Caviar server 1905

This silver caviar server with turquoise accents was made by Jules Auguste Habert-Dys, active in France around the turn of the century. I can imagine Habert-Dys in his studio carefully hammering and shaping the metal, chasing each delicate curve with precision. The piece feels like a collaboration between the natural world and human artifice. The bright silver is draped with stylized flowers and vines. Little pops of blue turquoise punctuate the silver, making it seem like the object is flowering. The vessel itself has a bulbous form, supported by long, slender legs that splay outward like plant tendrils. There’s an odd symmetry, almost like a very fancy, precious insect. The material seems to defy its own weight. It’s as if he’s taken something solid and made it light, airy, and alive, like a poem. Habert-Dys's world reminds me of other artists playing with similar ideas - like the glasswork of Émile Gallé. Artists are always in conversation, riffing off one another!