Lucite, Caned and Brass Serving Tray in the Style of Christian Dior and Gabriella Crespi, circa 1970

This singular serving tray, combining lucite with caning and brass, evokes the sophisticated decorative vocabulary that united two of the most distinctive voices in the luxury design world of the 1970s: the Maison Christian Dior and the Milanese designer Gabriella Crespi. Both Dior's home collection and Crespi's oeuvre were characterised by a refined eclecticism that brought together natural materials — cane, rattan, and wicker — with the modernity of acrylic and the warmth of gilded metal, creating objects at once glamorous and artisanally rooted.

The combination of materials in this tray is a masterly study in contrasts: the cool transparency of the lucite, the tactile warmth and geometric regularity of the caned surface, and the precious gleam of the brass border create a multi-sensory object that rewards both use and contemplation. The tray's format — elegant and practical — reflects the 1970s preoccupation with objects capable of gracing both the dining table and the drawing room with equal authority.

Objects of this character — occupying the intersection of high fashion, luxury craft, and functional design — are among the most desirable small decorative objects of the period. Their association with the great names of the 1970s luxury world, and their ability to serve equally as working accessories or display objects, ensures their enduring appeal to collectors of twentieth-century decorative arts.