Porcelain coffee set with insect motifs circa 1920–1950 painted by...

Porcelain coffee set with insect motifs
circa 1920–1950
painted by Gabriella La Torre, based on designs from the historic Swiss porcelain manufactory in Nyon. Signed
Consists of 26 pieces:
- 12 saucers, diam. 12 cm (one chipped)
- 11 cups, diam. 5.8 cm
- 1 coffee pot, H: 23 cm
- 1 sugar bowl, H: 17.5 cm, diam. 9 cm
- 1 milk jug, diam. 5 cm
In 1957, while having coffee at Gabriella La Torre’s home in Rome, Jean R. Guerrand, then a director at Hermès, noticed this porcelain set decorated with insects that she had painted and suggested that she adapt this motif for a silk scarf, giving rise to the famous “Les Insectes” scarf, launched in 1958

Source piece for lots 2 through 10

Provenance:
The artist’s family collection. Assembled under the guidance of Fabrizio La Torre, son of Gabriella La Torre, this collection reflects a desire to recreate a body of work that brings together the artist’s archives and pieces produced by Hermès.

Gabriella La Torre (Rome, 1894–1976) was a porcelain painter. Over several decades, she developed a personal body of work inspired in particular by her love of the decorative arts and antique porcelain, whose designs she studied and collected.

Beginning in 1957, she collaborated with Hermès, for which she created numerous designs that gave rise to silk scarves, ready-to-wear pieces, and porcelain objects. Her creative vision gave rise to patterns such as “Insects,” “Flowers and Braids,” “Oranges and Lemons,” “Cherries,” “Roosters,” and “Old China.”