Lino Sabattini designed the “Cardinale” for Christofle’s Gallia collection in 1956, and it remains one of the most recognizable pieces of postwar silver. Each vase rises from a circular base as a slender cone, narrows sharply at a pinched waist, and flares into a crescent-shaped mouth with two pointed tips, a silhouette often compared to a cardinal’s mitre. A fine vertical seam runs the full height of each vase, and the folds at the waist catch the light like facets.

This pair is the smaller version of the model. They are well suited to a dining table, desk or bedside, where the larger vases would dominate. The stamped “GALLIA” cockerel and “PROD. CHRISTOFLE” marks are the house’s earlier marking style. Sabattini directed Christofle’s creative workshops from 1956 to 1963, and the “Cardinale” was published in Domus in the year it was designed.