Hunt, hunt, negotiate… all the merchants are driven by the quest for the rare, singular, ultimate piece. Last June, ten new exhibitors at the Puces de Saint-Ouen, near Paris, told us the story of their encounter with their most unusual object of the moment.
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Christine Rivault (photo) and Philippe Schuermans share a stand. She is passionate about the formal sobriety of the decorative arts and the work of the designers of the 1940s is steeped in sculpture. Their worlds collide, respond to each other and balance each other naturally.
What object are you presenting to us?
Christine Rivault. This is a pair of armchairs made in the 80s by Mobili. This Italian publishing house reinterprets Louis XV or Louis XVI style furniture. This corresponds well to the guideline of the stand: to showcase ancestral know-how, while leaving room for fantasy.
Was his quest complicated?
C. R. No, chance put them in my way. One of the great rules of this profession is never to search.
How do you feel during such discoveries?
C. R. Butterflies in the belly! I always “hunt” on instinct, it is when we do not listen to it that we are wrong. When I like a piece, I listen to what it tells me and to my intuition. This allows me to support the client as well as possible afterwards. Because above all, I’m going to tell him about the object, tell him its story.
Never regret when you sell a part?
C. R. No, because from the moment I buy it, it no longer belongs to me. What I like is research, discovery. And if the buyer feels the same as I do in front of the object, then I have passed the “handover”.
Serpette market, alley 6, stand 12. [email protected]
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