These Lot Collectors: Michelle Lafarguette hunted down more than 900 irons

It is known by all Lot dealers. Ever since the morning, when the garage sales open, she’s been there, walking through the aisles, her keen eye hunting for the rare pearl. At 78, Michelle Lafarguette has lost none of her passion for needles. The expert can easily tell the year, time, origin and usefulness of this everyday object that still sometimes hovers in our attics.

This old bauble from another era is a real treasure for the retiree. Not going so far as to say that he dedicates a cult to her, he has nevertheless set up an entire room on the first floor of his house for his impressive collection amassed over 40 years. The beam just below the room had to be reinforced to support nearly a ton of the 900 cast iron, iron and plastic rods!

The 1st Calor iron

But for as long as she can remember, Michelle Lafarguette has always had the soul of a collector. “As a child, I collected matchboxes that my mother threw away! Then tourist dice, teaspoons, Touraine hats, stamps and patchwork. I started with irons a bit by accident. I subscribed to an antiques magazine, the publisher offered me a book on irons that I bought.

According to her, there are 200 to 300 collectors in France, mostly in the north and east of France, the iron and steel regions where these cast iron objects have long been manufactured. In her collection, Michelle Lafarguette has a huge number of irons from the golden age of manufacturing in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Of all sizes, from all eras, the oldest dates back to the 1700s and the most recent to the 1980s. “I stopped when there was a thermostat! But I have the first Calor iron from 1918. I have a collection of department stores: La Samaritaine, the New Galleries. Some of the large dry cleaners that also had the name engraved” explains the former soldier.

A collection that unites men and women

For Michelle Lafarguette, both men and women like old iron. She can easily share her passion with those around her and the curious. “Women love the memory of their elders ironing, men are interested in cast iron and the steel industry. My husband has fallen into my passion, he is the one who cleans with his metal brush, helps me maintain the objects, dusts them, restores them when a rusty part is found.