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A superb donation of 19 Hache pieces of furniture to the Musée dauphinois in Grenoble

This is one of the finest donations made to the Musée dauphinois de Grenoble since its creation in 1906.. Anne-Catherine Jouanneau, the only daughter of the famous Grenoble lawyer, Maitre Stéphane-Jean Jouanneau, who died in 2001, has just donated nineteen pieces of furniture by Jean-François Hache to the museum. They were the property of his collector father. She wanted to help as many of them as possible progress.

Hache, a cabinetmaker whose fame spanned the centuries.

Jean Francois Hache comes from a famous dynasty of Dauphine cabinetmakers, the Haches, of which he was one of the most illustrious representatives in the 18th century. These craftsmen, true artists, have furnished castles, mansions, bourgeois residences in France and beyond our borders. Their studio was located in Place Claveyson.

Highly sought after, these magnificent pieces of furniture, made in rare woods, such as sycamore, cherry or ashare exhibited in major museums, the Louvre in Paris, the MET in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Manufacturing secrets disappeared

Olivier Cogne, director of the dauphinois museum, which depends on the Departmental Council, is still amazed by this donation: “These are quite extraordinary pieces of furniture which are characterized by the roundness of the shapes, by the wood species used. The marquetry is remarkable. The Axes had a very particular know-how, which they did not pass on. They probably left with certain trade secrets.”

The value of some of these pieces of furniture can go up to several hundred thousand euros.

A major exhibition in 2026

The only daughter of Maitre Stéphane-Jean Jouanneau donated 19 pieces, among which are chests of drawers, sloping desks, Mazarin desks, a work and writing table. “This exceptional donation means that today we are the museum with the largest collection of Hache furniture..” emphasizes Olivier Cogne.

This summer, we can discover two Hache pieces of furniture, from the Jouanneau collection, in the choir of the nuns of the Dauphiné Museum, pending a major exhibition in 2026.

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