Normandy

The name evokes the Normandie, the great Art Deco liner whose tapered lines made the 1930s dream. The maison Charles keeps its surge: a console whose single bronze upright springs in a vast curve, turns back into a volute at its base, and carries a half-moon top. The bronze, gilt or silvered, runs in one taut line, like a wave or a stem. The mass of the metal contrasts with the fineness of the top. The piece has the sovereign curve of a great transatlantic.