Auction involves life-size historical waxworks

Some 53 life-size waxwork figures from history, film and literature – all with links to Provence – are to be sold off at a starting price of €200 each after a regional branch of the famous Musée Grévin (the ‘French Madame Tussaud’s’) closed down.

The sale will be in the former museum in place des Centuries, Salon de Provence, but it is possible to bid online at https://goo.gl/1WenAJ

The waxworks range from the legendary founders of Marseille, Protis and Gyptis, to the Saintes-Maries de la Mer or the lead characters from Marcel Pagnol’s Manon des Sources as played by Daniel Auteuil, Yves Montand and Emmanuelle Béart in Claude Bérri’s 1986 film.

There is even a waxwork of Napoleon (who landed in Provence after escaping from Elba) and ones of authors Alphonse Daudet, and Marcel Pagnol and painter Paul Cézanne.

Auctioneer Jennifer Primpied-Rol­land said: “There is only one national Musée Grévin, in Paris, and there were a few provincial ones licensed to call themselves Musée Grévin, but this was the last. So this is an exceptional sale if for no other reason than that.”

Waxworks must be kept in a cool room, sheltered from direct sunlight.

“Apart from that there’s nothing stopping members of the public buying a statue of a star they like, for example, just as I expect there also to be interest from museums or mairies which would like to have the symbol of their town – Saint Bénézet for Avignon, perhaps – or certain museums dedicated to celebrities like Raimu or Pagnol.”