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Lot Essay
The following cabinet-on-stand and table en suite are outstanding products sprung from the fascination with luxurious and highly realistic floral marquetry or peinture en bois as it was aptly coined, in France during the late seventeenth century. Originating in the Netherlands, this type of marquetry quickly became fashionable throughout Europe, but few craftsmen perfected it to such excellence as the French, as seen in these two works. Profusely decorated with an intricate inlay of flowers, birds, butterflies and elaborate foliate scrolls executed in a rich variety of materials, this cabinet and the following table relate to the oeuvres of three of the most important marquetry artists of the reign of Louis XIV: Pierre Gole (c.1620-1684), Thomas Hache (1664-1747) and André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732).
The flowering vases supported by acanthi centering the doors of the cabinet and the top of the table were common decorative devices of the late seventeenth century and were based on contemporaneous floral still lives by artists such as Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699) and Jean-Michel Picard (1600-1682). Their works were often adapted and disseminated by engravers and draftsmen, whose prints served as immediate sources to cabinetmakers. Furthermore, designs by creative dessinateurs, such as Jean Le Pautre (1618-1682), who invented fanciful interiors, ideas for new furnishings and collections of new decorative elements, also made a profound impact on furniture-production at the time. A vase comparable to those on the doors of this cabinet and the top of the table is found on the central and side panels of a cabinet by Gole, see T.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole: Ebéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon, 2005, p. 138. A similar flowering vase also decorated the sides of a bureau mazarin by Hache, see P. and F. Rouge, Le Génie des Hache, Dijon, 2005, p. 163. Similarly to the vase motif, butterflies and birds comparable to those found on these two lots can be seen on a commode mazarin by Hache, see ibid., p. 192, and a bureau and a cabinet by Gole, see Lunsingh Scheurleer, op. cit., p. 193 and P. Ramond, La Marqueterie, Dourdan, 1988, p. 29, respectively. A peculiar feature that is common in the vase panel of both the above and the present cabinet is the rich acanthus scrolls issuing griffin claws supporting the rectangular plaques on which the vases sit. This design element can also be found on the side of a pair of armoires by Gole, see P. Ramond, Chefs d’Oeuvre der Marqueteurs, Vol. I, Dourdan, 1994, pp. 84-85.
The use of giltwood figures raising both the table and the cabinet was a popular feature of Baroque cabinet-making in France at the time, and it had its origins in the architectural wonders of Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) and his contemporaries. These figural supports can be found on a number of pieces in Gole’s oeuvre, including the cabinet cited above in Lunsingh Scheurleer that is also raised on the same lion’s paw feet as these lots, a cabinet in the Musée Jacquemart-André, see ibid., p. 175, and another illustrated P. Ramond, Chefs d’Oeuvre der Marqueteurs, p. 94. Whereas these cabinets rest on figures of maidens and mythological male figures, this cabinet and table are supported by putti-form herms. For a table attributed to the Manufacture des Gobelins with very similar putti figures, see op. cit., p. 81. That table is also fitted with a basically identical stretcher mounted with a very similar flaming urn as the cabinet and the table here. Furthermore, the apron frieze of the Gobelins table is highly comparable to the one on this table and similarly accented with reserves filled with single flowers at the corners. Interestingly, the secondary inlay material in the form of flowerheads of this cabinet and table is domestic bone and not exotic ivory as it was the case with most comparably-inlaid works produced in the Parisian workshops of Gole and his fellow cabinet-makers. This anomaly, coupled with certain constructional features, suggests that this cabinet and table were produced outside of the capital, probably in a major city in France as a special commission for a wealthy local patron. Whoever the maker of these pieces was, they must have been very familiar with Parisian and international trends and the works of the most important craftsmen of their time. As shown above, Pierre Gole’s influence is particularly strong here as a number of stylistic characteristics of his oeuvre can be seen on both the cabinet and the table and it is even possible that their maker trained or apprenticed at Gole’s atelier. It is evident that Gole’s and his fellow master cabinet-makers’ work was well-recognized beyond the artistic and aristocratic circles of Paris and that craftsmen and artists outside of Paris were capable of executing the most luxurious and artistically complex works.
The flowering vases supported by acanthi centering the doors of the cabinet and the top of the table were common decorative devices of the late seventeenth century and were based on contemporaneous floral still lives by artists such as Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699) and Jean-Michel Picard (1600-1682). Their works were often adapted and disseminated by engravers and draftsmen, whose prints served as immediate sources to cabinetmakers. Furthermore, designs by creative dessinateurs, such as Jean Le Pautre (1618-1682), who invented fanciful interiors, ideas for new furnishings and collections of new decorative elements, also made a profound impact on furniture-production at the time. A vase comparable to those on the doors of this cabinet and the top of the table is found on the central and side panels of a cabinet by Gole, see T.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole: Ebéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon, 2005, p. 138. A similar flowering vase also decorated the sides of a bureau mazarin by Hache, see P. and F. Rouge, Le Génie des Hache, Dijon, 2005, p. 163. Similarly to the vase motif, butterflies and birds comparable to those found on these two lots can be seen on a commode mazarin by Hache, see ibid., p. 192, and a bureau and a cabinet by Gole, see Lunsingh Scheurleer, op. cit., p. 193 and P. Ramond, La Marqueterie, Dourdan, 1988, p. 29, respectively. A peculiar feature that is common in the vase panel of both the above and the present cabinet is the rich acanthus scrolls issuing griffin claws supporting the rectangular plaques on which the vases sit. This design element can also be found on the side of a pair of armoires by Gole, see P. Ramond, Chefs d’Oeuvre der Marqueteurs, Vol. I, Dourdan, 1994, pp. 84-85.
The use of giltwood figures raising both the table and the cabinet was a popular feature of Baroque cabinet-making in France at the time, and it had its origins in the architectural wonders of Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) and his contemporaries. These figural supports can be found on a number of pieces in Gole’s oeuvre, including the cabinet cited above in Lunsingh Scheurleer that is also raised on the same lion’s paw feet as these lots, a cabinet in the Musée Jacquemart-André, see ibid., p. 175, and another illustrated P. Ramond, Chefs d’Oeuvre der Marqueteurs, p. 94. Whereas these cabinets rest on figures of maidens and mythological male figures, this cabinet and table are supported by putti-form herms. For a table attributed to the Manufacture des Gobelins with very similar putti figures, see op. cit., p. 81. That table is also fitted with a basically identical stretcher mounted with a very similar flaming urn as the cabinet and the table here. Furthermore, the apron frieze of the Gobelins table is highly comparable to the one on this table and similarly accented with reserves filled with single flowers at the corners. Interestingly, the secondary inlay material in the form of flowerheads of this cabinet and table is domestic bone and not exotic ivory as it was the case with most comparably-inlaid works produced in the Parisian workshops of Gole and his fellow cabinet-makers. This anomaly, coupled with certain constructional features, suggests that this cabinet and table were produced outside of the capital, probably in a major city in France as a special commission for a wealthy local patron. Whoever the maker of these pieces was, they must have been very familiar with Parisian and international trends and the works of the most important craftsmen of their time. As shown above, Pierre Gole’s influence is particularly strong here as a number of stylistic characteristics of his oeuvre can be seen on both the cabinet and the table and it is even possible that their maker trained or apprenticed at Gole’s atelier. It is evident that Gole’s and his fellow master cabinet-makers’ work was well-recognized beyond the artistic and aristocratic circles of Paris and that craftsmen and artists outside of Paris were capable of executing the most luxurious and artistically complex works.