Album orfèvrerie argent
A c.1900 album of French silverwork plates from Paris, published by an unidentified house and held by the Getty Research Institute, collected as a pattern source for silversmiths and makers of table silver. The plates are numbered engravings of teapots, covered sugar bowls, ewers, serving dishes, cutlery and dressing-table pieces, drawn in fine line with careful shading to show the sheen of polished metal and the curve of chased ornament. A designer can take from them the way repoussé lobes, scrolled handles, and rocaille feet sit on a form, and how engraved floral panels are placed on flat and curved surfaces.
