Orbigny-Bernon Museum, History museum in La Rochelle, France.
The Orbigny-Bernon Museum was housed in a Neo-Renaissance mansion built in 1893, containing multiple floors with collections focused on local history and decorative arts. The building itself displayed the architectural preferences of wealthy families from the late 1800s.
Alcide d'Orbigny-Bernon, a maritime trader and founder of the Compagnie de navigation d'Orbigny, had the mansion built in 1893 to plans by architect Henri d'Orbigny. After his death in 1907 his widow gave it to the city, which opened a museum there on 18 December 1921, installed by Gaston Périer, G. Musset and L. Giraudeau. It closed in September 2012.
The museum's upper floor held the Far Eastern collection of diplomat Baron Charles de Chassiron, shown alongside the city's porcelain. A temporary exhibition, "D'or et de Nacre" (16 December 2011 – 1 April 2012), centred on Japanese lacquer and featured a portable cabinet of about 1640, square with drawers, in lacquered wood inlaid with gold and ivory, from the Edo period.
The museum closed in September 2012 and its collections were moved to the Museum of Fine Arts in La Rochelle. Visitors interested in the holdings can now view them at this new location.
The basement contained medieval remains, including a 12th-century tomb uncovered during regional archaeological excavations. This discovery showed that the site had played an important role in the city's history long before the mansion was built.
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