Section from the original spiral staircase No. 1 from 1889. Made of steel and riveted sheet metal, it once connected the second and third floors of the Eiffel Tower. Fourteen steps, estimated between €120,000 and €150,000.
A piece of Paris history is about to change hands: The auction house Artcurial is set to sell, on May 21, a section of the Eiffel Tower's historic spiral staircase, dating back to 1889. The estimated price is modest, between €40,000 and €50,000. But it's highly likely the estimate could be shattered: In 2016, another flight of steps from the "Iron Lady" sold to a Chinese buyer for a record €523,000.
The newly auctioned staircase had been purchased for 160,000 francs (about €58,000 in today's currency) in 1983, during a highly publicized sale organized by the Eiffel Tower's operator, who had decided to replace this dizzying staircase, deemed too dangerous, which connected the second and third floors.
Twenty sections of various sizes were then auctioned off under the gaze of cameras from around the world. It was a triumph. The Iron History Museum in Jarville-la-Malgrange (eastern France) acquired a 10-meter-high piece. Another section ended up in Levallois-Perret (west of Paris), where Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) is buried. The singer Guy Béart (1930-2015) purchased a section, as did the sculptor César (1921-1998), who used it in 1984 for his sculpture Hommage à Eiffel.
