Creamer c. 1904

This is Creamer by Paul Follot, and the medium is silver. The way Follot has worked the metal, there’s a real sense of flow and movement in these pieces. See how the ridges at the bottom, they shoot up and seem to swirl around the body of each vessel? It’s like he’s captured a moment of liquid in motion. The surface is so smooth, almost like water itself, reflecting everything around it. It makes you think about the potential of the material; how metal, something so solid, can be shaped into something so fluid and dynamic. The handles and spout, they’re so graceful and sinuous, adding to that sense of elegant motion. I’m reminded of pieces by Hector Guimard, with his flowing, organic forms. It is this constant conversation across time that makes art so endlessly fascinating, right?