Christofle
French maker that bought the rights to electroplating in France and made silver-plated cutlery and services for hotels, trains and ocean liners.
Charles Christofle was a jeweller in Paris and bought the French rights to gilding and silver-plating by electrolysis. This made it possible to produce plated cutlery and services in large series.
Christofle supplied Napoleon III, hotels, restaurants and railways, and the liner Normandie in the 1930s. Luc Lanel and Christian Fjerdingstad designed Art Deco pieces for the firm, and Christofle has since worked with contemporary designers.
The name Christofle and the firm’s lozenge-shaped mark; plated ware has a figure for the amount of silver.