Style Japonism, Chinoiserie / Ref.11389

Cyrille RUFFIER DES AIMES (1844-1916) - Set of two chairs and an armchair inspired by the Far East

These two large chairs feature openwork on the back of the seat with dragon and rodent motifs, seat rails with geometric patterns and arched legs with paw feet.
The asymmetrical armchair is entirely carved. The armrest is made of an impressive dragon carved in the round. The back of the seat is decorated with flowering branches and a second chimeric animal, the seat rail of geometric patterns. The front legs are arched and terminated by paw feet.
The set is stamped "RUFFIER", engraved in cursive letters on the back. The backs and seats are upholstered with silks in the style of Asia.

Cyrille Ruffier des Aimes was born on January 29, 1844 in Savoy and died on April 13, 1916. A talented cabinet-maker, he opened his own art cabinetry in Paris in 1881, "Ruffier des Aimes & Cie" . His workshops and sales stores are located near the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. In 1887 his factory employed fifty workers. Four years later, there was eighty.
First manufacturer of style furniture (Henry II, Louis XIV, XV, XVI ...), he specializes little by little in the furniture "of fantasy", in Japanese and Chinese tastes face with the craze for Japanism. His display cabinet, fireplace screens, desks and pedestals are thus hailed by critics of that time: "(...) it is especially his fancy furniture that caught our attention. Here, originality breaks out on all sides; everything is created, everything is unique; the drawings and models are all executed entirely in the workshops of the house, and when we buy one of these pieces of furniture, we are sure to have a work of art of which there is no other copy, which will not be found neither in any cabinetry nor in any apartment. ". ("Le panthéon de l’industrie", No. 655, September 11, 1887).
He exhibited and received several awards at exhibitions of the Central Union of Decorative Arts in 1887, 1888, 1889 and 1890. At the Labor Exhibition of 1891, he was awarded the 2nd prize for artistic cabinetmaking and a vermeil medal for his furniture.
The furniture of Ruffier des Aimes, far from being all stamped, are to be compared with the works of Gabriel Viardot of whom he was contemporary.