André-Charles Boulle, le joailler du meuble, became the most famous French cabinetmaker and the preeminent artist in the field of marquetry, also known as "inlay". Boulle was "the most remarkable of all French cabinetmakers". Jean-Baptiste Colbert recommended him to Louis XIV of France, the "Sun King", as "the most skilled craftsman in his profession". Over the centuries since his death, his name and that of his family has become associated with the art he perfected, the inlay of tortoiseshell, brass and pewter into ebony. It has become known as Boulle work,
and the École Boulle, a college of fine arts and crafts and applied arts in Paris, continues today to bear testimony to his enduring art, the art of inlay.
Commode by André-Charles Boulle, son of Jean Boulle: (c. 1710–20). Walnut veneered with ebony, marquetry of engraved brass and tortoiseshell, gilt-bronze mounts, verd antique marble
Commode by André-Charles Boulle - Detail
Commode by André-Charles Boulle, son of Jean Boulle - Detail
J. Paul Getty Museum: Wall Clock; Attributed to André-Charles Boulle (French, 1642–1732, master before 1666); Paris, France; about 1710; Gilt bronze; blue-painted horn; enameled metal.
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood, coated steel, or synthetic materials. Commercial grade cabinets usually have a melamine-particleboard substrate and are covered in a high-pressure decorative laminate, commonly referred to as Wilsonart or Formica.
Cabinet; by Francesco Del Tuppo; c. 1606–1623; oak and poplar veneered with various exotic hardwoods, with ebony moldings and plaques of marble, and various other materials; 59.1 × 96.8 × 35.9 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Commode by André-Charles Boulle at Vaux-le-Vicomte
Tortoise-shell cabinet of Polish king John III Sobieski, looted by the Germans from the Wilanów Palace during World War II
Crafted by Hughes Sambin (1570–1600), the double cabinet features the combination of architectural elements and relief carving that is characteristic of French furniture of the period.