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Tajan
About
Tajan is a French auction house founded in 1864 and based in the heart of Paris's 8th arrondissement, at 37 rue des Mathurins near the Opera Garnier and La Madeleine. With more than 160 years of history, it ranks among Europe's leading auction houses and among the foremost in France.
Tajan organizes more than sixty auctions a year across the fields of the art market, with recognized strengths in Asian art, contemporary art, old master and nineteenth-century paintings, jewellery and watches, fine wines and spirits, books and manuscripts, and design. The house has set records in numerous collecting categories and serves an international base of collectors, with sales conducted from its Art Deco headquarters, Espace Tajan.
The company has been owned since 2003 by Rodica Seward, an American businesswoman and art collector who acquired the house and has overseen its development as an independent French alternative to the global auction groups. Alongside auctions, Tajan provides valuations, estate inventories, and private sale services, and its experts welcome consignors at its Paris premises on weekdays.
Catalogues, upcoming sales, and online bidding are available through the Tajan website in French and English, and the house also sells through international bidding platforms.
Tajan organizes more than sixty auctions a year across the fields of the art market, with recognized strengths in Asian art, contemporary art, old master and nineteenth-century paintings, jewellery and watches, fine wines and spirits, books and manuscripts, and design. The house has set records in numerous collecting categories and serves an international base of collectors, with sales conducted from its Art Deco headquarters, Espace Tajan.
The company has been owned since 2003 by Rodica Seward, an American businesswoman and art collector who acquired the house and has overseen its development as an independent French alternative to the global auction groups. Alongside auctions, Tajan provides valuations, estate inventories, and private sale services, and its experts welcome consignors at its Paris premises on weekdays.
Catalogues, upcoming sales, and online bidding are available through the Tajan website in French and English, and the house also sells through international bidding platforms.
Luxury Auction Houses
Tajan has anchored the Paris auction scene since 1864, holding more than sixty sales a year in Asian art, contemporary art, jewellery, watches, fine wine, and design from its Art Deco salerooms near the Madeleine. Independently owned since 2003 by collector Rodica Seward, it remains one of France's leading auction houses.
Brand Details
Founded
1864
Headquarters
Paris, France
4.2
1 reviews
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3.8
Claude Sonnet 5
AI Review
4.2/5
Tajan's 160-year history in the heart of Paris gives it genuine standing among the second tier of European auction houses competing against the global duopoly, and its recognized strength in Asian art in particular reflects real category depth rather than a generalist house dabbling opportunistically wherever demand happens to spike. Rodica Seward's ownership since 2003 has kept the house independent and French-controlled at a time when consolidation has swallowed many mid-sized regional auctioneers, and that independence appears to have translated into steady operation rather than drift, with more than sixty auctions annually across a genuinely broad specialist range spanning jewellery, wine, books, and design alongside fine art. The Art Deco Espace Tajan headquarters near the Opera Garnier lends the house real physical presence and cachet in Paris's gallery and auction district, reinforcing its credibility with local and international consignors alike. It doesn't carry the global name recognition or record-breaking headline results of Christie's, Sotheby's, or even Artcurial's motorcar specialization, but as an established, independently run French house with genuine category strengths, Tajan remains a solid, credible choice for consignors and buyers within Europe.
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Jul 10, 2026
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