Nouveau II

Top Knobs Nouveau II cabinet hardware

Nouveau II sits between the brand's two other Art Nouveau generations. The original Nouveau wraps full vines around its hardware; Nouveau III tightens the ornament into small faceted leaves. Nouveau II takes the middle path: leaf detail along the lower rim of cup pulls and tendril patterns on the bar pulls, but with smooth bar tops that keep the line readable as transitional rather than period. Hardware ships from stock, with most orders moving within 1-2 business days.

What separates Nouveau II

The split surface treatment is the cue. Where Nouveau wraps every face of every piece in ornament, Nouveau II reserves the ornamental detail to specific surfaces (cup-pull lower rims, bar-pull undersides, knob faces) and keeps the rest smooth. The result is hardware that telegraphs Nouveau heritage on close inspection but doesn't read as period reproduction from across the room. The line is the most-specified of the three Nouveau generations for transitional kitchens.

Buying considerations

Because the ornament sits on specific surfaces, installation orientation matters more on Nouveau II than on the full-wrap Nouveau. Confirm the knob's leaf-axis against the install hand on the order. Brushed antique brass deepens the leaf shadows while keeping the smooth bar tops bright; aged copper warms the whole line further. The cup-pull ornament runs along the lower rim, so a side-mounted install (rare) would put the ornament edge-on. The line also works particularly well as the dressier hardware on a kitchen that mixes transitional and traditional vocabularies.

Related Top Knobs collections

For the bolder original Nouveau and the refined Nouveau III inside the brand, see Nouveau and Nouveau III, or browse the full Top Knobs brand page.