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Portfolio Atelier Viollet is pleased to offer a wide variety of exotic materials and techniques. The following examples are commissions executed for distinguished architects, interior designers and decorators. Straw Marquetry - Once considered nearly extinct, straw marquetry - originating in the court of Louis XV, returning briefly in the 1930's Art Deco designs of Jean-Michel Frank, has been resurrected to serene effect here by artisan Sandrine Viollet. Using a delicate and exacting manual process of opening, flattening , and applying individual pieces of wheat, barley or oat straw imported from France, Sandrine forms elaborate patterns on boxes, decorative panels, small pieces of furniture, and walls. The straight, clean lines, subtle color, and natural iridescense of straw all contribute to its allure, and straw is equally compelling when pigmented and used in painting-like treatments or geometric motifs. Atelier Viollet is one fo the few furniture makers committed to this technique and continuing in its innovation. Straw marquetry, because it is fragile, is best used in wall treatments and panels, or smaller decorative objects. Click Here to view Sandrine Viollet's 2008 straw marquetry award winning work. Shagreen - One of the most captivating materials revived in the 1930's is shagreeen, or stingray skin. Like many Art Deco materials, it was first used centuries earlier, then all but disappeared. Shagreen covered Japanese sword handles and medicine bottles in the 8th Century A.D., and was similarly used in 18th century France. It is a pebbly, textured skin with enamel-like hardness and sheen, and takes pigment beautifully. We work with many skins at Atelier Viollet but have taken special interest in shagreen, experimenting with numerous dyes and applications. We often sand the skin after dyeing to bring out the contrast of its natural color and pattern. We have used shagreen in lamps, lampshades, and screens, and we have enrolled whole decorative pieces, such as consoles, with shagreen. Parchment - Parchment is finely tanned goat or lamb skins. Historically it has been used in bookmaking, the illumination of manuscripts, and ornamental crafts. But the Art Deco period took parchment in a sophisticated direction for furniture and wall treatments. We have continued on this path, creating full-paneled rooms. Parchment panels exude a quiet warmth and richness in a room that is unmatched by any other material. We select the skins for parchment panels as carefully as we do wood veneers. We look for consistency, tone, and delicacy. We also combine parchment with straw marquetry in screens or wall treatments. Horn - As early as the fifth century A.D. horn was used by artisans in chests and tables. The technique required that the horn be cut lengthwise, soaked, and boiled, then pressed into flat sheets. Little has changed in the process since. Finished horn is a material evocative of tortoiseshell with pigment that varies from pale off-white to black. Horn has both a luxuruious glassy sheen when finely polished and a rugged primitive aspect in other treatments. It is ideal in level applications such as desks or consoles, where it's natural markings make it a graceful counterpart to wood veneer - or paired with metals such as bronze. The lighter shades of horn can also take color, through a special method used by Atelier Viollet, for a more dynamic effect. Marquetry & Inlay - Marquetry, first practiced in Egypt and the Roman empire, and widespread in Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries, is the assembly of precisely cut wood veneers and other natural materials into patterns or pictures on an even surface. Atelier Viollet's artisans are accomplished in the traditional and present-day techniques of this fading art. Designs for marquetry can be ornate or simple and follow any aesthetic, but all require great meticulousness to execute. Artisans use traditional saws as well as lasers, knives, and other specialized tools to cut and fit ivory, mother-of-pearl, horn, metal, wood, or other materials onto the surface of a wall or piece of furniture. Inlay is the embedding of wood, metal, or natural materials into groves in the surface of a piece, using hammers and other specialized tools' like marquetry, it is a precise and time-consuming process, but one with stunning results. Wood Veneers - Veneering, the application of a thin patterned wood onto a wood substrate, is one of the oldest decorative arts' the earliest known use of it was in Egyptian tombs from 2,000 B.C. Veneers are layers of wood, fractions of an inch thick, produced by the slicing of a log. The wood's origins, the part of the tree it comes from, it's rate of growth, it's luster, its age, are all considered in choosing fine veneers. At Atelier Viollet we work with palmwood, macassar ebony and ambonya burl, among other noble woods. We also work with some vintage veneers, cut in the early to mid-20th century, which impart their own distinct, mature elegance. Our on-site veneer room, which holds about a ahundred species, is a special asset to us and our clients. By helping select the actual veneers to be used, clients can better sense the patterns and qualities of the raw woods and how they will look in a piece. Interiors - Aside from fabricating custom pieces of furniture, Atelier Viollet is able to offer fabrication and installation of libraries and wall treatment in wood, leather, parchment, straw and shagreen. Each project is approached with the same care and attention to detail as we provide from a single pieces of furniture. Click here for the full version
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The Company
The Viollet Family Tradition Jean-Paul Viollet
Jean-Paul Viollet is the last in a line of woodworkers, boat-builders, and carpenters active in Seyssel, a village in the Rhône Valley, since the early 19th century. He developed many of his skills in his father's business, including the treatment of a wide range of beautiful veneers.
His interest in Art Deco also began in those formative years, when he sought inspiration from 1930s designers André Groult, Jacques-Emile Ruhlman, Eugene Printz and Jean-Michel Frank and started experimenting with appliqué techniques for materials such as shagreen, parchment, and horn. These became the catalyst for Jean-Paul's own design approach and the backbone of New York's Atelier Viollet many years later.Jean-Paul committed several years to travel and research. After settling in New York he worked first as a furniture restorer, then began collaborating with interior designers on larger projects, before establishing the next incarnation of his family firm. The Atelier Viollet workshop, in a former toy factory in Brooklyn, allowed finally for the realization of his long-incubated ideas. Click here for the full version
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Partnership with Designers
Atelier Viollet is proud to work with the following architects, designers, and clients: 1100 Architect, NYC Click here for the full version
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The Process Atelier Viollet prides itself on the designs that have come from our close collaboration with designers and architects. We work together in a simple, straight-forward manner: - First a designer or architect usually comes in with a rough sketch or design. - Together we discuss size, height, style and feeling. We then discuss the aesthetics of the piece, as influenced by the fabrication process. - Next is the selection of materials. We might, for example, go through our special "veneer sample room," where we display more than 100 finished samples of wood species. - Included in these discussions are considerations of wood finish: i.e. type of lacquer, use of French polish, lacquer, or polyurethane, whether the desired end product should be low sheen or high gloss. - When agreement has been reached, Atelier Viollet will produce a custom sample, demonstrating the final design, inlay and finish for approval. - Then the work begins on the piece. Click here for the full version
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| Workshop Altelier Viollet has gathered not only artisans with extraordinary capabilities but the traditional and advance technologies necessary to realized almost any design. Clients are encouraged to tour our on-site veneer room, which holds a vast collection of rare and vintage veneers, and view work in progress at our 8,000 square-foot facility - whether the hammering of an intricate inlay by hand; the use of marquetry saws' or the precise glue-pressing, cutting and stitching of veneers by machine. Click here for the full version
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Press Please view the full version of our website to see our press coverage in magazines and newspapers. |
The Charpente Collection
Please click here to view the Charpente Collection. |
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