Gabriel Viardot

GABRIEL VIARDOT (Paris, 1830-1906).
Bedroom set consisting of a pair of chairs, a side table, a desk, a cabinet with mirror and a double bed, ca. 1890.
In stained and carved wood. Desk with bronze applications. Side table with applications in bone.
Cabinet in exotic woods, metal and mother-of-pearl details.
White upholstered seats.
The side table does not keep the key. The desk has the key. The cabinet has the key.
The cabinet needs refinishing. The bed needs to be reworked.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use.
The bed has crossbeams.
Measurements: 91 x 41,5 x 42 cm (chairs); 80 x 60 x 38 cm (side table); 102 x 88 x 54 cm (desk); 215 x 165 x 70 cm (cabinet); 155 x 160 cm (bed).

This set designed by Gabriel Viardot in Art Nouveau period consists of:
-Desk table designed by Gabriel Viardot, faithful to the original orientalist models of the renowned French cabinetmaker. The crests decorating the corners of the legs and the upper gallery, as well as the bronze dragon perched on one side of the top are freely reinterpreted chinoisseries. The balled claw feet are combined with mixtilinear carving outlining the supports with scrolls. Floral bouquets are worked in relief at waist level, where a drawer is housed. The top is chiseled with a vegetal composition of Japanese influence. It has an auxiliary body as a small cabinet with a drawer for pens and stationery, topped with a gallery with trilobed motifs.
-Cabinet designed by Gabirel Viardot in the Art Nouveau period. As usual in his work, the French cabinetmaker was inspired by Chinoiserie motifs and Japanese elements, sifting these references through his particular vision of Art Nouveau furniture. The cabinet shown here has a main body with a mirrored door, decorated with cresting in one of its corners and finished with geometric fretwork of Chinese inspiration. The soffits of the adjacent cabinet feature Japanese-inspired floral motifs carved in relief, and one of them includes mother-of-pearl inlay. A small decorative metal sculpture depicts a stork on a turtle shell, both animals being symbols of longevity in Asian culture. Elements of fine cresting complete the decoration.
- The headboard and footboard of the double bed designed by Gabriel Viardot display the characteristic attributes of the orientalist style of the author, who freely reinterpreted Chinese and Japanese motifs, developing his work within the Art Nouveau movement. Thus, two finely carved Fu Dogs stand on their hind legs, flanking the headboard, whose panels depict flowers in bas-relief and the head of a dragon housed in a tondo. Japanese-influenced flowers alternating with moldings and geometric fretwork also predominate on the headboard, which has a pagoda-inspired top.
- Pair of chairs designed by French cabinetmaker Gabriel Viardot in the Art Nouveau period. True to his unique style, based on the influence of chinoiserie mixed with his particular modernist style, dragon sculptures crown the backs, which have an openwork design with vegetal tracery, which in turn harmonizes with the cresting of the front legs. The front legs are cambered in cabriole, ending with claw feet, while the rear legs are sabre-shaped.
- Side table designed by French cabinetmaker Gabriel Viardot. With a light structure, it houses between its legs spaces with cupboard and drawer by means of a distribution of hollows and fillings that breaks the classic symmetry, while including chinoiseries by means of floral inlaid work using bone. The cresting motifs and scrolled sides also clearly evoke Chinese motifs. It responds to a design akin to contemporary modernism but imbued with orientalist echoes that Viardot freely reinterprets. The piece of furniture stands on balled claw feet.