Form becomes part of a setting.
A decorative object is encountered in changing light and from different distances. Proportion, silhouette and surface give it a presence that extends beyond its immediate function.
From the Archive / Form and wit
An unexpected
guest.
The crow claret jug gives a useful object a character of its own.
Sotheby’s catalogued an 1881 example associated with William Leuchars: glass forms the bird’s body and wings, while silver supplies its feet, tail and removable head. The catalogue records a height of 21.5 centimetres.
Explore the surviving example, registered-design reference and limits of this reconstruction in the Archive.
- Catalogue date
- 1881
- Recorded height
- 21.5 cm
- Archive
- Record 006
Presentation and occasion
A small object.
A particular day.
Glass, silver-gilt mounts, a cipher and a date. Christie’s recorded this box as an 1899 wedding gift from Prince Henri d’Orléans to Jean and Isabelle d’Orléans.
Its Leuchars-Geffroy Paris stamp connects the object with the shop. The maker of its mounts remains unidentified. Here, a decorative piece carries a personal occasion as well as a form.
Discover the wedding-gift box
From outline to detail
Close to the surface.
At a distance, the outline holds the eye. Closer, a narrow edge or the meeting of glass and metal gives the form another rhythm.
With an original object, wear, patina and fittings deserve their own record before any restoration. Photograph every side, including the underside, and keep associated documents with it.
The campaign opening is an imagined scene within the Leuchars world. The crow and glass-box images are editorial reconstructions, not documentary photographs or current sale inventory. Their linked Archive records set out the historical sources and limits of attribution.
Look closer
A particular object.
A personal question.
For an enquiry about a case, an object or a mark, begin with the details you can see.
