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ATTRIBUÉ À L'ATELIER DES FILS D'ANDRÉ-CHARLES BOULLE, VERS 1720
Details
PETIT BUREAU PLAT D'ÉPOQUE RÉGENCE
ATTRIBUÉ À L'ATELIER DES FILS D'ANDRÉ-CHARLES BOULLE, VERS 1720
En marqueterie de bois de rose et de violette, ornementation de bronze ciselé et doré, à décor de chevrons, le plateau partiellement gainé de cuir estampé, ceint d'une lingotière appliquée aux angles de feuilles d'acanthe, la ceinture ouvrant par trois tiroirs en façade, trois tiroirs feints au dos, sur des pieds galbés surmontés de volutes de feuillages, se terminant en sabots
H. 70 cm. (25 ½ in.) ; L. 129 cm. (50 ¾ in.) ; P. 72 cm. (28 1⁄3 in.)
ATTRIBUÉ À L'ATELIER DES FILS D'ANDRÉ-CHARLES BOULLE, VERS 1720
En marqueterie de bois de rose et de violette, ornementation de bronze ciselé et doré, à décor de chevrons, le plateau partiellement gainé de cuir estampé, ceint d'une lingotière appliquée aux angles de feuilles d'acanthe, la ceinture ouvrant par trois tiroirs en façade, trois tiroirs feints au dos, sur des pieds galbés surmontés de volutes de feuillages, se terminant en sabots
H. 70 cm. (25 ½ in.) ; L. 129 cm. (50 ¾ in.) ; P. 72 cm. (28 1⁄3 in.)
Provenance
Doña Graziella Patiño de Ortiz Linares (1900-1980) et Son Excellence Don Jorge Ortiz Linares (1894-1965), 1939 ;
Puis par descendance.
Puis par descendance.
Literature
Bibliographie comparative :
J-P. Samoyault, André-Charles Boulle et sa famille, Genève, 1979.
P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 483.
J-N. Ronfort, André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) : un nouveau style pour l’Europe, Paris, 2009.
W. Heginbotham, French Rococo Ebénisterie in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2021, p. 205 et 217.
André-Charles Boulle, cat. exp., musée Condé Chantilly, 8 juin - 6 octobre 2024, Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau, 2024.
J-P. Samoyault, André-Charles Boulle et sa famille, Genève, 1979.
P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 483.
J-N. Ronfort, André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) : un nouveau style pour l’Europe, Paris, 2009.
W. Heginbotham, French Rococo Ebénisterie in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2021, p. 205 et 217.
André-Charles Boulle, cat. exp., musée Condé Chantilly, 8 juin - 6 octobre 2024, Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau, 2024.
Further Details
A RÉGENCE ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD AND KINGWOOD DESK ATTRIBUTED TO THE WORKSHOP OF BOULLE'S SONS, CIRCA 1720
Reminiscent of the bureau plat as conceived by André-Charles Boulle circa 1710, this small desk with its bold parquetry veneer was possibly produced in the master's workshop by his sons.
The proportions and the size of this desk recall a bureau after a design by André-Charles Boulle, executed by his sons circa 1735–1740, sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 11 December 2025, lot 10. Both pieces share characteristics associated with the production of the Boulle brothers: a freer approach to marquetry and more compact proportions.
The bureau plat with parquetry veneer attributed to the workshop of Boulle’s sons, preserved at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (inv. 55DA.3), displays several further features also found on the present desk: a more pronounced bombé outline, fuller and more rounded forms, and the gradual abandonment of Boulle marquetry in favour of trellis-pattern veneers, a motif that became increasingly prevalent over time. Moreover, the lower section of the sabot mounts on the large bureau and its cartonnier attributed to André-Charles Boulle, offered as lot 28 in the present sale, is almost identical to that of this small bureau plat, further reinforcing the connection.
The four sons of André-Charles Boulle—Jean-Philippe, Pierre-Benoît, André-Charles II and Charles-Joseph—took over the workshop in 1715, at a moment when their father was beginning to withdraw gradually from active production, only five years after creating the earliest forms of the bureau plat. Until his death in 1732, the master continued to work alongside them, making the attribution of pieces produced between 1715 and 1732 particularly complex. It was most likely during this period that the present bureau plat was made, although the workshop of the Boulle brothers remained active until the death of the last surviving son in 1754.
For cabinet-makers who remained faithful for more than three decades to the legacy of their father, this small desk displays a striking degree of inventive freedom. The woven effect of the parquetry veneer running along each leg, of remarkable originality, recalls works by other ébénistes such as a desk by Joseph Baumhauer now preserved at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles (71.DA.95). Closely comparable veneer patterns are found in works by other German-born ébénistes, notably a commode by Jean-Pierre Latz from the Court of Parma, preserved at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, and another commode by the same maker in rosewood and satinwood from a private collection, illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 483.
