Two chairs by Mucha for Orsay

2/7/26 - Acquisitions - Paris, Musée d’Orsay - Recreated in the rooms of the Musée Carnavalet, the jeweller Georges Fouquet’s shop is one of the finest Art Nouveau interiors in Paris, entirely born from the fertile imagination of Alfons Mucha. Since 1989, all visitors have appreciated this space in which one can wander, but may have forgotten that this shop had a short-lived existence, since it was inaugurated on the rue Royale in 1901 and dismantled as early as 1923. A true total work of art, the shop is nonetheless presented unfurnished and certain pieces were thought to have been lost. It is saying much that the reappearance of the fauteuil and the tabouret “curule” (ill. 1) in a sale organised at Sotheby’s in Paris on 28 May last caused an immediate sensation, arousing both fears and hopes among lovers of heritage.

One could legitimately fear the worst, and already imagine these seats in a place of honour at the next TEFAF and then in some major private or public collection: estimated at €120,000–180,000, the fauteuil (ill. 2 and 3) was knocked down for €120,000 and immediately preempted for Orsay, before the tabouret (ill. 4 and 5), estimated at €60,000–80,000, followed suit, rising to €110,000 but also ultimately being preempted. With fees, the fauteuil therefore realised €153,600 and the tabouret €140,800, bringing the total to €294,400. The two pieces will thus have cost close to €300,000: the sum is not so extravagant given their heritage importance, though one can readily imagine that the Musée Carnavalet, poorly funded by the City of Paris, could unfortunately not compete.