Known for his elaborately carved chinoiserie and Japonisme furniture inspired by East Asian motifs, Gabriel Viardot was one of France’s most famous cabinetmakers during the late 19th century.
Viardot’s career began in 1849 as a woodcarver for Maison Jeanselme, cabinetmakers to the court of Napoleon III. Shortly after, at age 19, Viardot opened his own business, designing and creating small furniture and decorative objects.
In 1853, Viardot’s enterprise grew into a factory and store, Viardot Frères et Cie, which he operated with his brother Alexandre Laurent. The brothers enjoyed moderate success with their finely sculpted pieces and objects, winning a bronze medal at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris. However, the two parted ways the following year. Alexandre Laurent kept the company, while Viardot began his own firm, called G. Viardot.
Throughout the late 1860s and ’70s, Viardot dedicated himself to designing and producing chinoiserie and Japonisme furniture. Many of his pieces, such as side tables, consoles, pedestal tables and chairs, feature exquisite embellishments in mother-of-pearl, ivory and gilt-bronze and are made with lacquered and embossed panels imported directly from China and Japan. (The art of Japanese lacquer goes back some 9,000 years.) Some of Viardot’s most sculptural creations are his full-length floor mirrors and wall mirrors framed with carved mahogany dragons and cherubs.
Viardot participated in numerous major European exhibitions and fairs, scooping up medals and accolades for his pieces. In 1867, he won four medals at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, followed by a silver medal and gold medal at Antwerp’s Universal Exposition in 1878 and 1884, respectively. He also won gold medals at Paris’s Exposition Universelle in 1889 and 1900. In 1885, Viardot was named Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.
By 1880, Viardot’s company had become one of the largest furniture manufacturers in Paris, with up to 100 sculptors and cabinetmakers employed. Following his death in 1906, Viardot’s son Gabriel Léon Jules Viardot and son-in-law Georges Isidore Jean Dupont took over operations. However, competition from other furniture makers and the rise of Art Nouveau led to the company’s eventual closure.
Viardot’s pieces continue to be highly sought by interior designers and collectors of late 19th-century furniture.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of antique Gabriel Viardot mirrors, tables and decorative objects.
Rare Japanese-style Pedestal / Gueridon in Carved Wood by Gabriel Viardot
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in MOUGINS, FR
Carved wooden pedestal table in the Japanese style, stamped by Gabriel Viardot. Square in shape with a red marble slab, lion paw feet. The spacer and sides of the top are made of ca...
Wood
Japonisme Mixed-Metal Étagère Table, Manner of Gabriel Viardot
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in London, GB
Japonisme Mixed-Metal Étagère Table, Manner of Gabriel Viardot Style of Viardot, Gabriel (French, 1830–1906) French, late 19th century Height 81cm, width 86cm, depth 55cm This étagè...
Metal
"Japonisme" Writing-Table by G. Viardot, France, circa 1880
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in PARIS, FR
Beautiful "Japonisme" writing table opening with a belt drawer with engraved decoration of bamboo and flowers and decorated with openwork leafy friezes in bronze, forming a writing tablet covered in velvet. It rests on four feet mounted at the corners of lion masks in gilded bronze and joined by an openwork spacer, and ending in lion paws. It is topped with a molded Griotte marble. Biography : Gabriel Viardot (1830-1906) career began as a wood carver and he produced small furniture, sculpturally carved with naturalistic motifs and animals. In the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, his finely sculpted objects were well received. However, with the increasing importation of similarly produced Swiss and German articles, he found less opportunity for these and decided to inovate. G. Viardot succeded to his father’s business in 1861 installed rue Rambuteau in Paris. Around 1870 he turned to the idea of producing « Meubles genre Chinois et Japonais ». The taste in Europe for exotic furniture...
Griotte Marble, Bronze
Victorian Desk Writing Table Mahogany 1880
Located in Potters Bar, GB
Victorian mahogany 2 drawer desk or writing table Circa 1880 Raised upon ring turned legs with brass castors The table features 2 mahogany lined drawers which retain their original t...
Mahogany
$4,495
H 30.25 in W 41 in D 31.25 in
Antique French Oak Renaissance Revival DOLPHIN Writing Table Desk c. 1880s
Located in Tyler, TX
GORGEOUS Antique French Oak Renaissance Revival DOLPHIN Writing Table or Desk, c. 1880s Exceptional late 19th century French oak writing table featuring elaborate Renaissance Reviva...
Oak
1940s French Carved Wood Pedestal Table
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Tall twisted wood pedestal table from France, 1940s. Made of solid wood with original finish. Great carved twisted wood stem with circular top and base. Original wood finish shows ni...
Oak
Table On A Central Pedestal In Carved Wood, 20th Century
Located in PARIS, FR
Carved Wooden Pedestal Table, 20th Century This elegant 20th-century pedestal table rests on a carved wooden base decorated with fluting and concentric moldings in a classical style...
Glass, Wood
Charming Antique French Provincial Writing Table
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Antique French writing table from Provence, France with single deep drawer retaining its working lock and key. Elegant carved tapered legs and authentic charming rustic patina with a...
Wood
Octagon Shaped Metal Side Table
Located in Sheffield, MA
Industrial rustic French iron tables with beautiful patina on the metal. Table exhibits rustic charm and beauty. Can be used indoors as side tables or outdoors as garden table. Table...
Iron
19th Century French Writing Table
Located in High Point, NC
19th century oak writing table from France with a beveled edge around the top, following down to paneled sides and hand carved and scalloped aprons. The front of the table contains t...
Oak
Painted Wood Carved Pedestal Statue Corinthian Stand Gustavian Style
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Bring a touch of classical architecture into your home with this impressive vintage pedestal painted in a Gustavian color of taupe, featuring acanthus leaves and scroll accents. The ...
