Malmaison in the sky
Malmaison is familiar to many as the château of the Empress Josephine in Rueil-Malmaison, eight miles west of Paris. In 1978, though, Malmaison moved to New York figuratively speaking in the form of Roger Prigent’s fabled Malmaison Antiques, which introduced French Empire furnishings of the highest quality to the United States. An insatiable yet discerning collector who refers to Josephine as “the first lady of the world” and once bought a white Cadillac just because he liked the radio, even though he does not drive, Prigent has led a singularly atypical life. He and his sister Yvonne Prigent Lacks, with whom he works in the Manhattan penthouse that is now home to Malmaison Antiques, are such treasures themselves that both should adorn an Empire vitrine.
Three tourism icons you must see in your lifetime
Our journey around the world in 80 objects continues with a Gaudi-designed bench, an exotic clock, and the mysterious Mo’ai of Easter Island
Credit: Getty
Welcome to the second instalment of our journey around the world in 80 objects – things, great and small, famous and obscure, which shed a particularly revealing light on a place or culture. Two weeks ago, we kicked off with our first 10, and here are three more.
11. The Serpentine Bench, Barcelona
It suits the enigmatically eccentric character of Barcelona’s most celebrated architect that his two most famous designs in the city are about as far apart in scale and grandeur as it is possible to get. They are a fantastical cathedral and a park bench.