The museum of the decorative arts and design houses and displays over 150000 objects, such as furniture, interior design products, religious paintings, objects of art, wallpapers, ceramics, glassware and toys, from the Middle Ages to the present day. The most popular, however, are the period rooms, which are some of the museum’s singularities.
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs was founded in 1905 by members of the Union des Arts Décoratifs, formed by collectors with an interest in the applied arts. The museum is located in th western wing of the Louvre museum, known as the Pavillon de Marsan.
The museum collection is primarily composed of French furniture, tableware, carpets, porcelain, and a large number of glass pieces. Although the museum’s deep holdings range back to the 13th-century Europe, one can also find numerous works in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles as well as modern items by such designers as Eileen Gray or Charlotte Perriand. Very popular among the public are period rooms – examples include part of Jeanne Lanvin’s house decorated in the early 1920s, the 1880 dining room of graphic artist Eugène Grasset, and his 1752 Gold Cabinet of Avignon. There is also a famous ceiling that was once owned by Jeanne Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes, the mistress of the then duke of Savoy. The museum is on a par with similar and venerable decorative arts and design-focused institutions like the international Victoria and Albert Museum in London.