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museum of decorative Arts and Design

musée des Arts décoratifs
et du Design de Bordeaux
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39 rue Bouffard,
33000 Bordeaux

The museum is closed but the activity continues. Follow the museum's team during the works.

▲ The madd-bordeaux starts its metamorphosis in 2023▲
During its closure, from 2023 to 2025, the museum offers a rich program in the city and online

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Salon de Gascq, collection Cruse-Guestier, 1936.<br/>
Salon de Gascq, collection Cruse-Guestier, 1936.
the madd-bordeaux

Georges Guestier

 

In 1936, the Cruse-Guestier collection, comprising “very beautiful paintings … magnificent furniture, and collections of porcelain and miniatures,” became part of the endowment of the Musée d’Art Ancien (Museum of Ancient Art). A scion of a dynasty of wine merchants, Georges Guestier (1860-1936) was for some time associated with the house of Barton & Guestier, before withdrawing from the wine business to devote himself to his art collections. A discerning, well-informed connoisseur, he transformed his townhouse, the Hôtel de Poissac on Rue Pierlot, into a kind of personal museum.

Upon his death, his entire collection was bequeathed to the museum, in his name and that of his late wife Marguerite Cruse. Initially displayed in the green sitting room, the Salon de Gascq, the Cruse-Guestier collection was officially unveiled by mayor Adrien Marquet, who commented, “This room now houses an assemblage that will offer visitors a striking tableau of a Bordeaux interior at the time of Louis XVI, which marked the high point of the 18th-century decorative arts in our city. These seats, sofas, bergères and armchairs are the very pieces that furnished the Hôtel de Poissac, which later became the Guestier residence, during that period.” With its marquetry furniture, Barye bronzes, candelabras, clocks, vases from the Compagnie des Indes (French East India Company) and family portraits, the Cruse-Guestier room reflects the aspirations and tastes of the affluent merchant class of early 20th-century Bordeaux.