Marcel Sztejnberg: A Collection that Reads like an Encyclopedia of French Silverwork

Sometimes it only takes a small thing… And it was almost by chance that this unobtrusive man, known in the tiny world of silverwork specialists as "Monsieur Marcel", set out on this journey. At the time, he was devoting himself body and soul to his ready-to-wear stores in Paris. However, when two of his colleagues died a few months after retiring, he realized that he, too, had perhaps put too much into his professional activity and that a hobby would be a good "distraction". Less fragile than glass or ceramics, silverwork is unchanging, can be restored and involves a huge area of study in terms of typology, the identification of hallmarks and the deciphering of coats of arms. The pastime he took up in the mid-1970s soon became a passion. Marcel Sztejnberg combed auctions, flea markets and other sources from Lille to Le Mans, Brussels to Reims and Toulouse, and the Porte de Clignancourt to the Porte de Vanves. At 84, he has lost none of his enthusiasm, even if he says he has "slowed down a bit." Urged by his sons, to whom he has transmitted…