Sotheby’s sale of 20th Century Decorative Arts & Design in Paris on 26 November includes a section of the original staircase of the Eiffel Tower.

The section is numbered n°15, has sixteen steps, stands 12ft (3.6m) tall and weighs 750kg (estimate: €40,000-60,000).

In 1980 the company in charge of the Tower assessed its overall condition as it approached its centenary, with a view to reducing the overall weight and bringing the Tower into line with modern security standards. The original staircase, linking the second and third decks, was replaced by a lighter, wider and less dangerous one, and hydraulic lifts were installed. The original staircase was divided into 24 segments, varying in length from 7-30 feet (2.10m-9m). One was installed on the first deck of the Tower; three were given to French museums (the Musée de la Villette and future Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Iron Museum in Nancy); and the remaining twenty were numbered and sold at auction on the first deck of the Tower on 1st December 1983.

Collectors from around the world competed for the 20 lots. One section of staircase headed to Japan, bought for the garden of the Yoshii Foundation in Yamanashi near Tokyo; others sold to Canada, Switzerland the United States, were one section was erected at Disneyland, and another near the Statue of Liberty, with its inner framework designed by Eiffel.

Posted: 11|2|08 at 10:18 am. Filed under: Europe.