BY GABRIEL VIARDOT, PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Gabriel Viardot succeded to his father's business in 1861. His career began as a wood carver and he produced small furniture, sculpturally carved with naturalistic motifs and animals. At 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, Viardot found less opportunity for these. Around 1870 he turned to the idea of producing Meubles genre Chinois et Japonais. The taste in Europe for such pieces was well established and at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris he was awarded a silver medal. He later received a gold medal in the 1889 Exposition.