The Boulle style is named after the French furniture maker André-Charles Boulle. He was nicknamed ‘the furniture jeweler’ for his impeccable skills.
André-Charles Boulle was born into a family of a cabinetmaker. His father served as the court furniture maker of Louis XIII and lived in the Louvre. Boulle was a versatile person: he was an architect, a painter, a master of furniture, and an engraver. The young man got his basic carpentry skills in his father’s workshop, then he studied in Flanders for three years, where there was a new artistic style developing at the time — Flemish Baroque. It was distinguished by its simplicity and striving for realism. By the age of 24, Boulle had already opened his own workshop. In 1720, it had 20 employees.
The master was known as a preeminent artist in the field of marquetry, intarsia in particular: he was the first master to use unusual materials. Marquetry is the technique of decorating a surface using materials that differ in color, composition and texture. In contrast with marquetry, intarsia intended for elements to be inlaid deep within the solid wood matrix. Boulle’s wardrobes and commodes with the luxurious inlays of brass, gilded bronze and turtle shell plates matched the tastes of the era during the French king Louis XIV’s reign.
The Arkhangelsk Museum houses a wardrobe and a stand, made in the Boulle style. The master used two thin metal (tin or copper) and tortoiseshell plates. By putting them one on top of the other, he carved a drawing on all of them at once. This way, he got four parts: two backgrounds — tortoiseshell and metal — and two ornaments or figures. He combined those elements to get variations: tortoiseshell with copper inserts or copper with tortoiseshell ones.
This furniture was popular throughout the 18th century. In the mid-19th century, French furniture makers revived their interest in the already forgotten technique. However, the great demand for the Boulle-styled furniture has led to the invention of cheaper finishing techniques. Expensive ebony wood was replaced with the one simply painted black, tortoiseshell — with wax-colored mastic, and gold embossed bronze elements — with brass ones.
André-Charles Boulle was born into a family of a cabinetmaker. His father served as the court furniture maker of Louis XIII and lived in the Louvre. Boulle was a versatile person: he was an architect, a painter, a master of furniture, and an engraver. The young man got his basic carpentry skills in his father’s workshop, then he studied in Flanders for three years, where there was a new artistic style developing at the time — Flemish Baroque. It was distinguished by its simplicity and striving for realism. By the age of 24, Boulle had already opened his own workshop. In 1720, it had 20 employees.
The master was known as a preeminent artist in the field of marquetry, intarsia in particular: he was the first master to use unusual materials. Marquetry is the technique of decorating a surface using materials that differ in color, composition and texture. In contrast with marquetry, intarsia intended for elements to be inlaid deep within the solid wood matrix. Boulle’s wardrobes and commodes with the luxurious inlays of brass, gilded bronze and turtle shell plates matched the tastes of the era during the French king Louis XIV’s reign.
The Arkhangelsk Museum houses a wardrobe and a stand, made in the Boulle style. The master used two thin metal (tin or copper) and tortoiseshell plates. By putting them one on top of the other, he carved a drawing on all of them at once. This way, he got four parts: two backgrounds — tortoiseshell and metal — and two ornaments or figures. He combined those elements to get variations: tortoiseshell with copper inserts or copper with tortoiseshell ones.
This furniture was popular throughout the 18th century. In the mid-19th century, French furniture makers revived their interest in the already forgotten technique. However, the great demand for the Boulle-styled furniture has led to the invention of cheaper finishing techniques. Expensive ebony wood was replaced with the one simply painted black, tortoiseshell — with wax-colored mastic, and gold embossed bronze elements — with brass ones.
