The Maharajah of Indore returns to Christie’s

. View of the exhibition "Modern Reign, Tribute to the Maharajah of Indore" with Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann’s personal desk (1929)
Photo: Christie’s

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1/10/23 - Art Market - Paris - Thirty-two lots, it’s not much, of course, but it’s enough to evoke one of design lovers’ favourite stories: that of the Maharajah of Indore and his palace at Manik Bagh. Four years after the rich exhibition (see article) at the Musée des Arts décoratifs, whose catalogue has already become almost impossible to find, Christie’s is selling a collection of some twenty pieces from this legendary building in Paris, more than half of which were on display in the rooms of the Marsan wing. Christie’s tells a different story, however, as visitors are greeted by a very spectacular desk (ill. 1) by Ruhlmann, which certainly did not come from India, but is an "equivalence", a fine expression much loved by all the French national châteaux, which have unfortunately been stripped of their original furniture in the wake of revolutions and regime changes. Stimulated by the Art Deco adventure of the famous modern maharajah, a contemporary collector whose name is delicately tucked away by Christie’s after being mentioned at the Paris museum exhibition has embarked on an operation to reconstitute the interiors of his distant predecessor. One look at this exceptional hemispherical desk, recently restored, reveals a true Ruhlmannian manifesto: the prototype was exhibited in 1929 and then acquired by the minister André Tardieu, before two other examples were made in Macassar ebony. The first was destined for the Maharajah of Indore, but the second, shown here, became Ruhlmann’s personal desk in his rue de Lisbonne headquarters.

2. View of the exhibition "Modern Reign, Tribute to the Maharajah of Indore" with the bed designed by Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix
Photo: Christie’s

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3. View of the exhibition…