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 Conversation with Arnaud Rist
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© Photo : Marc Lavaud
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Born in Paris in 1953, Arnaud Rist first studied architecture.
Despite his interest in this domain he felt frustrated at not having sole control over the assembly of lines and volumes and the inherent abstraction of the business.
Wishing to both design and create "with his own hands" he began training as a cabinet-maker.
After many years as an apprentice he set up his own workshop, specializing in the restoration of antique classical European furniture while designing contemporary pieces, training apprentices and working on group projects...
Later, keen on broadening his experience in antique restoration, and with entrepreneurial flair he began investigating new lines of business.
"The past ten years the craftsman's trade has become more and more difficult. The market tends to demand low prices, and immediate delivery thus squeezing out the artisan and quality craftsmanship. Therefore I set out to find a line of business where I could continue my activity as a craftsman while falling in with the market trends.
As the millennium came to a close, tastes had evolved; the customer was turning away from traditional Period Furniture with sophisticated marquetry, preferring more exotic pieces speaking of faraway places and lore. No doubt the effect of globalization.
The dream of a world without barriers, where humanity is one, had spurred the imaginations of the beginning of the XXth century. I chose to flow with the idea and naturally China the great, its ancestral civilisation and tradition of craftsmanship, became the obvious destination.
From my first trip I brought back a great variety of antique furniture of which the elegant yet simple lines were astonishingly contemporary. I found these pieces in perfect harmony with the poetic balance of nature; indeed the choice of the wood and the craftsmanship of the assembly and the overall design revealed the Chinese mastery of the Golden Rules of the Art"
After changing the layout of his workshop facilities he managed to set up a showroom area where the customer could view both the collection and work in progress.
"The innovative aspect is that my craft is the keystone; beyond the business of importing and dealing in antique furniture, I can guarantee the quality of the merchandise having chosen the pieces myself and supervised their restoration from start to finish.
During my travels my craft opened many doors, enabling «enlightened» business relationships, as I could exchange knowledge and advice with my local Chinese contacts.".
Since his first trip, in January 1997, Arnaud Rist has sought to perfect his choices, importing only the finest nineteenth century furniture and when possible the more rare seventeen and eighteenth century pieces.
Indeed the Artisan serves historical rehabilitation; therefore Arnaud Rist is worried by the massive invasion of low quality and often dubious Asian furniture.
"I am concerned that China, after other Asian countries, should soon find itself plundered of its past just because the western customer seeks the cheap and the exotic. Mixed quality standards and surely poor restoration put a major cultural heritage at risk of being lost, literally thrown to the garbage out of bad conservation !
My pursuit is to give praise to a know-how that masters the technical and aesthetic values of the Art : the Ming and early Qing Classic Chinese Furniture has been made strictly true to tradition through to the nineteenth century."
Aside from preserving major artworks, Arnaud Rist hopes to allow a wider range of public than solely that of art collectors to purchase, at a reasonable price, quality pieces of that period.
He has thus maintained rigor and authenticity while adapting to a changing market.
The collections are regularly renewed and presented at Impasse Charles Petit, either right in the workshop on the second floor or, since 1998, in the large street level shop that prolongs the visit.
Located in the heart of the old Artisans Quarter near Bastille, Comptoir de la Main d'Or and Arnaud Rist invite you on a voyage through a collection of furniture of pure and refined design. Come and feel the soft perfection of the patina, observe the quality of the finishing guided by a man of the Trade.
© Copyright 1999.
You may contact us to enquire if the pieces presented are still available.
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