Sterling Silver Canteen , Iris Pattern , Ravinet D’enfert Paris 1890-1910, Art Nouveau , 108 P.

A fabulous and extremely rare set of 108 Art Nouveau “Iris” cutlery pieces in solid silver from the Ravinet-d'Enfert house in Paris.
This famous and prestigious Parisian silversmithing house, whose history dates back to 1845, won several gold medals during its participation in the World’s Fairs of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
One of these prestigious gold medals was awarded to it at the 1897 International Exhibition in Brussels.
This exhibition served as a springboard for the Art Nouveau style and launched this new style on an international scale.
The exhibition spanned two sites—the current Cinquantenaire Park and the Royal Domain of Tervuren—connected by a tram line and an avenue specially built for the occasion. All the leading figures of the new “aesthetic” style participated in the creation of the pavilions and their interiors (Wolfers, Hankar, Van de Velde, Horta, etc.).
The architecture and furnishings of the colonial section of the exhibition were so heavily influenced by the new style that Belgians long referred to Art Nouveau as the “Congo style.”
The cutlery I am offering for sale in this section is stamped with the French “Mercury head” hallmark and was therefore produced for export, likely to Belgium.
The set consists of:
12 soup spoons
12 table forks
12 table knives with mother-of-pearl handles
12 fish forks
12 fish knives
12 désert forks
12 désert spoons 
12 coffee or tea spoons 
4300 grams of. Silver  
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