Whether arranged in trellis patterns, chevrons, or even true wave motifs—such as those found on a commode preserved at the Getty Museum (83.DA.356)—Latz’s parquetry veneers display such virtuosity that it is equally conceivable that he may have been responsible for the present desk. Moreover, Latz’s period of activity closely coincides with that of the Boulle brothers: he settled in Paris in 1719 and died in 1754, the same year as the last surviving son of André-Charles Boulle. The construction and solidity of the present bureau, particularly the oak drawer, together with the clarity of its design and the restraint of its lacquered bronze mounts, lend further support to this hypothesis.
The absence of a definitive attribution for a Louis XV bureau virtually identical to the present example, sold at Sotheby’s on 3 December 1989, lot 267, leaves the mystery unresolved. Three further Régence desks share the same boldly light and elegant silhouette as the present desk: one from the collection of the Duke of Beauffremont at the Château de Brienne, sold at Christie's Paris, 13 December 2006, lot 222; another from the Jules Strauss collection, now in a private collection in New York; and a third from the collection of Tobias Meyer, sold at Christie's London, 19 May 2021, lot 5. Undeniably rooted in André-Charles Boulle’s production of the early eighteenth century, the present bureau plat nevertheless adopts several characteristics associated with the work of his sons: reduced proportions, a more restrained silhouette, softer and more rounded curves, and a highly inventive trellis-pattern veneer worthy of a young and audacious German cabinet-maker.
Reminiscent of the bureau plat as conceived by André-Charles Boulle circa 1710, this small desk with its bold parquetry veneer was possibly produced in the master's workshop by his sons.
The proportions and the size of this desk recall a bureau after a design by André-Charles Boulle, executed by his sons circa 1735–1740, sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 11 December 2025, lot 10. Both pieces share characteristics associated with the production of the Boulle brothers: a freer approach to marquetry and more compact proportions.
The bureau plat with parquetry veneer attributed to the workshop of Boulle’s sons, preserved at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (inv. 55DA.3), displays several further features also found on the present desk: a more pronounced bombé outline, fuller and more rounded forms, and the gradual abandonment of Boulle marquetry in favour of trellis-pattern veneers, a motif that became increasingly prevalent over time. Moreover, the lower section of the sabot mounts on the large bureau and its cartonnier attributed to André-Charles Boulle, offered as lot 28 in the present sale, is almost identical to that of this small bureau plat, further reinforcing the connection.
The four sons of André-Charles Boulle—Jean-Philippe, Pierre-Benoît, André-Charles II and Charles-Joseph—took over the workshop in 1715, at a moment when their father was beginning to withdraw gradually from active production, only five years after creating the earliest forms of the bureau plat. Until his death in 1732, the master continued to work alongside them, making the attribution of pieces produced between 1715 and 1732 particularly complex. It was most likely during this period that the present bureau plat was made, although the workshop of the Boulle brothers remained active until the death of the last surviving son in 1754.
For cabinet-makers who remained faithful for more than three decades to the legacy of their father, this small desk displays a striking degree of inventive freedom. The woven effect of the parquetry veneer running along each leg, of remarkable originality, recalls works by other ébénistes such as a desk by Joseph Baumhauer now preserved at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles (71.DA.95). Closely comparable veneer patterns are found in works by other German-born ébénistes, notably a commode by Jean-Pierre Latz from the Court of Parma, preserved at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, and another commode by the same maker in rosewood and satinwood from a private collection, illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 483.
Whether arranged in trellis patterns, chevrons, or even true wave motifs—such as those found on a commode preserved at the Getty Museum (83.DA.356)—Latz’s parquetry veneers display such virtuosity that it is equally conceivable that he may have been responsible for the present desk. Moreover, Latz’s period of activity closely coincides with that of the Boulle brothers: he settled in Paris in 1719 and died in 1754, the same year as the last surviving son of André-Charles Boulle. The construction and solidity of the present bureau, particularly the oak drawer, together with the clarity of its design and the restraint of its lacquered bronze mounts, lend further support to this hypothesis.
The absence of a definitive attribution for a Louis XV bureau virtually identical to the present example, sold at Sotheby’s on 3 December 1989, lot 267, leaves the mystery unresolved. Three further Régence desks share the same boldly light and elegant silhouette as the present desk: one from the collection of the Duke of Beauffremont at the Château de Brienne, sold at Christie's Paris, 13 December 2006, lot 222; another from the Jules Strauss collection, now in a private collection in New York; and a third from the collection of Tobias Meyer, sold at Christie's London, 19 May 2021, lot 5. Undeniably rooted in André-Charles Boulle’s production of the early eighteenth century, the present bureau plat nevertheless adopts several characteristics associated with the work of his sons: reduced proportions, a more restrained silhouette, softer and more rounded curves, and a highly inventive trellis-pattern veneer worthy of a young and audacious German cabinet-maker.
Présenté par
Paul Gallois
Head of European Furniture, EMEA