The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

Tea and Coffee Service

Tea and Coffee Service

c. 1907

Did You Know?

Carlo Bugatti's sons achieved illustrious careers of their own. Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916) became a celebrated sculptor, and Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947) manufactured luxurious automobiles and racing cars.

Description

This tea and coffee service, salver, and table, together with some now missing cups, were all designed by Carlo Bugatti as an ensemble and presented at the 1902 exposition devoted to decorative arts in Turin, Italy. The set was probably acquired from Bugatti's 1907 exhibition at the Galerie Hébrard in Paris by a wealthy South African widow, Anna Blake, who was living there at the time. Some of the animal and insect motifs suggest mythical beasts or the fossils of prehistoric animals. When Mrs. Blake returned to Cape Town, she took these and other pieces designed by Bugatti with her, and they remained in South Africa throughout her lifetime.
  • c. 1907
    Carlo Bugatti [1856-1940], sold to Mrs. Anna Blake
    c. 1907-c. 1956
    Mrs. Anna Blake, Cape Town, South Africa. [d. 1956], by descent to her son Robert da Costa Blake
    c. 1956-1965
    Robert da Costa Blake, Cape Town, South Africa, sold (Kirkcaldzs, Cape Town, South Africa, 24 May 1965, lot 34)
    Private collection, South Africa, sold (Martin-Forest, London)
    1980
    (Martin-Forest, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1980-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Mentioned & reproduced PP 24-5 library.clevelandart.org
    Duncan, J. Alastair. "The Silver of Carlo Bugatti," The Magazine Antiques 136, no. 6, (December 1989): 1344-55. library.clevelandart.org
    Hawley, Henry. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 82 www.jstor.org
    Hawley, Henry. "Some Furniture and Silver of Carlo Bugatti." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 5 (May 1992): 130-43. Reproduced: p. 136-37; Mentioned: p. 136-41 25161359
    Duncan, Alastair. The Paris Salons, 1895-1914. Vol. 5 of Objets d'Art and Metalware. Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1994. Reproduced P 157 library.clevelandart.org
    Hawley, Henry H. Bugatti. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned & reproduced P 26, cat. no. 41, fig. 37 library.clevelandart.org
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned & reproduced PP 55-6 library.clevelandart.org
    Musée d’Orsay. Carlo Bugatti. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2001. Reproduced P 39, cat. no. 137 library.clevelandart.org
    Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008. Mentioned PP 35, 40, 324-5, reproduced PP 36 & 57, cat. no 10 library.clevelandart.org
    Fromanger, Véronique. Rembrandt Bugatti Sculpteur: Répertoire Monographique. Paris: L'Amateur, 2009. Mentioned P 8, fig. 69 library.clevelandart.org
    Piña, Leslie A. Furniture in History, 3000 B.C.-2000 A.D. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2010. Mentioned P 30 library.clevelandart.org
    Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Mentioned & reproduced PP 294-5 library.clevelandart.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 144
    Fromanger, Véronique and Carla Briner. Rembrandt Bugatti, Sculptor: Répertoire Monographique: A Meteoric Rise. Paris: Les Éditions de l’Amateur, 2016. Mentioned P 20 library.clevelandart.org
  • Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).
    Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 7-May 31, 2009).
    All That Glitters: Great Silver Vessels in Cleveland's Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 23, 1994-January 8, 1995).
    Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).
    Art Nouveau in France. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 12-November 27, 1988).
    Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    Possibly exhibited at the Galerie Hebrard, Paris, France (1907).
    Possibly exhibited at the Prima Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna, Turin, Italy (May 10-November 10, 1902).
  • {{cite web|title=Tea and Coffee Service|url=false|author=Carlo Bugatti, Adrien-Aurélien Hebrard|year=c. 1907|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.74