By Arnaud FISCHER with Gautier DEMOUVEAUX.
Building on the success of the Golden Owl treasure hunt which had been going on for years, Michel Becker launched a new treasure hunt in April 2021 to find a historical object with an estimated value of €750,000. This one has still not been found, unlike the Golden Owl, discovered this Thursday morning.
It was unexpected! The Golden Owl was discovered thirty-one years after the famous treasure hunt began. The co-organizer of the treasure hunt Michel Becker announced it this Thursday, October 3, on a Discord forum dedicated to the game. But the Golden Owl is not the only treasure hunt launched by the artist.
In April 2021, Michel Becker announced the launch of a new part with a series of puzzles to solve to find a historical object with an estimated value of €750,000: the gold box offered in 1904 by King Edward VII of England to French President Émile Loubet, during the signing of the Entente Cordiale.
Also read: The golden owl was found, 31 years after the start of the famous treasure hunt
“The game will experience a significant revival this year”
If the treasure hunt for the Golden Owl has just ended, the one concerning the Entente Cordiale is still relevant. In the three years since it was launched, there has still been no significant progress according to a communications manager for the Entente Cordiale treasure hunt, contacted by the evening edition.
In April 2024, Michel Becker wrote a post on the Facebook page of the Entente Cordiale treasure announcing that “the game will experience a significant relaunch this year and new features and possibilities will be offered to you”. But for the moment, no new information has been communicated.
The treasure of the Entente Cordiale is a special treasure hunt since it is divided into two countries: France and the United Kingdom. To understand clearly, there are two hunts in one and you have to solve both to merge everything. But all it takes is for an inventor (name given to a person who has found a solution) to find one of the two half keys for him to leave with half the lot.
This second treasure hunt, less known than the Golden Owl, was launched on April 8, 2021 to pay a nod to the anniversary of the ratification of the Entente Cordiale agreement between France and the Kingdom. -United, April 8, 1904.
Recovered at an auction
“I had the chance to discover this historic object during a relatively confidential auction in Monaco in 2017. Its owner at the time wanted to sell it, but it did not find a buyer, going relatively unnoticed. says Michel Becker. The evening edition had questioned him in 2021. The object, he continues, “doesn’t make you dream with its artistic conception, personally I find it a little kitsch”.
“What impressed me the most was who gave it, who received it, and the symbolism it carriesenthuses Michel Becker. For me, it is more of a piece that is intended to end up in a museum. I didn’t think such an object could circulate like that in nature. The Entente Cordiale of which it is the symbol is not a minor event in the 20th century.e century ! »
Indeed, at the time, while tensions were becoming more and more pressing between the great European powers, nothing suggested an agreement between France and its centuries-old enemy, the “perfidious Albion”. Especially since Kaiser William II is the nephew of Edward VII and the cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, and the German sovereign would dream of forging a family alliance, in order to crush France as in 1870 and dismantle its colonies.
Also read: VIDEO. The British guard at the Élysée for the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale
Appeasement between France and the United Kingdom
« Stephen Clarke (English historian specializing in the Entente Cordiale) revealed to me that the signing of the Entente Cordiale was only possible through the will and self-sacrifice of Edward VII and Émile Loubet, and their relationships built upstream”says Michel Becker.
“Faced with this whole story, I told myself that such an object could not remain in the shadows, continues the artist. That’s why I decided to put it back in the spotlight. The best way, in my opinion, on the one hand to acquire it – since it still has to be financed – and then to offer it to the public eye – since no one has ever seen it – was to go back to the canvas of a treasure hunt! »
This time, the game is organized according to the rules of the art. To avoid the pitfalls of the Golden Owl, which was finally found, Michel Becker surrounded himself with a team of professionals, as the artist explains.
Also read: VIDEO. For 30 years, this Breton has participated in the largest French treasure hunt ever solved
Vincenzo Bianca, a treasure hunt specialist
“Unlike Régis Hauser, who was a pure marketing man and who worked alone, this time I called on Vincenzo Bianca, a specialist in this type of game who, with his agency, has already designed fun and creative projects for institutions such as the Louvre museum or RTBF, Belgian television, says Michel Becker. We worked together to develop the game’s plot and both know the locations. »
The riddles are part of a novel, The treasure of the Edreia dystopian tale written by young author Pauline Deysson. The work consists of this text, accompanied by an explanation of the historical context of the Entente Cordiale, written by the historian Stephen Clarke, as well as illustrations of the famous box set.
“It is a beautiful object in its own right, lance Michel Becker. For those who want to get started in the game and put all the chances on their side, they can also purchase an interactive map as well as a treasure hunter’s guide. »
“The idea is to sharpen the researcher’s mind! »
By Michel Becker’s own admission, you will first have to delve into the story and the illustrations, in order to extract all the elements. “The idea is to encourage readers to delve into the text and its vocabulary which can sometimes be confusing, to examine in depth the works presented. It’s very educational at a time when we are more accustomed to skimming a text or taking a look at a table. The idea is to sharpen the researcher’s mind! »
“It is only at this pricehe continues, that players will have the elements to discover the two geode shards, one hidden in France, the other in Great Britain, intended to be grouped inside the ring of a key, to make it operational , so that she can open the transparent chest in which the treasure lies…”
While awaiting its winner, the trophy is exhibited to the public at Lingot d’Art, in Rochefort-sur-Mer (Charente-Maritime). Located in the city’s old water tower, the space brings together Michel Becker’s art gallery as well as the Chouette-d’or museum, which has just been discovered after thirty-one years of hunting treasure, as well as the historic piece of the Entente Cordiale.
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