Cake pedestal, Louis XV style, metal

Gallia is the brand name of the copper-tin alloy patented by félix chéron in 1896. It probably also contained antimony and bismuth. The pieces made of this alloy could be produced directly by casting and used for the creation of more sophisticated reliefs or more sculptural forms than those based on alpacca. By electroplating, this alloy was coated with silver. Félix chéron immediately used this newly invented alloy for the production of a small series of highly decorative items, often made by distinguished artists and designers. The main purpose of the gallia line was to satisfy the market with cheaper products and simultaneously to follow current artistic trends. It is remarkable that today, in the world antique market, these "cheap" silver metal items sell for 3-10 times more expensive than christofle's "luxury" products of the same period. The marks of gallia metal items used during the first thirty years of production were based on the profile of the famous "gaullois rooster". Silver products, based on gallia metal, from 1900 to 1935, were obligatorily marked with the model number. From the beginning, these model numbers ranged from about 4100 to about 6100. The first gallia brand consists of three parts: 1) the mark for gallia base metal looks like a coat of arms with a gallic rooster inside. 2) the brand of the manufacture de l'alfenide for silverware is a goat's head placed in a diamond in a hatched rectangle. 3) the model number between 4100 and 6100. Rare.