Properties full of history. The furniture collection from the Hôtel de Cavoye in Paris, the last residence of businessman Bernard Tapie, who died in 2021, will be auctioned off next summer, according to the Journal du Dimanche.
A total of 180 lots, including 128 pieces of furniture, 25 lamps, 14 rugs and 13 paintings will be put up for sale. Among them, we find a Régence living room attributed to the cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle, estimated between 120,000 and 150,000 euros, polychrome carpets from the Savonnerie Louis XV period estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 euros each, a travel box with the arms of Madame Adélaïde, daughter of Louis XV, or even a “commode de Buffon”, at nearly 300,000 euros. A painting by Hubert Robert, “Landscape with the waterfalls of Tivoli”, is estimated at between 300,000 and 400,000 euros.
Debts to pay off
The sale was ordered by the courts of Paris and Bobigny, which instructed Artus Enchères to handle the sale of these properties. The sale, which could raise up to 5 million euros, will take place at the Richelieu workshop on July 6, and aims to pay off the debts of Bernard Tapie and his widow, Dominique.
The furniture collection has had a rocky past. In 1994, it had been seized by Crédit Lyonnais and the police as part of the long affair which opposed it to the bank. It was only in 2008 that the works of art and furniture were able to return to their homes, after a long legal procedure.
Businessman, boss of OM, politician and even singer, Bernard Tapie was reputed to have had “1,000 lives”. He died last October after a long battle with cancer.