The French bring an art to everything, and setting a proper table is a romantic affair. In that spirit, Christofle invited select industry guests to its flagship showroom on Madison Avenue in New York City last Thursday for an intimate tabletop display fashioned by interior designer Matthew Patrick Smyth.
Smyth’s table featured a modern French look gathered from several different Christofle collections including Jardin d’Eden flatware, Malmaison china and glasses from the Kawali collection. Setting the tone for the design was a map of 18th century Paris that Smyth had printed on a tablecloth. Each piece of flatware, decorated entirely in a single engraving of interlacing designs inspired by a lush garden, juxtaposed the urban scene set by the tablecloth.
“It is a small 18th century map of Paris I had and I thought, ‘I want to make this a tablecloth.’ This was a concept I always wanted to do,” Smyth shared. “So I found a company that could print this onto cloth. I built off from the tablecloth and used my favorite flatware pattern Jardin d’Eden.”
“I wanted something that was classic, a little 1940s, but still very traditional,” he added. “My favorite thing is to do is dining rooms—they are my favorite rooms. When I was working as an assistant to David Easton, I used to do table settings for Baccarat when Christofle was with them so I know the product very well.”
Notable attendees included Mario Mercado, Arts Editor of Travel & Leisure, Dennis Lee of Tyler Hall, Connie Shuman of Shuman Associates and Andrew Ogletree of Sotheby’s.
Mario Mercado, Connie Shuman and Matthew Patrick Smyth
Peter Thiel, Andrew Ogletree, Garrett Person, Nic D'Vachio
“I just love the graphic quality [of the tablecloth,]” said Lee. “It’s a pattern, but when you get closer you can see the intensity of the printing. There is a lot of detail on there, and they did it at the right scale.”
“It’s paying a great homage to French silver,” Ogletree said. “It’s also blending playful with modern design and putting it into a modern aesthetic.”
