542 - Bloch-Eschwège

Bloch-Eschwège Maurice Muller An Art Deco silver service by Maurice Muller, no. 6 Comprising a coffee pot, teapot, milk jug and sugar bowl with lid. On an oval, raised foot; tapering body with a wooden handle and a rounded spout. Decorated with vertical fluting and a visible martelé finish; the slightly domed hinged covers with corresponding decor and cast thumb rests. Height of coffee pot: 19 cm; total weight: 2,504 g. Paris, Maurice Muller for Bloch-Eschwège, 1930s. Bloch-Eschwège was founded in 1920 by Jacques-Prosper Bloch (1882-1944) and his brother-in-law Albert Eschwège (1872-1938), who came from a family of gemstone dealers in Germany. Their shop was located at 49 Rue Meslay, while their offices were in the Marais district of Paris. Inspired by the success of the 1925 Paris Exposition, the two men, who were primarily silversmiths working in the classical style (as well as diamond dealers), decided to design a range of tableware with modernist forms. To this end, they brought Maurice Adrien Muller (1907-2003) into the firm, a pupil of the metal sculptor Gabriel Lacroix (1894-1963). Muller had only just completed his studies when he became foreman and head designer of this new modernist branch of Bloch-Eschwège. According to the archives of Jean-Loup Eschwège (Albert’s grandson), work in the classical style accounted for nine-tenths of the firm’s production, meaning that the company produced only a few hundred modernist sets – possibly as few as 200 pieces in total – in very limited editions, often single pieces. Provenance Belgian private collection. Literature The design drawing is illustrated in Robert de Koning, Maurice Muller, Foreman and Silversmith in Paris 1926 to 1935, Asse, 2022, p. 161.