Oval Neoclassical Brass Drinks Trolley Attributed to Maison Jansen, French Work, circa 1940

Of an elegance entirely befitting the great houses of the 1940s, this oval drinks trolley in polished brass represents French decorative craftsmanship at its most seductive. Its oval form, rendered in finely worked brass, rests on four tapering legs connected by a lower shelf — itself in brass — that could accommodate bottles, decanters, or crystal glassware with effortless grace. The neoclassical vocabulary of the piece — refined proportions, restrained ornamentation, the warm gleam of the metal — speaks directly to the aesthetic programme championed by Maison Jansen during its golden years, when the house set the tone for aristocratic interiors across Europe and America.

Founded in Paris in 1880 by the Dutch-born Henri Jansen, and brought to its apogee under the artistic direction of Stéphane Boudin from the 1930s onwards, Maison Jansen was the most prestigious interior design firm of the twentieth century. Its client list reads as a who's who of international high society: the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Jacqueline Kennedy, the Shah of Iran, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Boudin's signature was a masterful blend of historical references — Louis XVI neoclassicism, Empire rigour, Directoire lightness — executed with an uncompromising attention to quality of material and manufacture. This trolley bears all the hallmarks of that demanding school.

A supremely civilised accessory for the art of entertaining, this drinks trolley would today bring an incomparable note of Parisian grandeur to a living room, a library, or a dining room. Its attribution to Maison Jansen, combined with its perfect state of conservation and the timeless allure of its design, makes it a piece of singular desirability for the discerning collector.