Style Napoleon III / Ref.10871

Gabriel VIARDOT (Att. to) - Beautiful japanese style crescent moon-shaped mirror with a dragon in patinated bronze

This beautiful Japanese-inspired mirror with a patinated bronze dragon was made in the 19th century. In view of the presence of a dragon and especially the style of it, this work is attributed to the cabinetmaker Gabriel Viardot (1830-1904) specialized in the creation of “Chinese-Japanese genre” furniture and works of art. 

A dragon with sinuous shapes and protruding muscles encircle a crescent-shaped mirror. His threatening face is directed towards the one who looks at his reflection. Chiseled in a patinated bronze, the monster with sharp teeth is very complex thanks to the very worked details.
This mirror is both tinged with Japanese art and Asian art, very popular in the late 19th century thanks to the Universal Exhibitions which, since the one of 1867, renew the artists motifs and techniques repertoires. Encouraged by eclecticism, artists, as Gabriel Viardot who is a perfect example, mix their sources of inspiration in response to their quest for wealth and for diversity.

Simple and sophisticated at the same time, this mirror in the shape of a crescent moon is thus characteristic of the work of Gabriel Viardot who decorated on several occasions his mirrors with beautiful bronze dragons. Born in 1830 in Paris, where he died in 1904, Gabriel Viardot, after having worked with his brother, created his own studio in 1860 and devoted himself to the creation of furniture with a double inspiration: Chinese and Japanese. He won several medals at the Universal Exhibitions (1867, 1878, 1885, 1889 and 1900) or at the 8th exhibition of the Central Union of Decorative Arts of 1884.