One of a pair of pedestals; carcase of pine veneered with tortoiseshell, horn with blue pigment behind, engraved brass & pewter; gilt bronze mounts; attributed to André Charles Boulle (1642 - 1732); Paris, France, probably 1684.

One of a pair of pedestals, with carcase of pine veneered with boulle marquetry of tortoiseshell, engraved brass and pewter, and horn set against a blue ground, the pedestals set with gilt bronze mounts.

Each pedestal is of tapering, square-sectioned form, raised on a slightly larger, attached plinth, the sides and front of the plinth cut on the lower edge with an ogee arch, the front spandrels of the arches set with panels of scrolling boulle marquetry, and the lower edges of the arches resting on turned feet, the upper part of the feet wider and down-turned like mushrooms, the top surface reeded. The top edge of the plinth is set with a gadrooned moulding in gilt bronze and the sides and front of the main shaft show sunk panels of boulle marquetry of symmetrical scrolls, edged with upright leaf moulding in gilt bronze. The tortoiseshell areas of the boulle marquetry are coated on the reverse with a dark brown pigment. At the top of the shaft the sides and front are set with a satyr mask in gilt bronze. An out-curving frieze section above is set with a trygliph mount in the centre of each side and the front, the boulle sections of these of horn over blue colouring, while the corners are set with upright acanthus leaf mounts. Above this, the edge of the top is moulded in an ovolo section, outset from the frieze. The top edge of the ovolo is veneered with brass and tortoiseshell in a pattern of repeating, upright leaves, the corners mounted with foliage mounts in gilt bronze. The top of the plinth rises behind this moulding, as a shallow, ebonised plinth.

The boulle marquetry on this plinth and its pair, 1025a-1882, differ very slightly in detail. For instance, the central rosette on the front on 1025-1882 is of brass, whereas on 1025a-1882 is of pewter, while the boulle marquetry on the ovolo edges is in première partie on 1025-1882 and in contre partie on 1025a-1882. In places the marquetry is attached with brass pins, from older repairs.

Bequeathed by John Jones

Bequeathed by John Jones with 1025A-1881: one of a 'Pair of Pedestals. Ebony, with Boulle inlay of brass, white metal and tortoiseshell, and heavy mounting of masks, bands and angle-pieces, in chased ormoulu. French. Period of Louis XIV. H. 4 ft. 3 1/3 in. - Top, 16 1/2 in. Square'

Furniture made for the grandest interiors in France in the years around 1700 was designed to impress rather than to be comfortable or necessarily useful. Large rooms were furnished with matching sets of tables and candlestands. One of the most fashionable forms of decoration for such furniture was boulle marquetry. In this work, the surface was veneered with ebony and with panels of scrolling marquetry in brass, tortoiseshell and sometimes other materials such as pewter or horn. The technique derived its name from André-Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to Louis XIV. Although many other makers used this technique, it is possible that this pedestal and its pair (Museum no. 1025A-1882) were actually made in Boulle's workshop.

When these pedestals were conserved in 1970, a small sheet of paper was found, used as packing under the top of one of them, which carried some words in French and the date 1693.

1025-1882