collection
Accession number
M.41-1991

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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