Musée Cognacq-Jay Museum

Address: 8 Rue Elzévir, 75003 Paris, France

Website: https://www.cognacq-jay.fr

Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00am-6:00pm, closed Mondays

Admission: €8 (adult)

The Musée Cognacq-Jay is a Paris museum devoted to 18th-century art and decorative arts assembled by Ernest Cognacq and Louise Jay. The collection presents works typical of Parisian taste and collecting during that century.

Rooms are arranged to evoke domestic salons and display paintings, furniture, porcelain, silver and graphic arts from the 1700s. The presentation emphasises high-quality examples of Rococo and Enlightenment-era decorative culture.

Ernest Cognacq and Louise Jay, founders of the Samaritaine department store, assembled the collection and donated it to the city for public exhibition in the early 20th century. The collection has been shown in townhouse-style galleries designed to complement the objects.

Situated in Paris’s Marais district, the museum occupies a historic townhouse close to other cultural attractions and central transport links. It serves as a specialized museum within the city’s network of decorative arts institutions.

• Founders’ donation: Built from the private collection assembled by Ernest Cognacq and Louise Jay, who donated the holdings to the city of Paris for public display.

What to See#

• Period rooms and collections: Displayed in period rooms within a Paris townhouse, the collection concentrates on 18th-century French paintings, furniture, porcelain and decorative objects assembled by the museum’s founders.

By metro: Saint-Paul (Line 1) or Chemin Vert (Line 8) are the nearest stations; about a 5-10 minute walk from either. By bus: Multiple lines serve the Marais district.

• Head to the second floor for the museum's core collection of eighteenth-century Parisian interiors and portraits - these rooms feel unexpectedly intimate.
• Combine the visit with a short walk to the nearby Hôtel de Ville and the Marais; the museum sits in the old commercial quarter once frequented by its patrons.
• Check opening times for the reading room, which sometimes hosts small lectures and talks.