Christian Fjerdingstadt for Gallia — Silver-Plated Swan Gravy Boat with Ladle, Circa 1930

This gravy boat by Christian Fjerdingstadt for Gallia is a masterpiece of Art Déco luxury silver-plate. The bowl is wide, shallow, and generously proportioned, its interior polished to a mirror finish; the base is supported by small feet that lift the piece delicately from the table. The defining element is the long, sinuous handle-spout that curves away from the bowl like the arched neck of a swan — an image central to Fjerdingstadt's formal vocabulary and one that gives the piece its distinctive profile from any angle. A small matching ladle completes the set, its form echoing the organic curves of the vessel it accompanies.

Christian Fjerdingstadt (1891–1961) was born in Copenhagen and trained as a sculptor and painter before settling in Paris, where he became one of the most significant designers of luxury silver-plate in the inter-war period. His collaboration with Gallia — the high-quality silver-plate brand launched by Christofle as a complement to its principal line — produced some of the most recognisable objects of French Art Déco: champagne buckets, tea sets, and serving pieces unified by a vocabulary of flowing organic forms, sinuous curves, and an absolute command of the reflective properties of polished metal.

Gallia was established by Christofle as a vehicle for more experimental designs, and under Fjerdingstadt's artistic influence it became a laboratory for applying the new design thinking to the objects of the table. The swan motif — one of the most enduring symbols of grace and luxury in the Western decorative tradition — appears repeatedly in his work for Gallia, always rendered with the restraint and geometric rigour that distinguished his approach from the more literal naturalism of earlier periods.

The silver plating is in excellent condition, with the characteristic bright finish of Gallia electroplate. The ladle is present and in matching condition. A documented example of one of the most admired partnerships in twentieth-century French decorative metalwork, and a beautiful table object in its own right.