France. The decennial harvesting obligation by large depositors sometimes remains theoretical, as shown again the last report of the Commission for the Recovery of Deposits of Works of Art (CRDOA) relating to the Ministry of the Armed Forces. If the programming set in 2017 provided for the end of the reaping of the works deposited in the ministry in 2022, three years after this deadline, the account is far from being reached.
The rate of harvesting in the addresses of the ministry amounts to 39.84 %, not far from the average of the ministries (42.28 %). But specifies the report “This figure relates to the goods that were seen at least once, whether thirty years or six months ago.” Taking into account the objective of ten -year collection, the rate actually falls at 31.96 %, less than a third of the works identified and located over the past ten years.
It is true that the recent real estate upheavals of the Ministry of Armies do not facilitate the traceability of deposits: the inauguration of France Balard, in 2015, allowed the grouping on a single service site previously dispersed between various addresses. For many works, the last harvest was made in an address that is no longer occupied by the ministry, and sometimes even, which no longer belongs to the state.
Two works were thus found by the Directorate of Memory, Culture and Archives (DMCA) of the ministry within France Balard, after having lost track since 1997, in Invalides. In its recommendations, the CRDOA insists on the obligation to report each movement of work, the untimely moves being the first cause of disappearance of the works. The overall disappearance rate, which indicates the share of non -localized goods during harvesting, remains satisfactory: it amounts to 29.60 %, against 57 % for all ministries.
As the report indicates, this low rate is also explained by the absence of harvesting of the Sèvres factory: “Sèvres pieces, small and for some fragile, can disappear more easily. »» Because if the national furniture has carried out this harvesting work over the past three years (99 % of the 1,989 deposited have been seen), the other two large depositors that are the National Center for Plastic Arts (CNAP) and Sèvres have not started it.
Regarding the CNAP, which filed 1,502 works in the addresses of the ministry, he started his recovery campaign at the end of 2024. The Manufacture de Sèvres does not seem to be concerned about his 2,437 deposits. “Harvesting is not scheduled for the day of publication of this report”specifies the CRDOA.
