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拍品專文
This splendid cabinet, profusely decorated with marquetry of flowers and birds executed in a rich choice of materials, has been illustrated in various handbooks as a quintessential example of the finest Parisian ébénisterie from the glorious first decades of the reign of Louis XIV. Centered by an opulent vase of flowers posed within an aedicula shaped as a triumphal arch, it exudes the pride and confidence characteristic of that vibrant period in the history of the French decorative arts. The vase stands on a table supported by legs shaped as dolphins, emblematic of the Dauphin, the eldest son of the king; they recur on several of the drawers. To underline its regal presence, the cabinet is supported by four gilded caryatid figures, symbolic of the Seasons.
BETWEEN GOLE AND BOULLE
The foremost ébéniste of the early years of Louis XIV's reign was the Dutch-born Pierre Gole (c. 1620-1685) who may have been the first to decorate furniture with floral marquetry, probably in the early 1650s. In a recent survey of his work, a number of floral marquetry cabinets that are quite similar to the present lot are attributed to this maker, notably a slightly earlier example at Burghley House, Stamford, and another sold in these rooms, 23 June 1988, lot 109, and now in the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco (Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole ébéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon 2005, figs. 95-101 and 105-108, see also figs. 110-112). The Burghley cabinet was acquired in Paris in 1679 by the 5th Earl of Exeter, together with four guéridons and a table en suite, but probably dates from the mid-1660s. Its marquetry is closely related to the decoration of the offered piece, equally including flowers and other elements in ivory and green-coloured bone, and featuring very similar dolphins. The disposition of the marquetry of the drawers in particular, was quickly adopted as the standard solution by the Parisian ébénistes and employed by them on cabinets, writing desks - the so-called bureaux Mazarin - and, somewhat later, commodes. Some of the bureaux have been attributed to Gole as well (Lunsingh Scheurleer, figs. 144-148 and 151-155). However, there were many other cabinet-makers active at the time, and no specific characteristics of Gole's work in this mode have been formulated. The other ébénistes included Michel Camp, Aubertin and Renaud Gaudron, François Guillemard and Charles Fromageau; they, and many others as well, all made floral marquetry furniture, the vogue for which was one of the principal characteristics of Parisian ébénisterie in the years following 1670 (D. Alcouffe a.o., Il mobile francese dal Medioevo al 1925, Milan 1982. pp. 25-53, figs. on pp. 26, 27, 30, 31, 36, 37 and 42-45). On the present piece, the Dutch feeling of the decoration of the caisson, the compartment behind the central door, with its emphasis on bold geometric patterns, suggests that its maker originated from the Northern or Southern Netherlands or had at least trained there.
From the 1670s, the famous André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) was to outshine all his colleagues, being considered le premier dans son métier as early as 1672. He, too, started his career by making floral marquetry cabinets, the earliest known being perhaps the one sold at Sotheby's, London, 15 June 1990, lot 1, and now in the Rijksmuseum (R. Baarsen, 17th-century cabinets, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 2000, pp. 56-62, figs. 64-70). The floral marquetry on this piece and on some later examples is not unlike that on the present cabinet, although Boulle immediately distinguished himself through his heightened sophistication and lively naturalism (see J. Nérée Ronfort, 'The surviving cabinets on stands by André-Charles Boulle and the new chronology of the master's oeuvre', Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 8 (2003), pp. 44-49, figs. 1-5).
The mounts
Another much-admired feature of Boulle's cabinets are the profuse gilt bronze mounts, designed as an integral part of the piece of furniture and closely connected to the marquetry decoration. The mounts on the present cabinet are less opulent, but they certainly reflect Boulle's influence. The finely chiselled garlands of fruit suspended from female masks mounted at the top of the lateral stiles, and the large acanthus leaves below them, are very well integrated with the multi-coloured strings of foliate motifs executed in marquetry. The other elements - keyhole escutcheons and borders to the drawers, bases and capitals to the pilasters - are equally carefully conceived, testifying to the overall high quality of the design and execution of this cabinet de fleurs.
We are grateful to Dr Reinier Baarsen for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.
BETWEEN GOLE AND BOULLE
The foremost ébéniste of the early years of Louis XIV's reign was the Dutch-born Pierre Gole (c. 1620-1685) who may have been the first to decorate furniture with floral marquetry, probably in the early 1650s. In a recent survey of his work, a number of floral marquetry cabinets that are quite similar to the present lot are attributed to this maker, notably a slightly earlier example at Burghley House, Stamford, and another sold in these rooms, 23 June 1988, lot 109, and now in the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco (Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole ébéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon 2005, figs. 95-101 and 105-108, see also figs. 110-112). The Burghley cabinet was acquired in Paris in 1679 by the 5th Earl of Exeter, together with four guéridons and a table en suite, but probably dates from the mid-1660s. Its marquetry is closely related to the decoration of the offered piece, equally including flowers and other elements in ivory and green-coloured bone, and featuring very similar dolphins. The disposition of the marquetry of the drawers in particular, was quickly adopted as the standard solution by the Parisian ébénistes and employed by them on cabinets, writing desks - the so-called bureaux Mazarin - and, somewhat later, commodes. Some of the bureaux have been attributed to Gole as well (Lunsingh Scheurleer, figs. 144-148 and 151-155). However, there were many other cabinet-makers active at the time, and no specific characteristics of Gole's work in this mode have been formulated. The other ébénistes included Michel Camp, Aubertin and Renaud Gaudron, François Guillemard and Charles Fromageau; they, and many others as well, all made floral marquetry furniture, the vogue for which was one of the principal characteristics of Parisian ébénisterie in the years following 1670 (D. Alcouffe a.o., Il mobile francese dal Medioevo al 1925, Milan 1982. pp. 25-53, figs. on pp. 26, 27, 30, 31, 36, 37 and 42-45). On the present piece, the Dutch feeling of the decoration of the caisson, the compartment behind the central door, with its emphasis on bold geometric patterns, suggests that its maker originated from the Northern or Southern Netherlands or had at least trained there.
From the 1670s, the famous André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) was to outshine all his colleagues, being considered le premier dans son métier as early as 1672. He, too, started his career by making floral marquetry cabinets, the earliest known being perhaps the one sold at Sotheby's, London, 15 June 1990, lot 1, and now in the Rijksmuseum (R. Baarsen, 17th-century cabinets, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 2000, pp. 56-62, figs. 64-70). The floral marquetry on this piece and on some later examples is not unlike that on the present cabinet, although Boulle immediately distinguished himself through his heightened sophistication and lively naturalism (see J. Nérée Ronfort, 'The surviving cabinets on stands by André-Charles Boulle and the new chronology of the master's oeuvre', Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 8 (2003), pp. 44-49, figs. 1-5).
The mounts
Another much-admired feature of Boulle's cabinets are the profuse gilt bronze mounts, designed as an integral part of the piece of furniture and closely connected to the marquetry decoration. The mounts on the present cabinet are less opulent, but they certainly reflect Boulle's influence. The finely chiselled garlands of fruit suspended from female masks mounted at the top of the lateral stiles, and the large acanthus leaves below them, are very well integrated with the multi-coloured strings of foliate motifs executed in marquetry. The other elements - keyhole escutcheons and borders to the drawers, bases and capitals to the pilasters - are equally carefully conceived, testifying to the overall high quality of the design and execution of this cabinet de fleurs.
We are grateful to Dr Reinier Baarsen for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.