Claude Lalanne

comprising four tablespoons, dessert fork and soup spoon
each piece from the fourth service from an edition of eight

Marisa del Re Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1988

"Just Call Them Lalannes'," Interiors, May 1967, p. 10 (for a discussion of the service on view at Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York)
Daniel Marchesseau, Les Lalanne, Paris, 1998, p. 46 (for a related service designed for Salvador Dali) and p. 90
Feeding Desire:  Design and the Tools of the Table 1500-2005, New York, 2006, cover and pp. 10-11 and 262

Overall excellent condition. With some minor evidence of tarnish. This service is a very rare work to appear on the auction market.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Claude Lalanne began experimenting with flatware designs in 1965 when she designed a service for Salvador Dali with handles transformed into whimsical entangled vines emerging from snail shells.  The present lot represents a portion of the fourteen-piece service designed for the Alexander Iolas gallery a year later.  The daffodils and orchids relate to the floral design of Dali's service, yet the added celery, orchid petals and dragonfly wings create a unique and profoundly sculptural service.  Other examples from this service are in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York.