The Levant

Dès la porte, c'était ainsi un émerveillement, une surprise qui, toutes, les ravissait. Mouret avait eu cette idée. Le premier, il venait d'acheter dans le Levant, à des conditions excellentes, une collection de tapis anciens et de tapis neufs, de ces tapis rares que, seuls, les marchands de curiosités vendaient jusque-là, très cher; et il allait en inonder le marché, il les cédait presque à prix coûtant, en tirait simplement un décor splendide, qui devait attirer chez lui la haute clientèle de l'art. Du milieu de la place Gaillon, on apercevait ce salon oriental, fait uniquement de tapis et de portières, que des garçons avaient accrochés sous ses ordres.

So from the doorway on, there was a wonder, a surprise that delighted every one of them. It was Mouret's idea. He was the first to do it. He had just bought a collection of old and new carpets in the Levant, on excellent terms. They were the kind of rare carpets that until then only dealers in curiosities had sold, at very high prices. Now he was going to flood the market with them. He was selling them for almost what he had paid, and using them simply for a splendid display that would draw wealthy art lovers to his store. From the middle of the Place Gaillon you could see this Oriental salon. It was made only of carpets and door curtains, which porters had hung under his orders.