BY GABRIEL VIARDOT, PARIS, DATED 1886

Gabriel-Frédéric Viardot (1830-1906) is largely remembered for his particular version of Asian style furniture, and was advertised as a 'créateur des meubles dans le genre chinois et japonais'. Originally producing Renaissance style objets d'art, much like his contemportary Edouard Lièvre, Viardot seized on opportunities to indulge a growing market and fascination with interpretations of 'the exotic' and thus the 'style Viardot' was founded chiefly on Japanese and Chinese prototypes. The firm's oeuvre is often defined by its wonderfully sculptural mounts and relief carvings, mainly crouching dragons and perched cranes executed in both carved wood and finely cast ormolu. A related library table with gilt-bronze mounts was sold Christie's, New York, 25 October 2005, lot 551.
Viardot exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and was both a participant and a jury member for the 1867, 1878 and the 1889 International Exhibitions in Paris. He was awarded four medals from the Paris Exposition in 1867 and received a silver medal at the 1878 Paris Exposition. His major success was at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle where the firm was awarded a gold medal and the jury reported 'Il nous presente ses meubles japonais toujours fort interessants tant par leur tonalité que par leur parfaite execution'.