Japonisme Style Vitrine Attributed to Gabriel Viardot, circa 1890, France

Charming vitrine in carved wood in the Japanese style: it is topped with a bronze dragon, and decorated with a woman in a bone and mother-of-pearl kimono, on the bottom of the highes...

This wonderful display cabinet is designed in a ‘Japonisme’ (Japanese) style, which was popular in Europe in the mid-late 19th century. This craze was kick-started by Japan reopening to trade with the West, and exporting Japanese goods—including furniture and decorative art—to Europe. One craftsmen by the name of Gabriel Viardot (1830-1906) established a name for himself in France producing Chinese and Japanese style furniture...

Rare Japanese style cylinder desk in tinted and carved wood, richly engraved on all sides with foliage, cherry branches and geometric interlacing. Surmounted by two asymmetrical shelves, the cylinder is decorated with an engraved dragon. Opening this cylinder reveals many compartments with adjustable dimensions, a drawer with engraved decoration and letter storage. The cylinder sides can open laterally, allowing a larger area for working and writing. The lower part of the desk is formed on the left by five superimposed drawers decorated with geometric interlacing and carved branches, as well as Japanese characters, deer and mother-of-pearl foliage. On the right, there is a drawer and a door decorated with carved leaves and mother-of-pearl interlacing, revealing four drawers forming compartments. An ingenious mechanism makes it possible, when the cylinder is closed with a key, to completely lock the desk. Gabriel Viardot 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 innovate. G. Viardot succeeded 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, incorporating sometimes authentic Chinese or Japanese objects...

A Japanese style carved wood cabinet attributed to G. Viardot. A painted decor imitating Japanese lacquer, ornamented with flowers, birds and butterflies. Opening onto two drawers an...