Art Styles of the Rich and Famous

The Rothschild Private Collection
1.5-hour tour

Before there were museums, there were cabinets de curiosités. Also known as wunderkammen, or cabinets of wonder, noble collectors arranged their most precious objects in these cabinets for delectation and display. Every home of standing would feature one, a kind of VIP room for high culture. The Salomon de Rothschild mansion in Paris was no exception.

Our 1.5- hour tour will focus primarily on this cabinet de curiosités, a room brimming with the findings of Salomon and Adele Rothschild, members of the formidable finance dynasty’s Paris branch. You’ll see how collecting treasures and constructing mansions like this one were part of an elaborate effort to create le goût Rothschild, the family’s "brand” of taste and sophistication.
 

Our tour is also designed to give you a vivid sense of how collectors lived with objets d’art during Second Empire Paris. Along the way, you’ll also pick up some practical skills to use in museums, or on your own collecting forays at the auctions and flea markets. Learn how to spot an authentic 17th-century desk, or how to identify a rocaille decorative style. Find out what colors and design details to look for when dating an Asian antique. Learn the difference between an original, copy, or reproduction d’epoque. In visiting the rest of the Rothschild mansion exterior, you’ll also learn about 19th-century architecture, and how to “read” the stylistic features of a façade.

“The Rothschild Private Collection” can be reserved on several dates in July 2005 (see above). As of August 2005, however, the mansion will close for renovations.

Rates. 75 euros per person

Please email us at info@parismuse.com, or call +33 6.73.77.33.52 to inquire about availability for your tour.

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