Stamped Presentation Furniture - 19th Century

Rare small Japanese-style display cabinet Stamped Cyrille Ruffier des Aimés (1844 - 1916)
Late 19th century
Mahogany, bronze, mother-of-pearl and ivory
Very good general condition, missing a mother-of-pearl wing on the bird and note, a slight peeling of the veneer on the bottom of the lower tray
Very high quality of execution, unique piece entirely made by hand
Additional information on request

CYRILLE RUFFIER DES AIMÉS (1844-1916)
"Cyrille Ruffier des Aimés was born on January 29, 1844 in Champagny-en-Vanoise in Savoie and died in the same city on April 13, 1916.
A talented cabinetmaker, he opened his own art cabinetmaker in Paris in 1881, “Ruffier des Aimés & Cie”.
His workshops and sales stores are located at 11 rue Basfroi - 1 passage Rauch in Paris, very close to the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
In 1887, his factory equipped with a steam engine - a rarity in cabinetmaking at that time - employed fifty workers.
Four years later, it had eighty.
Initially a manufacturer of stylish furniture (Henri II, Louis XIV, in Japanese and Chinese tastes. Its display cases, fireplace screens, desks, harnesses, etc. were thus praised by the critics of the time :
“(…) it was especially his fancy furniture that attracted our attention. Here, originality shines on all sides; everything is created, everything is unique; the drawings, the models are all entirely executed in the house's workshops, and when you buy one of these pieces of furniture, you are sure to have an object of art of which no other example exists, that you will not find neither in any furniture house, nor in any apartment. ".

Ref : The pantheon of industry, n° 655, September 11, 1887.

Working with various species of wood, Ruffier des Aimés et Cie has a predilection for mahogany and pear wood.
The mother-of-pearl and ivory inlays, of quite remarkable quality and finesse, are executed by Tonkinese artists.
He exhibited and received several distinctions in particular at the exhibitions of the Central Union of Decorative Arts in 1887, 1888, 1889 and 1890. During the Work Exhibition of 1891, he was awarded the 2nd prize for artistic cabinetmaking and a medal of vermeil for its furniture.
The furniture of Ruffier des Aimés, far from being all stamped, is very often confused with the creations of the Gabriel Viardot house; also, it is more than probable that works kept in prestigious institutions and attributed to Gabriel Viardot are in fact from his workshops".
Reference
: Ader - Nordmann, public auction of June 1, 2018 for a set of furniture by Cyrille Ruffier des Aimés