Silver Metal Cup - Maison Christofle - Baccus - Period: 20th Century

This beautiful silver-plated bowl from Christofle features a statuette of Bacchus standing on a pedestal. 
Bacchus is the god of wine in Roman mythology. He is also the god of many elements, including the vine. 
He is the god of fertility, festivities, dance, vegetation, the pleasures of life and its excesses. Bacchus is also the god of drunkenness, fury and subversion. He was an extremely important god.

Period: 20th century
Dimensions: Height: 21cm - Diameter of base: 8cm - Diameter of drinker: 12.5cm
Stamped below: Hallmarks and Christofle France

When it comes to silverware, there's one great name that immediately springs to mind for connoisseurs: Christofle.
 
It was in 1830 that Charles Christofle, a jeweller, founded the company that still bears his name today. It was originally a small jeweller's shop, where Charles Christofle worked as an apprentice before taking over the reins.

He took over the successful family business, which specialised in the manufacture of precious and avant-garde metals, and changed the company's fortunes by acquiring the patents for silver and gold plating by electrolysis from the Frenchman Henri de Ruolz in 1842. 

This process, also known as electroplating, involves depositing a thin layer of silver or gold on an object.
From there, Charles Christofle was able to start making silver-plated pieces on an industrial scale.

At the time, wealthy people owned solid silver cutlery, while others used only wooden or pewter cutlery. 
The success of Christofle was immediate, with the upper classes who could not afford solid silverware rushing to buy these silver-plated cutlery sets, which were less expensive than silver ones.

In 1851, Christofle became the official supplier to the Second Empire, when Napoleon III ordered "particularly" majestic silverware for the receptions at Compiègne and the Tuileries. 
The company also supplied King Louis-Philippe, the Tsar of Russia and many others beyond our borders.