Puiforcat's name is synonymous with Art Deco glamour; even in his day, the important French silversmith was renowned for the elegant, often mathematical simplicity of his geometric forms and the unexpected combination of flawless metalwork with brilliantly polished hardstones, semiprecious stones, or glass. This sugar bowl shows one of Puiforcat's earliest attempts to break away from the preceding generation's taste for naturalism; the only vestige is the lapis lazuli blossom acting as a knob on the lid.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Sugar Bowl with Lid
Designer:Jean E. Puiforcat (French, Paris 1897–1945 Paris)
Date:ca. 1922
Medium:Silver, lapis lazuli, gold
Dimensions:H. 3-5/8, W. 6-5/8 inches (9.2 x 16.8 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line:Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1923
Accession Number:23.177.2ab
Inscription: Signed (bottom, incised): JeAn e. PUIFORCAt
Marking: (stamped): EP (within a lozenge divided by a spindle); (stamped): [assay mark, canceled head of Minerva within an octagon]
the designer, Paris (until 1923; sold to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Three: Twentieth-Century Art," October 22, 1985–January 26, 1986, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Modern Metalwork in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1, 1993–April 3, 1994, no catalogue.
Roslyn Harbor, N. Y. Nassau County Museum of Art. "Reflections of Opulence: Art Nouveau to Art Deco," May 13–August 5, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 61).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Modern Design: Selections from the Collection," May 30–October 5, 2008, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of French Art Deco," August 4, 2009–January 23, 2011, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Making The Met, 1870–2020," August 29, 2020–January 3, 2021, unnumbered cat. (fig. 170).
Yvanhoé Rambosson. "Le XIIIe Salon des Artistes Décorateurs." Art et décoration 41 (March 1922), pp. 97–128.
Gaston Varenne. "Jean Puiforcat, orfèvre." Art et décoration 47 (January 1925), pp. 1–11.
Françoise de Bonneville. Jean Puiforcat. Paris, 1986, p. 76 (service illustrated).
R. Craig Miller. Modern Design in The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1890–1990. New York, 1990, ill. p. 163 (color).
Gérard Mabille et al. Exposition Puiforcat: Puiforcat orfèvre, la maîtrise de l'argent. Exh. cat., Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. Tokyo, 2002, p. 131.
Gail S. Davidson. "Perfection: Jean E. Puiforcat's Designs for Silver." Magazine Antiques 163 (January 2003), pp. 174–83.
Jared Goss. French Art Deco. New York, 2014, pp. 172–73, 260–61, no. 47b, ill. (color).
Douglas Eklund, Marilyn F. Friedman, and Randall R. Griffey inMaking The Met, 1870–2020. Ed. Andrea Bayer with Laura D. Corey. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2020, pp. 160, 252, fig. 170 (color).
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