Maison du Marchand (Merchant's House) in Lunéville

The day of the Foire Grasse in Lunéville is the opportunity to walk in streets without cars around. Arriving at one corner, we noticed an old building made with red sandstone (grès des Vosges), and at about 12 feet high on the corner, there was a sculpture.

We saw the barrels and bundles tied with ropes straight away. Then we saw a church, another one (maybe), the head of an Indian man. There were too many details not to be interested.

After checking for some information, we now know that this house is called la Maison du Marchand (the Merchant's House). It was built in the 18th century and the first owner could be a merchant bringing spices and exotic food to the court of King Stanislas at the castle.

The sculpture shows the goods (barrels and bundles), but also that several countries have been visited (the church, the mosque - with a crescent at the top -, and the head of an Indian man with a hat made of feathers). On the other side of the corner, which I forgot to take a picture of, there are a village, a river and the bow of a ship. All this explaining again about the trips of the merchant.

One more time it was worth walking and looking up.

Comments

[kay]

Ahh!! your getting more like me everyday, Look Up is my pass word. The planets are playing with the constellation of Vergo this year, she is pregnant and will deliver in Sept. Last time she showed us the star of Bethlehem. Keep looking up we don't want to miss this next one.

[kay Lamb]

So very interesting; the story of his life on his house. He must have been very exotic. I remember you sent me a link to a video one time about the work they were doing at the chateau. Hi to Tom Hope your not freezing.

[Maryse]

I try to imagine the work done with this sandstone to get so many details.
Tom has got snow but I don't know the temperature. If he reads this, he could answer himself.

[thomas glennon]

A wonderful place to visit. I saw the chateau of Stanislaus years before it burned. I believe that at least a portion has been rebuilt.

[Maryse]

From the outside it is nearly back to normal. Inside most have been rebuilt on the ground floor, I don't know about the first floor. Last summer there was still some work to do and I haven't checked later.