The upcoming Decorative Arts sale to be held by Tajan in Paris includes a number of pieces by one of the master craftsmen of the Art Nouveau movement – Louis Majorelle.

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Anne Crane

The highlight is a mahogany baby grand piano. It is a collaboration between Majorelle and another Art Nouveau artist also from Nancy – Victor Prouvé – who provided the marquetry design themed around the story of La Mort du Cygne(The Dying Swan).

Four versions of the ‘Dying Swan’ piano are known. This one, which is signed V Prouvé, dated 1903 and marked Erard 88354 to the mechanism, was commissioned from Majorelle by Charles Masson at the same time that his brother-in-law Eugene Corbin ordered another version, from 1905, signed by Prouvé and numbered Erard 88353 to the mechanism.

That example is now the Ecole de Nancy Museum as part of a larger Corbin family legacy.

Tajan’s piano, which was more recently in the Garden Museum in Japan, comes with a later piano stool and is estimated at €250,000-350,000 in the auction to be held on May 16.