Shopfront from 3, quai de Bourbon, Île Saint-Louis, Paris

between 1775–77, with later replacements
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 545
This Parisian shopfront, from the north bank of the Ile Saint-Louis, stood on a site favorable to commerce, close to the junction of the Quai Bourbon and the Pont Marie, an early seventeenth-century bridge over the Seine. It was superimposed on the masonry of an existing seventeenth-century building, the modest outlines of which can still be seen. Chroniclers of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Paris drew attention to the charm and rarity of this isolated little shopfront, which was thought to be the only surviving eighteenth-century example in the city. By the time it was dismantled in World War I, the original painted surface had weathered to the bare oak and the woodwork had suffered some losses. When the shopfront was restored at the Museum, the natural tone of the wood was retained. The missing elements were supplied in accordance with a measured drawing of the shopfront published in 1870.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shopfront from 3, quai de Bourbon, Île Saint-Louis, Paris
  • Maker: Etienne Séjournant (master in 1772)
  • Date: between 1775–77, with later replacements
  • Culture: French, Paris
  • Medium: Oak
  • Dimensions: Overall: 13 ft. 1 in. × 20 ft. 5 3/4 in. × 25 1/2 in. (398.8 × 624.2 × 64.8 cm)
  • Classification: Woodwork
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1920
  • Object Number: 20.154
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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