Gustave Eiffel's cannon to go under the hammer

23:04 - 17 August 2024

French engineer Gustave Eiffel is seen posing in his research laboratory in France in the early 20th century

A miniature cannon which sat on Gustave Eiffel's desk in the Paris tower that bears his name is to go under the hammer, auction house Christie's said Tuesday.

The engineer's descendants are selling the pocket version of the "Eiffel cannon" that was fired every day at midday from the tower.

Armaments maker Chobert gave Eiffel the two-foot-long (65 cm) replica in 1889, the year the tower opened.

Its big brother on the tower was fired to mark the opening of the World's Fair that May and every noon afterwards until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

The bronze and brass weapon is expected to make up to 20,000 euros ($17,800) when it is auctioned on April 18 at Christie's in the French capital.

"It is a really quite something to be able to auction an object which is so emblematic of the history of Paris and of the Eiffel tower," Christie's decorative arts director Simon de Monicault told AFP.