Eiffel Tower: a section of the historic 1889 staircase reappears at auction

At a time when objects and artifacts linked to the history of Paris are becoming increasingly popular at auction, Artcurial is preparing to sell a piece of the Iron Lady’s historic staircase, dating from 1889 and dismantled in 1983.

2.75 metres high, 1.75 metres in diameter and 14 steps: one thing’s for sure, the future purchaser of this section of staircase will need plenty of room. But not just any staircase: the Eiffel Tower, the French capital’s landmark and long the world’s tallest tower. This all-steel and riveted sheet metal piece comes from the original spiral staircase designed in 1889. At the time, it consisted of 1,062 steps with a simple handrail, linking the second and third floors. Deemed inconvenient and dangerous for visitors, it was dismantled in 1983 and divided into several sections, which were auctioned off on site. This is section no. 1, the first of twenty to go under the hammer of Ader-Picard-Tajan on December 1, 1983. On that occasion, it was acquired by its current owner for 160,000 francs (€57,937 updated, source: Insee). Kept out of sight since then, it has been restored by the workshops responsible for maintaining the Eiffel Tower, and now sports an “Eiffel Tower brown” tint. Another fragment is still visible on the Tower’s second floor, but has retained its original red-brown color.

Section n°1, a symbol

This is not Artcurial’s first sale, and the company has already sold four staircase sections in the past. Among the most spectacular results, fragment no. 13 – estimated at €40,000/50,000 – was finally sold for €523,800 to a Chinese buyer on November 22, 2016. The last to be auctioned was on December 1, 2020, when fragment no. 17 changed hands for €253,500.

Few fragments of the staircase remain in France, or have been kept by their original purchasers. When they are not resold, they are displayed in public places. One of them, for example, stands near the Statue of Liberty in New York, a work by Bartholdi whose interior was designed by Gustave Eiffel. Another can be seen in the gardens of the Yoishii Foundation in Yamanashi, Japan. The one presented by Artcurial offers a rare opportunity to make a piece of the history of the famous monument, built for the 1889 Universal Exhibition, your own. What’s more, the fact that it bears the number 1 should contribute to its success, raising it to the same auction heights it once enjoyed.