.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
FRUITWOOD MARQUETRY
Fashionable from around 1660, marquetry in fruitwood was initially inspired by the oeuvre of the painter Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer. In 1715, André-Charles Boulle owned 170 drawings and studies of flowers and around 150 drawings of birds painted from life by Pater fils. Moreover, at the time of his death in 1732, several flower paintings by Beaudesson are listed.
Contrary to accepted general opinion, Boulle employed fruitwood marquetry during the vast majority of his career, and not just before 1700. Indeed, in the Acte de Délaisement of 1715, when the ébéniste was already sixty-three years old, the following are recorded:-
'Quinze tables de fleurs ou pièces de rapport commencées...1 350 l. Sept portes de cabinets de fleurs et de marqueterie en dedans 280 l.
Dix neuf caisses de bois de couleur 200 l.
Environ 25 gros trongons de bois jaune, quelques racines de fresne, 6 demi-bîches d'ébéne, 6 demi-bîches de bois rouge ou santal et quelques morceaux de stetin 500 l.
Dix caisses de bois scié en feuilles mêlées comme buis, épine vinette, houx, brésil et autres 300 l..'
The fire that ravaged Boulle's workshops in 1720 destroyed 'deux (bureaux) de bois de couleur, très avancés' and eight commodes, of which some were 'de bois violet et autres couleurs'; this proves that marquetry furniture was still fashionable as late as 1720, as it was still being ordered from the ébéniste.
Not everything was destroyed in the 1720 fire, however, as the 1732 Inventory describes 'une table à fleurs de pièces rapport à guesnes fort vieille, prise comme telle.'
The same distinctive end-cut elm masks can be seen in Boulle's documented oeuvre, for instance on the table owned by Blondel d'Azincourt in the 18th century and subsequently at Wanstead, which was sold from the Riahi Collection, Christie's New York, 2 November 2000, lot 40 ($5,721,500), as well as on the pair of cabinet stands also from Wanstead sold from Boulle to Jansen, Christie's London, 12 June 2003, lots 25-26, now with Galerie Kugel, Paris.
AUBERTIN GAUDRON?
However, Boulle did not enjoy a monopoly on this type of commode. In 1713, Aubertin Gaudron delivered a marquetry commode for the château de Compiègne, for which the marquetry was described as:- 'de bois de plusieurs couleurs fond d'ébène ornée au milieu d'un vase rempli de fleurs posé sur un bout de table et un masque grotesque au dessous le reste rempli de rinceaux fleurs oiseaux et papillons au naturel...(AN 01/3308)'.
Similar commodes, although less elaborately mounted - undoubtedly executed in the same workshop and displaying both the characteristic masks as well as the same basic template design for the marquetry - comprise:- one in the musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (Dépôt de musée de Cluny 234; discussed in N. Boucher, L'Estampille, November 1995, p.76); another sold anonymously at Christie's London, 22 June 1989, lot 118; another sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1995, lot 133. Two related four-drawer commodes include that in the Collection of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland and another sold at Sotheby's Paris, 18 June 2002, lot 32.
Fashionable from around 1660, marquetry in fruitwood was initially inspired by the oeuvre of the painter Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer. In 1715, André-Charles Boulle owned 170 drawings and studies of flowers and around 150 drawings of birds painted from life by Pater fils. Moreover, at the time of his death in 1732, several flower paintings by Beaudesson are listed.
Contrary to accepted general opinion, Boulle employed fruitwood marquetry during the vast majority of his career, and not just before 1700. Indeed, in the Acte de Délaisement of 1715, when the ébéniste was already sixty-three years old, the following are recorded:-
'Quinze tables de fleurs ou pièces de rapport commencées...1 350 l. Sept portes de cabinets de fleurs et de marqueterie en dedans 280 l.
Dix neuf caisses de bois de couleur 200 l.
Environ 25 gros trongons de bois jaune, quelques racines de fresne, 6 demi-bîches d'ébéne, 6 demi-bîches de bois rouge ou santal et quelques morceaux de stetin 500 l.
Dix caisses de bois scié en feuilles mêlées comme buis, épine vinette, houx, brésil et autres 300 l..'
The fire that ravaged Boulle's workshops in 1720 destroyed 'deux (bureaux) de bois de couleur, très avancés' and eight commodes, of which some were 'de bois violet et autres couleurs'; this proves that marquetry furniture was still fashionable as late as 1720, as it was still being ordered from the ébéniste.
Not everything was destroyed in the 1720 fire, however, as the 1732 Inventory describes 'une table à fleurs de pièces rapport à guesnes fort vieille, prise comme telle.'
The same distinctive end-cut elm masks can be seen in Boulle's documented oeuvre, for instance on the table owned by Blondel d'Azincourt in the 18th century and subsequently at Wanstead, which was sold from the Riahi Collection, Christie's New York, 2 November 2000, lot 40 ($5,721,500), as well as on the pair of cabinet stands also from Wanstead sold from Boulle to Jansen, Christie's London, 12 June 2003, lots 25-26, now with Galerie Kugel, Paris.
AUBERTIN GAUDRON?
However, Boulle did not enjoy a monopoly on this type of commode. In 1713, Aubertin Gaudron delivered a marquetry commode for the château de Compiègne, for which the marquetry was described as:- 'de bois de plusieurs couleurs fond d'ébène ornée au milieu d'un vase rempli de fleurs posé sur un bout de table et un masque grotesque au dessous le reste rempli de rinceaux fleurs oiseaux et papillons au naturel...(AN 01/3308)'.
Similar commodes, although less elaborately mounted - undoubtedly executed in the same workshop and displaying both the characteristic masks as well as the same basic template design for the marquetry - comprise:- one in the musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (Dépôt de musée de Cluny 234; discussed in N. Boucher, L'Estampille, November 1995, p.76); another sold anonymously at Christie's London, 22 June 1989, lot 118; another sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1995, lot 133. Two related four-drawer commodes include that in the Collection of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland and another sold at Sotheby's Paris, 18 June 2002, lot 32.