-
Table
Boulle, André-Charles, born 1642 - died 1732 - Enlarge image
Table
- Place of origin:
Paris, France (made)
- Date:
ca. 1701-20 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Boulle, André-Charles, born 1642 - died 1732 (probably, maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Oak and walnut, veneered with brass and Boulle contrepartie marquetry of tortoiseshell, pewter, copper and horn, back-painted in blue pigments, with gilt bronze mounts
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by John Jones
- Museum number:
1015-1882
- Gallery location:
In Store
For many years the odd shape of this table and its pair (1015A-1882) led curators to question whether they were authentic. In 1985 a Dutch scholar suggested that they might be the pair of tables made in 1701 by the French cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle for the apartments of the Duchesse de Bourgogne at the Château de la Ménagerie in the park at Versailles. The duchess was the young wife of Louis XIV’s grandson, and the Château de la Ménagerie was refurbished for her from 1699, when she was just 13, as a pleasure pavilion rather than as a residential palace. Her tables differed from the present ones, however, for they were inlaid with brass and other materials on a ground of tortoiseshell (the technique that became known as ‘boulle marquetry’). These tables are in the reverse technique, known as contre partie, with a ground of brass. So, although they may come from the same workshop, they are not the Ménagerie tables.
