Louis XV Style Flat Desk In Chinese Lacquer By Perret & Vibert

A Louis XV style flat desk with a serpentine shape, crafted from black lacquered wood and decorated with Japonisme motifs. The top is covered in its original tan leather, framed by a wide bronze molding adorned with a mascaron at each corner. It rests on cabriole legs with finely chased bronze mounts on the uprights and sabots. The desk features three drawers: two small ones on either side with pull handles, and a large central drawer with a keyhole escutcheon. This Japonisme desk is characteristic of its period and of the designs of Perret and Vibert, as the decorative arts of the late 19th century reflected a renewed interest in Far Eastern creations, playfully adapting Japanese artistic codes to distinctly Western furniture. About: In 1879, Alfred Perret founded a company in Paris specializing in the creation of luxury bamboo and wicker furniture, as well as the importation of authentic Japanese objects for a wealthy Parisian clientele. The company, specializing in the manufacture of carved wooden furniture inspired by the Far East and lacquerware, took the name "Maison des Bambous" (House of Bamboos) in the early 1890s. 1884: The beginning of Japonisme furniture. From 1884 onward, the business expanded further, extending to "fantasy furniture," and a year later, the term "small bamboo and lacquer parlor furniture, Chinese and Japanese furniture" was used in this same category. We thus place the beginning of the manufacture of carved wooden furniture, particularly pieces inspired by Asia, at this time. Some of these creations would have a formal style very similar to that of Gabriel Viardot. However, the company's main product remained, until at least the mid-1890s, the rattan and bamboo armchair and chair.