Ref.11263
Japanese style secretary with mother-of-pearl butterfly decoration

Secretary, richly decorated in the 19th century, in the style of Gabriel Viardot. It has three doors including two windows and a flap adorned with butterflies and flowers in mother-of-pearl inlays. Rest on feet finished in claws. This secretary is characteristic of the production of the late 19th century inspired by the Japanese and Chinese works of art. The inlaid mother-of-pearl panels come from Tonkin, the northern part of present-day Vietnam, where whole panels were made for Europe. In France, cabinetmakers reused them, cutting them as they pleased in order to compose a decor adapted to their furniture.

Ref.11365
Japanese furniture with carved decoration and mother-of-pearl inlay

Inspired by the decors and motifs coming from the Far-East, this piece has a slightly asymmetrical composition in style with the French producers in the beginning of the Meiji Era. While the upper part is perfectly balanced and symmetrical, the lower part is made up of two unsymmetrical elements, a window and a cabinet closed by a very elaborate panel, with a textured background and engraved patterns. The latter, skewed, contributes to the relative deconstruction of this piece and surprises the viewer. The sculpted dragon in low-relief on this panel echoes the chimeras with monstrous heads depicted on the vertical uprights in the upper part. The cabinet is a major decorative element of this piece. Painted with a naturalistic decor in enamel, some motifs are produced in mother of pearl. Indeed in several places this piece is garnished with mother of pearl elements engraved and inlaid in the wood. If the piece itself is a french production, this is not the case of the mother of pearl elements, coming from Chinese provinces and taken from preexisting furniture pieces or decorative panels. If at present it is not possible for us to exactly identify the maker of this piece, we can affirm that it is a French production, greatly inspired by the works of Gabriel Viardot and of the Maison des Bambous of Perret and Vibert.

Ref.12794
Japanese stand made of blackened wood, late 19th century

This high Japanese stand is a French work from the late 19th century made of blackened wood. The base with four feet is adorned with open worked motifs inspired by the Far-East iconography. The long rod which leaves from the base has on top the same sculpted motifs and a small rectangular shelf.