CHRISTIAN DIOR Vintage Silver Tone Ram's Head Paperweight
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Usual scratches throughout. Some little scuffs (especially on the reverse side). Minor oxidation spots. See the pictures.
- Seller Location:Nice, FR
- Reference Number:
Christian Dior
When Christian Dior launched his couture house, in 1946, he wanted nothing less than to make “an elegant woman more beautiful and a beautiful woman more elegant.” He succeeded, and in doing so the visionary designer altered the landscape of 20th century fashion. Vintage Dior bags, shoes, evening dresses, shirts and other garments and accessories are known today for their feminine and sophisticated sensibility.
Dior was born in Granville, on the Normandy coast, in 1905. His prosperous haute bourgeois parents wanted him to become a diplomat despite his interest in art and architecture. However, they agreed to bankroll an art gallery, which Dior opened in 1928 in Paris with a friend.
This was the start of Dior’s rise in the city’s creative milieu, where he befriended Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau. After seven years as an art dealer, Dior retrained as a fashion illustrator, eventually landing a job as a fashion designer for Robert Piguet, and in 1941, following a year of military service, he joined the house of Lucien Lelong. Just five years later, with the backing of industrialist Marcel Boussac, the ascendant Dior established his own fashion house, at 30 avenue Montaigne in Paris.
Just two years after the end of World War II, the fashion crowd and the moribund haute couture industry were yearning, comme tout Paris, for security and prosperity, desperate to discard the drab, sexless, utilitarian garb imposed by wartime deprivation. They needed to dream anew.
And Dior delivered: He designed a collection for a bright, optimistic future. “It’s quite a revolution, dear Christian!” exclaimed Carmel Snow, the prescient American editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, famously proclaiming, “Your dresses have such a new look.” The press ran with the description, christening Dior’s debut Spring/Summer haute couture collection the New Look. “God help those who bought before they saw Dior,” said Snow. “This changes everything.”
Dior’s collection definitively declared that opulence, luxury and femininity were in. His skirts could have 40-meter-circumference hems, and outfits could weigh up to 60 pounds. They were cut and shaped like architecture, on strong foundations that molded women and “freed them from nature,” Dior said. Rather than rationing, his ladies wanted reams of fabric and 19-inch waists enforced by wire corsets, and the fashion world concurred. The debut got a standing ovation.
In the subsequent decade, Paris ruled as the undisputed fashion capital of the world, and Christian Dior reigned as its king. With the luxuriously full skirts of his New Look, suits and his drop-dead gorgeous couture dresses and ball gowns worthy of any princess, Dior gave women the gift of glamour they’d lost in the miserable years of war.
On 1stDibs, find an exquisite range of vintage Christian Dior clothing, jewelry, handbags and other items.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Nice, France
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- HERMES Vintage Silver Plate Dachshund Letter OpenerBy HermèsLocated in Nice, FRHERMES Paris vintage silver plate dachshund letter opener. Embossed HERMES PARIS. RAVINET D'ENFERT hallmark. Indicative measurements : max. l...Category
20th Century French For The Desk
- Christian Lacroix Vintage 1998 Limited Edition Silver Plated Unicorn PaperweightBy Christofle, Christian LacroixLocated in Nice, FRCHRISTIAN LACROIX rare 1998 limited edition silver plated unicorn paperweight. Manufactured by CHRISTOFLE Paris. Signed CL and dated 1998. Indicative measurements : base approx. 6...Category
20th Century French For The Desk
- Christian Lacroix Vintage Rare Silver Toned Allegoric PaperweightBy Christian LacroixLocated in Nice, FRCHRISTIAN LACROIX vintage rare silver toned paperweight statue featuring a possible allegory of the Antarctica continent. Collector item. Embossed CHRISTIAN LACROIX France. Maker's...Category
20th Century French For The Desk
- ISABEL CANOVAS Parfum by ROBERT GOOSSENS Vintage AtomizerBy Robert Goossens, Isabel CanovasLocated in Nice, FRISABEL CANOVAS Parfum by ROBERT GOOSSENS vintage atomizer featuring a gold tone metal wickerwork design embellished with an attached blue and gold tassel. Embossed ISABEL CANOVAS PA...Category
20th Century French Decorative Objects
- HERMES Vintage Stirrup Silver Money ClipBy HermèsLocated in Nice, FRHERMES vintage silver money clip featuring a stirrup. Embossed HERMES. French silver "crab" hallmark. Indicative measurements : max. length approx. 5.8 cm (2.28 inches) / max. width approx. 3.5 cm (1.38 inches). Material : Silver. Weight : approx. 16 grams. Comes with the original HERMES 24...Category
20th Century French For The Desk
- HERMES Vintage Rare Buckle Motif Paper Clip HolderBy HermèsLocated in Nice, FRHERMES vintage rare silver tone paper clip holder featuring a large iconic gold tone buckle design. Embossed HERMES PARIS Made in France Silversmith...Category
20th Century French For The Desk
- Fendi New In Box Lucite Paper WeightBy FendiLocated in West Hollywood, CAFendi new in box lucite paper weight with Fendi Rome store façade engraved.Category
21st Century and Contemporary For The Desk
- Art Deco Bakelite Desk Set in Original BoxLocated in London, GBBeautiful Art Deco bakelite desk set in the original box, with an ink pen, revolving pencil with lead, letter opener and seal. The nib is st...Category
1920s For The Desk
- Zenith Pilot Stainless Steel Mens Chronograph Watch 03.2430.4054 - Automatic. StBy RolexLocated in Dallas, TXRolex Leather Portfolio with Caran D'ache Pen - Green leather zip-around Rolex portfolio with creme interior, gold-tone hardware, 8 pockets, pen loops and Caran d'Ache for Rolex ballpoint pen...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss For The Desk
- Hermes Ulysse Mini Notebook Cover Jaune Poussin with Lined Notebook RefillBy HermèsLocated in Miami, FLMightychic offers an Hermes Ulysse mini model notebook cover featured in Jaune Poussin. Togo leather with Palladium Clou de Selle snap. Comes with a new Ulysse lined notebook refill...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French For The Desk
- Etro Italian Orange Leather Photo Frame circa 21st CBy EtroLocated in University City, MOEtro Italian orange leather photo frame c 21st The stylish picture frame is designed with smooth tangerine color orange leather One of the botto...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian For The Table
- Hermes Change Tray Zebra Pegasus Limoges Porcelain Rare PrintBy HermèsLocated in Miami, FLMightychic offers an Hermes marvelous Zebra Pegasus Limoges porcelain change tray. Bougainvillier colourway features beautifully detailed feathered wings...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French For The Desk
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Too Soon for the Return of ’90s Fashion? As If
There's a renewed appreciation for the era's aesthetic, perhaps most notably among millennials seeking authentic, easy style.
14 Iconic Luxury Handbags and the Stories behind Them
When the name of a bag is as well-known as its brand, you know it's a classic.