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PIERRE-EMMANUEL GRANGE-JARICOT, CO-FOUNDER, OBJET DE CURIOSITÉ: "WE CREATE EMOTION THROUGH OBJECTS OF CONVERSATION"

Meteorites, shells, beetle shells... Objet de Curiosité arouses the curiosity of its customers and prospects through its creativity.

PIERRE-EMMANUEL GRANGE-JARICOT, CO-FOUNDER, OBJET DE CURIOSITÉ: "WE CREATE EMOTION THROUGH OBJECTS OF CONVERSATION"

Meteorites, shells, beetle shells... Objet de Curiosité arouses the curiosity of its customers and prospects through its creativity.

Category: Worldwide - Suppliers - Providers - Interviews
Interview made by Sonia Taourghi on 2024-04-04

Pierre-Emmanuel Grange-Jaricot Co-Founder Objet de Curiosité Maison&Objet, January 2024

Pierre-Emmanuel Grange-Jaricot, Co-Founder, Objet de Curiosité during Maison&Objet, January 2024
Photo credit © Sonia Taourghi

It's a brand in the image of its creator: original, intriguing, with a touch of eccentricity that makes it unique. Objet de Curiosité takes us on a journey through nature, history and the senses. A biology enthusiast since the age of six, Pierre-Emmanuel Grange-Jaricot is a curious jack-of-all-trades who ended up combining his love of nature with design: his parents created furniture, and Lilau, his partner, is a professional interior designer.

Since they founded Objet de Curiosité in 2001, they have continued to bring inspiration and objects from their travels that will give a unique touch to each customer's decor. The brand recently featured in Elizabeth Leriche's 'New Worlds' selection at the latest edition of Maison&Objet. "The maximalism that was expressed in January 2024 speaks to us particularly with our lush, customisable wallpapers in colour, gorgonians and corals. The mix of brands she proposed was very stimulating," comments Pierre-Emmanuel Grange-Jaricot. Just as stimulating as the mix of colours, materials and life he brings to his collections.

Journal des Palaces: How did Objet de Curiosité come about?

Pierre-Emmanuel Grange-Jaricot: Objet de Curiosité was born out of a child's curiosity about the mineral, animal and plant worlds. This curiosity was enriched by scientific knowledge. And, above all, an idea was born when Lilau and I met: to take these extraordinary objects out of the museum context and turn them into modern-day décor elements.

How would you define Objet de Curiosités in three words?

I'd say: aesthetic, real, intriguing. It's the start of a dialogue: creating emotion through conversational objects.
For more than 20 years, Objet de Curiosité has built up a reputation for adding value to meteorites, shells sawn in half and Laotian beetles... We really want to tell the story of the objects, which is why a QR code is affixed to each object, so that customers can relive it at any time.

Who is Objet de Curiosité aimed at? Do you have any international partnerships?

Our customers are 100% B-to-B and 75% export. Mainly interior designers and concept-store boutiques (including fashion shops that ask for butterfly globes based on the motifs in the collections) and direct hotels and restaurants.
New projects are coming from Asia: China remains a driving force, but is catching up with India.
In a niche market, there is at least one city per country with a project to choose from our catalogue of 3,500 curiosities, and all those that we will make to measure: Paraguay (Lineas in Asuncion), Courchevel (Cap Horn restaurant), London (Urban Retreat, spa), Iran (Dorratotaj) Bangkok (Porta Arteriors), Singapore...

Where does the inspiration for each object come from? What are the stages of creation?

To begin with, there's the scientific knowledge of a particular species of transparent butterfly from Peru or a meteorite that fell in Siberia in 1947.
Then you design an original way of presenting them, to bring out their surprising and aesthetic side. Depending on the materials required, this may involve casting or forging, woodworking... depending on the skills acquired over time. All the pieces are then worked on in our Lyon workshops. And the creations that emerge from the imagination of our teams are unique, because their European aesthetic sensibility enables them to imagine assemblies that are different from the rest of the world. Whether it's for a blue atmosphere in a hotel lobby, or to punctuate a yacht's library with pink, or the walls of an extraordinary bathroom... There are all the colours and shapes possible in nature, without ever painting or sculpting in resin. Staying true, authentic and rare.

What are your recent hotel collaborations?

We work mainly with boutique hotels, such as the Myconian Collection in Mykonos and the Château de Théoule in France. We also have an XL home-staging assignment with a Venetian palace in Cannes for Cogemad, an impressive bathroom showroom project for Volevatch, and an ongoing update of the Fouquet's lounges, to be delivered in a few weeks' time. A cabinet of curiosities should reveal the cultural openness of its owner, rather than the period in which it was built.

If you had to choose ONE special object from your collection, current or already sold...

It would be a PUMI2059 flying meteorite. This imposing object is a meteorite that fell to earth 4,000 years ago in Argentina. It is rare, since only 6% of meteorites that fall to earth contain metal (an alloy that does not exist on earth: Kamacite).
So you can take this stone, which has travelled across the universe, in your hand and let it fly again. I love this piece because it's an invitation to curiosity and dialogue with anyone, anywhere in the world.
And if this Jules Verne aspect doesn't suit a project, we can create much more contemporary presentations.

About the author

A lover of human interactions, Sonia started her journalism career in various media outlets before moving to London and shifting to the digital industry. Listening to her calling, she's picking up her pen to share the passion and ambitions of luxury hospitality.