Ritz Paris Furniture Goes Up For Sale
A slice of classic French glamour could soon be yours as icons of the legendary Ritz in Paris are available at an auction of epic proportions
The historic Ritz Paris Hotel is auctioning off an incredible 10,000 pieces of its opulent furniture and decorative objects this week. The items have been divided into 3,500 lots for a sale that will last five days and is expected to raise a total of €1.5 million euros.
Dozens of beds and sofas, lamps, footrests, curtains, carpets, baths and even a dog bed will be going under the hammer, with prices ranging from €100 to €5,000.
The auction follows an extensive refurbishment that took four years to complete, led by architect and designer Thierry Despont. It meant the replacement of much of the furniture, and now, two years since the hotel reopened, you can get your hands on a gilded piece of its decadent history.
Highlights include the hotel’s first ever bathtub, Regency-style lanterns and four-poster beds, a set of five upholstered club chairs from the historic Ritz Club, cushy ottomans upholstered in velvet and trimmed with fringe, marble-topped coffee tables, a gilded balustrade once housed in the Imperial Suite, a pair of crescent-shaped ochre velvet bar sofas from the Ritz bar, a pair of gilt metal single beds, a set of rosewood bar stools, and a gilded wooden Louis XV-style marble-topped writing desk from the Proust suite.
Since being founded in 1898, glittering chandeliers and gilded Louis XIV furniture reign supreme. The iconic hotel on Place Vendôme is now synonymous with Parisian decadence and old-world allure. Now, following the $450 million extensive renovation, the Ritz has been given a facelift fit for the 21st century.
The sale is an opportunity to take home part of history – The Ritz was, after all, the former home to Proust, Coco Chanel and The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, a favourite haunt of Hemingway (after whom the bar was named) and the first hotel, at the insistence of its founder César Ritz, to have a bath in every guest room.
Literary aficionados may want to take home a souvenir from the Hemingway bar, if not one of the two four-seater couches in quilted honey-hued leather, then maybe a small table paired with two dark leather and wood chairs, or at least a porcelain ashtray (a lot of 12 is expected to fetch €100 to €200).
The Regency style writing desk from the Proust suite
For Proust lovers there’s a pair of sofas from the salon the author frequented (€1,000 to €2,000).
Pair of sofas from the Proust suite
Art Deco lovers will no doubt love the sconces and ceiling fixtures from the old Ritz swimming pool. There’s also a good deal of kitsch: minibars faced in imitation wood with the Ritz logo; four life-size Santa Claus statues, two of them in his sleigh; dozens of brass toilet papers holders; and a set of 85 clothes hangers stamped “Ritz Paris.”
This is the pair of armchairs from Coco Chanel’s suite
The auction is taking place between between 17 and 21 April.
