Deyrolle
- Jul 3
- 4 min read
Two Centuries of Natural History on Rue du Bac
On Rue du Bac, Deyrolle arranges school charts, insects under glass, minerals, books, and mounted specimens across rooms where education, collecting, and the craft of working with objects have remained under one roof. Samantha Harispuru, who oversees communications and Deyrolle’s digital channels, leads us from the school charts and walls of illustrations to the butterfly section, where visitors can choose a single specimen or compose an arrangement of their own, then onwards to display cases, drawers, and objects that keep education, craftsmanship, restoration, and collecting together within the same house.
The house was founded in 1831 and has been at 46 Rue du Bac since 1888. In Paris, it took shape through natural history work, taxidermy, entomology, and teaching materials, and from 1872 its school charts began finding their way into classrooms, laboratories, secondary schools, and universities in France and abroad. By 1890, Deyrolle had become a leading supplier to public education, with distribution in almost 120 countries. Its ties with natural history museums continue to this day. That history remains on the walls of the house, in charts that served teaching for decades. Here, drawing still does the work of teaching, so botany, zoology, anatomy, and geography enter Deyrolle through images.
Samantha pauses at the charts and says, “My grandmother had these in her classroom. In France, everyone knows them.” Behind those charts stand classrooms, generations of pupils, and a way of learning in which botany, zoology, anatomy, and geography came through drawing. For Adèle Phelouzat, the tree chart and the leaf insects, whose bodies follow the shape of leaves to an almost uncanny degree, are among the objects that best capture the character of the house. Since 2007, Deyrolle has also developed Deyrolle pour l’Avenir, a collection of new educational content devoted to contemporary ecological and social questions, so the house’s long teaching tradition continues uninterrupted.
Samantha reduces the house to three words: Nature, Art, Education. “That is the thread running through everything we do.” Adèle Phelouzat, the house’s Brand Manager, describes Deyrolle as a place of wonder in the heart of Paris, with collections, exhibitions, and collaborations that carry its educational mission. Reference books on nature sit alongside the charts and collections. At Deyrolle, they now speak of a shift from explaining nature to preserving it, a change reflected in their work on biodiversity and ecology, in new educational materials, and in public projects such as their partnership with COP21 in Paris. Part of that work also happens beyond what visitors immediately see in the rooms on Rue du Bac, through educational content devoted to contemporary ecological questions.
At Deyrolle, taxidermy remains closely tied to schools, universities, and natural history collections. Mounted animals once served as teaching tools, allowing students to see what species actually looked like. Today, the house acquires specimens only after the end of their life cycle, through partnerships with parks, zoos, farms, and museum collections, while protected species are accompanied by documentation required under CITES. At Deyrolle, “respect for animals” is tied to the origin of each specimen, the documentation that accompanies it, and the place it is given within the house. Within that framework, the animal remains part of education, memory, and a relationship with nature.
Samantha explains that insect specimens arrive dried in small paper envelopes. At Deyrolle, they are softened with water, placed in boxes with cotton and moisture, shaped with pins, and, once dry, set under glass. In the butterfly section, visitors choose a single specimen or assemble a composition of their own. From those boxes, the route leads to larger bespoke pieces, cabinets of curiosities, and objects that go on to interiors and private collections.
Collectors come to Deyrolle from different parts of the world, as do clients seeking antique charts, entomological compositions, taxidermy, restored furniture, or a new way to display objects from their own collections. From a single butterfly in a box to larger bespoke pieces, the choice of objects determines the shape of a cabinet of curiosities and what it brings into focus in a room. Such pieces go into private collections, hotels, and other interiors.
Deyrolle’s connection with artists runs deep, from Breton, Dalí, and Gertrude Stein to the contemporary art and fashion scene. Samantha mentions that specimens from the house were loaned for an Iris van Herpen exhibition at a Paris museum, that Midnight in Paris was filmed at Deyrolle, and that Wes Anderson came here to learn about insects while working on a film featuring an entomologist. The house stages exhibitions, book events, and naturalist drawing sessions, and since 2019, it has also taken part in the jury for the naturalist section of the Salon des Beaux-Arts, where the winner is given a month-long exhibition at Deyrolle itself.
The fire of 2008 destroyed more than ninety per cent of the collection. The restoration began with the support of artists and friends of the house, and works created from the remains of the fire were later sold at auction. Samantha mentions that Deyrolle still works with preserved elements of the house, that the archive is gradually being rebuilt, that one person restores old materials, and that the house publishes one book each year. She also speaks of the hope that one day an exhibition devoted to the history of the house and the family will be staged.
At Deyrolle, they believe that neither a screen nor an image can replace an encounter with the real object. Leaf insects follow the shape of a leaf closely enough to confuse the eye, minerals shift in colour under the light, and boxes of butterflies reveal themselves only at close range. Samantha has a simple phrase for that first encounter with the house: “wow effect”.
From 1872 onwards, Deyrolle’s school charts made their way into classrooms, laboratories, secondary schools, and universities in France and abroad.
