Claude Lalanne (1925-2019), Iolas silverware, 1966

Claude used more and more hybrid assemblages in her sculptures, objects, pieces of furniture and cutlery. She favoured moulding and a technique she learnt from the American artist James Metcalf, galvanoplasty, a process that enables objects to be reproduced by depositing metal. These impressive pieces of cutlery, made for the gallery owner Alexandre Iolas, are far away from the prevailing functionalism. Salvador Dali was unduly credited with these delightfully baroque pieces with their interlacing leaves and crustaceans.