The “Como” is the design that made Lino Sabattini’s name internationally and one of the defining pieces of postwar silver. Sabattini designed it in Milan around 1955, and Christofle produced it for its Gallia collection. The teapot has no separate spout. The body itself rises and tapers into a long, pointed pouring tip, so the whole vessel reads as one fluid gesture, like a bird in profile. A flat oval lid, hinged at the back, sits flush on the body. A slender strap handle loops from the lid’s hinge to the projecting rear of the body.

The pot is assembled from stamped sheet metal and polished to a mirror finish, so its curves and flat planes catch and break the light as you move around it. The “Como” service led Christofle to appoint Sabattini to direct its creative workshops from 1956 to 1963. Examples are in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.