New twist in the very media auction “Paris Mon Amour” organized this Tuesday in Drouot by the Auctioneer Lucien. In front of a full house and more than 700 people connected to attend the live sale via the Internet, Me Christophe Lucien announced that the Davioud bench that a group of lovers of Paris coveted will not ultimately be auctioned. An agreement was found between the owner of this cast iron piece, with the arms of Paris, to sell it to the 254 Parisians who contributed to the “Common Pot” site to buy it back.
The bench bought for 1,200 euros
“We had participants until the last minute, it was cool” appreciates Quentin, one of the Parisians at the origin of this participatory prize pool. The historic public bench will finally be bought by the collective for 1,200 euros, while it was estimated at 400/420 euros. “We are very happy with this agreement reached with the owner of the bench”, explains Quentin. With the controversy around the sale, and the increasingly numerous street furniture snags at these sales organized by the Lucien study, the price of the bench could have gone up even higher.
“As we had raised a lot more money (Editor’s note: 5,200 euros), the rest of the pot will be paid to three associations which defend Parisian heritage: SOS Paris, France Nature Environnement Paris and Sites and Monuments”, specifies Quentin who is pleased that its initiative has resulted in this positive note. “This shows that we are not people who moan but just people who love the heritage of our city and want to defend it”, insists this thirty-something.
The collective hopes, eventually, that the bench is quickly replaced in a Parisian site so that everyone benefits. The Auctioneer, enthusiastic about the collective’s initiative, decided to waive his fees.
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