Ever Wanted to Own a Set of Louis XV Armchairs? Now’s Your Chance
“I think you can be attached to people, you can be attached to love,” ELLE DECOR A-List Titan Robert Couturier tells us over the phone, “but I don’t think you should be attached to things that much.”
The French-born designer—who is known for his nonchalant bon mots and his lavish, ancien régime–inflected style—is referring to the upcoming sale of over 160 items from his 17th-century manor in Normandy, France, at Christie’s Paris next month. The online sale, which will comprise precious furniture, portraits, and objet d’arts, will take place October 16–29.
After moving to France, by way of Connecticut, three years ago, the designer called the villa (which was featured in ELLE DECOR’s March 2024 issue) home—until it stopped feeling as such. “After a couple of years, I decided that having a house in France isn’t all that practical, to tell the truth,” Couturier says. “So I sold it and then had to question myself about all the furniture inside."
The only logical decision seemed to be to sell versus haul it all to the Harlem abode he moved into just this summer. “I think it’s something that was very specific to France, and therefore why not let it go there?” Couturier shares, explaining his decision to work with Christie’s Paris in particular. “And then there was sort of a question, What do I want to keep? It was all or nothing to a degree. I thought, Let’s sell everything and start again.”
Hence, Couturier is parting with gems like a modern straw marquetry four-leaf folding screen by Jean-Michel Frank, a duo of white-and-blue Louis XV armchairs, and a Roman empress’s bust that used to preside over the manor’s dining room. The Regency ormolu-mounted rosewood commode and the series of portraits by American and European artists too are a clear nod to Couturier’s entire design style—all stateliness and decadence, infused with personality.
As for the one piece he’s particularly thrilled to put into fresh hands: “the gilded daybed that I had as a sofa in the living room. I hope that people will see how wonderful it is to have something like that and to use it as a practical piece of furniture, which is actually incredibly comfortable. I hope that people will get it.”
Is Couturier a tinge sad? Not a bit. “It’s not an unhappy situation,” he reassures us. “It’s a skin that I’m happy to shed.”
Plus, he’s excited to let others enjoy the one-of-a-kind interior masterpieces. “I think there’s a spirit pervasive in the collection that I wish people can share and can enjoy.”
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