Mosaic pavements

Especially the arcades along Rue de Rivoli and Rue de Castiglione, but also the ones around the Palais Royal gardens, offer some mosaic pavements. They are not all over the place, some are in good shape, some not…

For how long have the mosaics been here? I have no clear answer. I found the names "Gentil and Bourdet" behind a pillar. This corresponds to a ceramic company with activities during the first half of the 20^th century. They worked together with leading architects and have left a number of decorations on (and inside) buildings in Paris and elsewhere. Here is just an example, the cinema Louxor, but I haven’t found any indication about Rue de Rivoli, Palais Royal…. "Gentil and Bourdet" also manufactured decorative vases and other pieces at their little factory in the Paris suburbs. This seems to indicate that most of the mosaics may not have been there when the arcades opened during the18th century - Palais Royal - and the 19th century – Rue de Rivoli, Rue de Castiglione.... or that they have been replaced.  

Some of the mosaics seem actually to be quite recent, the perfume shop Annick Goutal is fairly new, the Harold clothes shop may have been there since the 1950’s …  whereas the Swann pharmacy has been there since 1850.

In front of the hotels (and “Angelina”) you find mosaics in good shape, probably renewed.

But if this was the original idea...most of the names do not correspond anymore to any shop or other activity.

At 206, Rue de Rivoli, there is a very nice mosaic in front of a beautiful door (and a plate indicating that Leon Tolstoy stayed here for a little while, in 1857).

Some mosaics from the Palais Royal galleries.

The names on the ground indicate Palais Royal shops which in most cases are not there anymore, but some auction houses still offer some of the items which used to be manufactured and sold here.

It seems to me that certain recent modifications lack some kind of respect.