Christophe Février, a businessman and father of four from the small town of Château-Gontier in northwest France, decided in 2014 that there was something he must have: a guillotine.

He had seen one offered at auction in Paris. It was 10 feet tall, with an oak frame and a few dents in the blade, and had the French words for “Armies of the Republic” etched into its metal plates. It had not actually been used to execute people during the French Revolution, but it had historical value: It was made in the mid-19th century, around the time France’s monarchy was abolished for a second time.

Image Christophe Février Credit... Wojciech Konarzewski

Lady Gaga tried to buy the guillotine in 2011, said Mr. Février, 48, in an email. But she lost out to a Russian collector, who paid 223,000 euros, or about $260,000 at current exchange rates.