Is there any better symbol of America’s bond with France than the Statue of Liberty? The cronut comes close, though it carries slightly less geopolitical weight. At any rate, there’s never really a United States without France—a history that serves as the backbone of this exhibition. Organized by the Comité Colbert, founded in 1954 to champion French excellence and savoir-faire, it draws on archival objects from 65 French companies and cultural institutions to trace how French luxury has been woven into American life since the War of Independence. Each Maison has chosen a single story, represented with an artifact shown inside a shipping crate (a nod to the oceanic crossings that made it all possible). Two objects in particular stand out. The first, from Baccarat, takes us back in time. The crystal house began shipping pieces across the Atlantic in the 1830s, counted President Roosevelt among its clients by the 1930s, and opened its first New York outpost in the 1940s. It is around the time of that store opening that the Héritage Sun Clock emerged, designed by Georges Chevalier, and later residing in the Manhattan home of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller. The second object is from the fiery Christian Louboutin, who in 2012 collaborated with Disney to reimagine Cinderella’s glass slipper. His instinct was characteristically spirited: “Isn’t it everyone’s dream,” he asked, “to once in your life be part of a fairy tale?” —Jeanne Malle