Several tiles were cracked during their recent removal from a bistro near Dieppe, but that failed to deter some intense phone bidding. The panels were first offered provisionally one at a time – Champagne Mercier was bid to €7500 (£4690) – before being re-offered as an ensemble, with bidding starting at €24,800, the combined total of the individual bids.
After a short competition between two phone buyers, the panels were knocked down to the celebrated chef Jean-Paul Lacombe, owner of several bistros and the Léon de Lyon restaurant (two Michelin rosettes) in Lyon, for €26,000 (£16,250), well above estimate.
Cracked tiles, but no spillage
This tiled panel advertising Champagne Mercier was one of a rare ensemble of six panels made in the early 1920s, each 5ft 9in x 2ft (174 x 62cm), on offer under the Prunier hammer in Louviers (14.95% buyer’s premium) on November 17. The other tiled panels, accompanied by two landscape friezes, also advertised drinks (Rhum Negrita, St Raphaël, Guillot Triple Sec, Quenot Dijon cassis, Fine Legrand cognac), and were marked G.F.C. France for Gilardoni Fils & Compagnie of Choisy-le-Roi, near Paris.
