France Guide
Alsace and Lorraine
Musée de l'École de Nancy
Address: 36 rue Sergent-Blandan
Opening time: Wed– Sun 10.30am–6pm
Price: €6
A half-hour walk southwest of the train station, the Musée de l'École de Nancy is housed in a 1909 villa built for the Corbin family, founders of the Magasins Réunis chain of department stores. Even if you're not into Art Nouveau, this collection is exciting. Although not all of it belonged to the Corbins, the museum is arranged as if it were a private house. The furniture is outstanding – all swirling curvilinear forms – and the standards of workmanship are superlative. In particular, there's some extraordinary glassware by Emile Gallé (1846–1904), the founder of the Nancy School, whose expressive naturalistic motifs and experimental glass-making techniques, particularly in colouring and etching, brought him international recognition from the 1880s. Some of Gallé's marquetry and furniture is also on display – look out for the Aube et Crépuscle (Dawn and Dusk) bed, with its beautifully curvaceous headboard and exotic moths, inlaid with mother of pearl. The garden, planted with irises, magnolias, saxifrages and all kinds of plants that inspired the School of Nancy's creations, is also worth exploring.