Wood, Paint
Swedish Writing Table, circa 1840
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Swedish writing table, circa 1840, of generous scale, offering a serious work surface with the light, restrained character of Swedish furniture. Tables of this breadth from the per...
Wood
Folding Metal Garden Patio Poolside Table with Stylized Leaf Motif Top
By Salterini
Located in New York, NY
Chic folding cafe dining, garden, patio table constructed of metal strips and square stock. The table features a stylized leaf top, it folds up for easy transport and storage. Perfect diminutive scale, sophisticated design, functional, clean and ready to use condition. Paint finish shows cosmetic wear, normal and consistent with age. Please view our extensive collection of vintage and antique garden, patio, and poolside furniture and accessories listed at Barbarella Home...
Metal
$14,800
H 31 in W 28 in D 18 in
19th Century French Chinoiserie Style Mahogany Table Attributed Gabriel Viardot
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in New York, NY
A magnificent 19th century French hand-carved chinoiserie style mahogany center-table with mother-of-pearl inlaid marquetry top attributed to Gabriel Viardot. This magnificent mahogany table has been hand-carved with Chinese chinoiserie decor depicting chinoiserie figures holding umbrellas and other Chinese motif inlaid. Around the edges of the rectangular table is magnificently detailed and adorned open wood work, which gives the piece a different dimension of class and elegance. The top of the table is beautifully designed with a mother-of-pearl inlaid marquetry. Tinted wood table with rectangular tray with Asian decor inlaid with mother-of-pearl depicting peaches and beauties holding umbrellas. The carved openwork crosses of Chinese motifs rests on four magnificently carved curved legs with lions feet holding up the table. Found at the top of each leg are beautifully chased doré bronze mounts depicting foo dog masks. France, circa 1890. Gabriel Viardot is a famous Parisian cabinetmaker who inherited the family factory in around 1860. He manufactured carved wood furniture...
Bronze
$2,741
H 27.56 in W 31.5 in D 31.5 in
Bauhaus Rectangular Tubular Steel Table, Chromed Metal, Lacquered Wood, C. 1935
By Mücke & Melder
Located in Berlin, DE
Bauhaus rectangular table model Tn 132, manufactured by Mücke-Melder, circa. 1935. Chrome plated tubular steel, black lacquered wood.
Metal, Chrome
$3,655
H 42.52 in Dm 11.82 in
Early 20th Century Venetian Hand-Carved Walnut Gueridon Sculpture Pedestal
By Vincenzo Cadorin
Located in Vigonza, Padua
Early 1900, Art Nouveau period, Venetian Gueridon column display pedestal attributed to the Vincenzo Cadorin school , in hand-carved walnut. Measures cm: Height 108, diameter 30. Cadorin Vincenzo (1854-1925) Venetian sculptor born in 1854, he was trained in the studio of Benvenuti, he then studied at the Venetian Academy. In 1883 he exposed his first works in Rome and in the next year he won the Gold Medal in the exposure in Turin. (Luisa GIORDANO, Cadorin, Vincenzo, in Biographic Dictionary of the Italians, XVI, Rome 1973, p. 97). His most known work is the gilt carved wooden desk given to the Pope Pio X for his sacerdotal jubilee in 1908; the desk is now in the Basilica della Salute in Venice. He died in 1925. Fortuny palace: The Cadorin Bottega: A dynasty of Venetian artists The last published photo is the Palazzo Fortuny of Venice where IDA Cadorin, known professionally as IDA Barbarigo...
Walnut
$9,500
H 28.5 in W 24 in D 17 in
French Paper Mache Black Lacquered & Foliage Painted Writing Table, Circa 1820
Located in Charleston, SC
French black lacquered and foliage painted writing table with hinged interior compartment, original interior locking mechanism with key, painted gilt foliage bulbous pedestal, and re...
Lacquer, Paint, Paper
Louis XV Style Duvinage Brass-Inlaid Marquetry Games Table
By Ferdinand Duvinage
Located in Kittery Point, ME
Attributed to Ferdinand Duvinage, the shaped square hinged handkerchief top rotating open to reveal a felt top, the frieze with two drawers, the who...
Bronze, Brass
Sold
H 29.53 in W 19.69 in D 19.69 in
19th Century French Japanese Style Occasional Table by Gabriel Viardot
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in Gloucestershire, GB
A good example of a 19th Century Japanese style occasional table by French cabinet maker Gabriel Viardot. With carved cherry blossom and finely inlaid panels showing warriors on hors...
Bronze
Gabriel Viardot Chinoiserie Two-Tier Table with Mother-of-Pearl Inlay
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in New York, NY
A finely crafted giltwood two-tier side table attributed to Gabriel Viardot (1830–1906), showcasing rich chinoiserie influence. The table features elaborately carved and pierced wood...
Wood
GABRIEL VIARDOT 1900 Japonisme Two Tiers Pedestal In Gilt Walnut & Marble
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in Miami, FL
French Japonisme two tiers pedestal designed by Gabriel Viardot (1830-1906). This is a gorgeous antique two-tiers pedestal created in Paris France by Gabriel-Frédéric Viardot, betwe...
Marble
Exquisite Japanese-Style Table by Gabriel Viardot, circa 1880
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Gabriel Viardot Exquisite Japanese-style table, circa 1880 Signed Made in carved and engraved tinted wood orned with gild bronze. In France, Gabriel Viardot was one of the lea...
Wood
Gabriel Viardot, Chinoiserie Side Table, France, 1880-1890
By Gabriel Viardot
Located in New York, NY
Signed. A two-tiered, tall side table by Gabriel Viardot, a French cabinetmaker whose elaborate carvings and use of eastern motifs propelled him to fame in the late 19th century.
Beech