In the heart of the Monceau plain, next to traditionnal Haussmanian buildings, stands an amazing mandarin pagoda.
It was builted in 1926 by the french architect
Fernand Bloch for the chinese antics dealer
Ching-Tsai Loo.
Ching Tsai Loo was the preeminent dealer of Chinese art and artifacts for the first half of the twentieth century. Starting his business in Paris, Loo was almost single-handedly responsible for introducing early Chinese art—bronzes, jades, paintings—to Western Europe and North America. Because of his connections in Asia, he was able to obtain major pieces for such collectors as J. P. Morgan, Samuel Peters, Alfred Pillsbury, and Henry Clay Frick from eras never before represented in the West.
Built over an ancient Louis-Philippe townhouse, the gallerie C.T. Loo & Cie remains up to date the oldest asian art gallerie in Paris , and the only genuine chinese house in the capital. With its 600m² and its six levels, it offers a unic architectural framework with an internal decors astoundingly refined: an original moon door, 16th and 17th century lacquered woodworks, an art deco glass ceiling, a superb 18th and 19th century sculpted wood galleria, a lacquered and wood elevator... and a delightfull zen atmosphere, where time seemed to have left its fingerprints...
In this unique setting, you'll meet numerous private french and foreigners (notably americans), collectors, families but also designers interested by the contemporary chinese lacquered furniture this company is producing. Take your pick... a 19th century oakwood bench (1.500€), a superb 18th century silk painting representing court ladies for 5.500€, Han and Wei period archeological ancient terracotas or a two piece set of chinese mahogany
Hongmou armchairs fro 18.000€. Smaller budget collectors will also find interesting pieces like those 18th and 19th century chines prints for a mere 120 to 180€ à piece or lacquered egg shell vases for 100€.
n.b. you can rent out some of the gallerie rooms for a reception, a party , a press conference or even a fashion show...Gallerie C.T. Loo & Cie48, rue de Courcelles
75008 Paris
metro : Courcelles, Saint-Philippe du Roule, Montceau
Tel : 01 45 62 53 15
contact:
emailOpen without appointment on thursday and saturday from 02:00pm to 06:oopm
All other days by appointment only.
picture © Structurae/Jacques Mossot
If you visited Paris some 35 years ago, instead the Bastille Opera you would have found the Bastille railway station. The station is now gone but the tracks remained, unused for decades, making a wild and green scar in the heart of the 11th & 12th borrough. A few years back, it was decided to renovate the neighbourhood and to replace the railway tracks atop the Viaduc des Arts by a promenade planted with roses, shrubs and rosemary (la coulée verte / the green flow). It continues at ground level through the Jardin de Reuilly and the Jardin Charles Péguy on to the Bois de Vincennes in the east.
It's a lovely walk in spring and summer (but remember autumn in Paris is not bad either) and if you're tired of just walking around you could step down and explore the arty shops and ateliers (71 boutiques all together) and cafés "under the arches" of the "Viaduc des Arts". 
