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Cunard's illustrious Queen Mary

cean liners were once described as the such as manor houses and country homes, chalets, and hunting lodges, and instead used a
“greatest moving objects made by newly created decorative style. It was a sensation, but after a serious dockside fire at Le Havre
Oman.” They were also great symbols: in August 1929, the Paris was repaired and at the same time modernized: much of the Art
They embodied size, might, and speed, but Nouveau was removed and was replaced by even more modern, Ile-inspired Art Deco. The Paris
were also maritime temples, boasting the latest became more popular than ever and an even better companion to the slightly larger, immensely
achievements in interior design. Some say the popular Ile de France.
Art Deco liners were the very best, absolutely While moderately sized liners seemed to be more in vogue in the 1920s and more cost-
the most glamorous and memorable of all the effective, the French opted next for a larger, grander, more sumptuous version of the Paris. The
great ships. There were six that stand out: the 43,000-ton Ile de France was commissioned in 1927 and immediately captured the imagination
SS Ile de France, RMS Empress of Britain, SS of the world. Innovative, trendsetting, luxurious, and featuring the finest kitchens afloat, it was,
Rex, SS Conte di Savoia, SS Normandie, and in many ways, the most successful, most adored of all French liners.
RMS Queen Mary. And the beloved Ile de The accommodations aboard the 791-foot-long Ile de France were divided into three classes—
France was just the beginning. first class, cabin class, and third class. All cabins, even in lower deck third class, offered beds
instead of bunks. The first class quarters were exceptionally lavish and included a large assortment
Innovation on the High Sea: of suites and cabins de luxe. It was said to offer the finest selection of suites on the Atlantic. By
Compagnie Générale 1935, the Ile de France had carried more first class passengers than any other transatlantic liner.
Transatlantique But it was the overall style and extraordinary decor that fascinated both travelers and
competitors of the French Line. Inspired by the influential Exposition Internationale des Arts
The SS France (1912) was extremely
pleasing in almost every way, especially its
stunning decor. Its first class accommodations
were so popular that it had the lowest
number of vacant berths in first class of any
Atlantic Ocean liner during the mid-1920s.
In the wake of the great success of the France,
the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
(known as the French Line in the U.S.)
began construction on the new SS Paris in
1913, which was due in 1916. However,
construction came to a halt because of the
First World War, and the Paris finally
emerged in the summer of 1921.
The Paris was highly innovative––it
differed from the heavily gilded, Edwardian
styles of the earlier France, by introducing a
new, more contemporary look––Art Nouveau
on the high seas. Some say that the designers
of the Paris actually introduced the very first,
authentic ocean liner style. (Others attribute
this to the next French liner, the Art Deco Ile
de France.) The designers of the Paris broke
from the trend of copying landside structures The Cathay Lounge aboard the Empress of Britain, designed in a style we might now call “Shanghai Deco.”

22 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles