Object Description
A finely carved wooden eagle holding a mirror in the shape of a crescent moon attributed to French cabinetmaker and wood craftsman, Gabriel Viardot (1830-1906). Dating from the late 19th century, this is a spectacular wall piece for any interior, making an impression in any space. It depicts an eagle in German Black Forest style beautifully captured in beech wood with an expressive and energetic stance, carved with talons, wings and feathers and completed with two glass eyes. While other designs of Viardot’s are of smaller scale, this eagle mirror is of a large, rare size.
Famed Parisian cabinetmaker and craftsman Gabriel Viardot was born in 1830. By age 19, he had worked as a furniture maker for the court of Napoleon III and was the head of a small team of sculptors, opening his own workshop in Paris in 1853. Throughout his career, his work was shown at various exhibitions across the globe for which Viardot was prized with several awards. By the 1880s, the workshop comprised of more than 90 furniture makers and sculptors trained by Viardot himself before the closure of the company following Viardot’s death in 1906.