If you’re looking for an out-of-the-ordinary souvenir of the Eiffel Tower, this could be the right opportunity. Paris auction house Artcurial will put a decidedly unusual item up for sale on May 21: an authentic section of the original staircase of the famous monument. According to estimates, the lot could fetch between 120,000 and 150,000 euros, and although the identity of the seller remains confidential, but the house pointed out that the piece has been in the same private collection for more than four decades, since it was removed in 1983.
Since its inauguration at the 1889 World’s Fair, organized to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, the monument has welcomed some 300 million visitors. For many decades, access to the top was via these very stairs, until the major renovation in 1983, when parts were dismantled and replaced with elevators.
The section for sale, part of the original spiral staircase, has connected the second and third levels of the tower since its opening in 1889. Made of steel and riveted sheet metal, it consists of 14 steps attached to a cross base; it measures about 2.75 meters in height and 1.75 meters in diameter.
In the 1980s, 20 sections of the ladder were put up for sale, and many are still preserved by early buyers. Some are in French institutions such as the Musée d’Orsay and the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, while another is housed at the Musée de l’Histoire du Fer. Outside France, one section is displayed in the gardens of the Yoishii Foundation, Japan, and another is located near the Statue of Liberty.
This is not the first time Artcurial has offered such memorabilia: in the past, similar sales have attracted collectors from all over the world. The record remains that of 2016, when a section of the staircase went for more than 523,000 euros.
[📸 artcurial.com]
