Silver Plated Shell Dish

Found in Carpentras in Provence, this 1930s silver-plated dish would have been used for small things passed around the table - olives, sugared almonds, slices of fruit, or whatever the host had set out before a meal. In southern French homes, pieces like this were constantly in motion between kitchen and dining room. The form is simple: a shallow round dish with sculpted shell handles at each side, a small decorative flourish typical of early 20th-century tableware. Sylvie fills it with lemons or keeps it on the table to catch wine corks as the night goes on.