French Silver Cocotte

Found in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, this French silverplate cocotte came from the same maker as the plat à four, with the two horse heads facing each other in an oval stamped on both the lid and the body. A round lidded pot with two flat handles and a small ball finial, it's hotelware built for the back-and-forth between the kitchen and the dining room, the lid keeping the heat in on its way out to the table. A delicate band of stamped ovals runs around the rim, the one small flourish on a piece otherwise built to work. Sylvie lifts the lid off and sets it on the kitchen counter as a fruit bowl, piled with lemons and pears, the lid resting beside it.