FRANCOIS-JOSEPH GRAF, decorator of the Period Room

The renovation of the permanent collection in the early 2000s included the creation of a period room designed by the decorator and scenographer François-Joseph Graf, an expert on European decorative art from the 1820s to 1905.

To recreate the atmosphere of a collector’s residence, a wallpaper typical of a Parisian interior during this period was reproduced in 2006 from a model in the museum’s collection. The wood panelling was recreated from photographs. Although the objects on display do not come from Charles Gillot’s collection, they create an impression of the sumptuous décor of his mansion in rue Madame. The Chinese ceramics and bronzes, the glass by Philippe-Joseph Brocard and François-Eugène Rousseau, and the oriental and Japanese-style earthenware by Albert-Louis Dammouse, Théodore Deck, Eugène-Victor Collinot and Hippolyte Boulenger were selected from the museum’s collections to represent the taste of this collector and his time.