Maison Deyrolle - La Villa du temps retrouvé

6 June 2025

Deyrolle, serving science and education since 1831

Founded in Paris by Jean-Baptiste Deyrolle in 1831 and developed by his descendants, Deyrolle quickly became a world reference in taxidermy, entomology and scientific education.
In 1866, Émile Deyrolle took over the company founded by his grandfather. At the time, natural history was experiencing a real craze: collecting and observing insects was a passion for many enthusiasts, and numerous entomological societies were set up across Europe. Émile Deyrolle continued to work as a taxidermist, developing the sale of scientific equipment and insect collections. He also devoted much of his time to publishing and selling specialist works on flora and fauna.

Around 1871, Émile Deyrolle gave the company a major boost by developing the production of teaching materials, staff anatomical models, biology exhibits and, above all, colour wall plates, published under the name Musée Scolaire Deyrolle. Intended for all classes, from primary school to university, these plates were designed to teach ‘lessons in things’, as well as a variety of subjects: botany, zoology, entomology, geography, human anatomy, civics, physics, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, biology, and so on. By the 1870s, several hundred subjects had already been covered. Deyrolle became the leading supplier to the Ministry of Education, equipping schools with its plates and educational materials. Under Émile Deyrolle’s impetus, publishing became an increasingly important activity, and the creation of new educational plates continued over time.

‘Education through the eyes is the least tiring for the intelligence, but this education can only have good results if the ideas engraved in the child's mind are rigorously exact.'
- Émile Deyrolle

Established at 46 rue du Bac in Paris in 1888, Deyrolle has become an internationally recognised institution, reaching a very wide audience, from schools to museums and universities around the world. After Louis Albert de Broglie bought the Deyrolle company in 2001, restoration campaigns were carried out on the collections and its educational heritage was strengthened by the republishing and marketing of old plates. A new collection of educational plates was launched under the name Deyrolle pour l’Avenir (DPA), to raise awareness of contemporary environmental and social issues: ‘Deyrolle’s mission was to explain the Earth to people. Now we have to explain how to preserve it. These plates convey essential knowledge on a given subject, and by placing drawing at the heart of its tools, the collection perpetuates the universal language initiated by Deyrolle.

46 rue du Bac: the Cabinet de Curiosités

Today, this is the last Cabinet de Curiosités open to the public in Paris, offering the chance to discover – and sometimes acquire – exceptional pieces.
Always a benchmark in the field of taxidermy (most of the specimens come from zoos or animal parks, where the animals have died of old age or disease) and renowned for its entomological expertise, Deyrolle now uses its know-how to create unique works inspired by nature.

Partnering with museums

Thanks to the expertise of its team in biodiversity and natural sciences, Deyrolle has become a privileged partner of museums around the world. The company has supplied naturalised animals to Taiwan’s National Science Education Centre (CNEST), as well as exhibits and botanical plates to the Musée national Eugène-Delacroix – Louvre in Paris, as part of the Delacroix and Nature exhibition. This collaboration continues today with the loan of taxidermy and scientific and educational material for the Louis Pasteur, l’art de la science exhibition at the Villa du Temps retrouvé in Cabourg.