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Lot Essay
This bureau mazarin brisée has recently been attributed to the master ébéniste Pierre Gole (circa 1620 - 1684) by Th. H. Lunsingh Scheurleer (Pierre Gole, ébéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon, 2005, pp. 190 - 191). The term bureau mazarin was adapted for this form in the 19th century in the belief that Cardinal Mazarin was involved in the original commissions. However, the first record of a bureau mazarin is in 1671 when Gole supplied one to the Royal garde meuble, long after Mazarin's death in 1661. In 1672 Gole supplied another bureau mazarin of engraved pewter inlaid in brass and with carved giltwood supports and superstructure to Louis XIV, which is believed to be the one today in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry at Boughton House (op. cit., p. 185). Of the many bureaux mazarins that Gole supplied to Louis XIV, this is the only one that can with certainty be identified as one.
Lunsingh Scheurleer describes the bureau offered here in his book as 'Décoré de marqueterie de fleurs d'une qualité exceptionelle, ce bureau compte selon nous parmi les plus beaux meubles de Pierre Gole, exécutés entre 1675 et 1680'. Unfortunately it is not possible to identify this bureau in the inventories of Louis XIV, although simlar examples are mentioned. In 1677 Gole supplied 'deux petits bureaux de marqueterie et ornements d'étain', which in the 'Inventaire général' are described under numbers 318 and 319 as decorated with 'marqueterie de cuivre et d'étain à fleurs de bois de diverses couleurs' decorated to one panel with 'un vase remply de fleurs de marqueterie de bois sur un bout de table'. They were placed at the château de Fontainebleau.
Gole also supplied several bureaux mazarins to private clients, including one of scrolling foliate pewter and copper inlay into ebony on giltwood putti supports and bearing the arms of the marquis de Mirabeau and Elisabeth de Rochemore, which is today at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres (op. cit., p. 194). Gole is believed to have made between 60 and 70 such bureaux in his life, of which over 20 for the Royal family.
Lunsingh Scheurleer describes the bureau offered here in his book as 'Décoré de marqueterie de fleurs d'une qualité exceptionelle, ce bureau compte selon nous parmi les plus beaux meubles de Pierre Gole, exécutés entre 1675 et 1680'. Unfortunately it is not possible to identify this bureau in the inventories of Louis XIV, although simlar examples are mentioned. In 1677 Gole supplied 'deux petits bureaux de marqueterie et ornements d'étain', which in the 'Inventaire général' are described under numbers 318 and 319 as decorated with 'marqueterie de cuivre et d'étain à fleurs de bois de diverses couleurs' decorated to one panel with 'un vase remply de fleurs de marqueterie de bois sur un bout de table'. They were placed at the château de Fontainebleau.
Gole also supplied several bureaux mazarins to private clients, including one of scrolling foliate pewter and copper inlay into ebony on giltwood putti supports and bearing the arms of the marquis de Mirabeau and Elisabeth de Rochemore, which is today at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres (op. cit., p. 194). Gole is believed to have made between 60 and 70 such bureaux in his life, of which over 20 for the Royal family.