On 10 October, the auctioneers PIASA are offering the collection of François Dautresme (1925-2002), the founder of CFOC (Compagnie Française de l’Orient et de la Chine/French Company of the Orient & China) in 1966. The 7,500 everyday items and objects of curiosity that form this collection were assembled by François Dautresme during his 35 years of travel, exploration and discovery – creating his own private museum.
François Dautresme said of his collection, ‘These objects are inscribed in the natural chain of what man can produce if he is respectful of his past, with its extraordinary manual dexterity and possessed by the rhythms of nature’.
This very personal experience and the physical objects of this cultural voyage around China has been the subject of exhibitions at the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado in São Paolo (2002),the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Bordeaux (2004) and the Espace Fondation EDF in Paris (2010). It bears witness to a millennial culture and heritage: the history of popular traditions and techniques, as told by objects reflecting the lifestyle of this ancient civilisation.
From straw to red lacquer, ceramics to bronze, bamboo to silk and pietradura to Chinese traditional medicine, this singular and enigmatic collection is on show, one last time at PIASA, before finding a new destiny in the modern world.
The auction is being held on 10 October at PIASA, 118 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 Paris, www.piasa.fr. Viewing before the auction is on Saturday 7 October 2017 from 11am to 7pm, Sunday 8 October 2017 from 2pm to 6pm, and Monday 9 October 2017 from 11am to 6pm.
