There was no limit to the prices a reckless and profligate court was
willing to pay for luxurious beauty during the sumptuous, extravagant
reign of Louis the Magnificent of France. For much that was most
splendid and beautiful in furniture making at this period stands the
name of Charles André Boulle. His imagination and skill were given full
play, and he proved equal to the demands made upon him.
Boulle was a remarkable man. In a court whose only thought was of
pleasure and display, he realized that his furniture must not only
excel all others in richness, beauty, and cost; it must also be both
comfortable and useful. He was appointed cabinet maker to the Dauphin,
the heir to the throne of France. This distinction, together with his
own tastes, led him to copy some of the manners and bearing of his rich
customers.
He was an aristocrat among furniture makers. He spent the greater part
of his large fortune in filling his workshop with works of art. His
warehouses were packed with precious woods and finished and unfinished
pieces of magnificent furniture. In his own rooms were priceless works
of art, the collection of a lifetime--gems, medals, drawings, and
paintings, which included forty-eight drawings by Raphael.
Boulle’s ruin came in a single night. When he was seventy-eight years
old all his property was destroyed by fire. His loss was not only of
fortune, but of reputation as well; for when he was down and out he
resorted to tricks and questionable dealings which brought him many
lawsuits. He died in debt and poverty, a discredited and broken man.
The English court vied with France in its extravagance, and heaped
honors and wealth on the man who, like Boulle, in France, was foremost
among designers of furniture in that country. The authorities on fine
furniture frequently speak of Marot’s work in connection with that of
the great Boulle. Daniel Marot was the son of Jean Marot, an architect
and engraver. After he went to England with William III he principally
concentrated his talent upon the adornment of Hampton Court Palace.
Much of the furniture at Hampton Court bears unmistakable traces of
his authorship. At Windsor Castle also there is a silver table that is
attributed to him.
Marot’s work differs from that of Boulle in that he inserted, in
medallion form, pictorial subjects in a heavy framework of ornament.
In other pieces the inlay took the form of geometrical, floral, and
animal patterns, combined with the warmer and more beautiful tints of
the exotic woods. The whole was marked by an unsurpassed degree of
excellence in workmanship.
Besides furniture, Marot designed carved chimney pieces, panels for
walls, ceilings, and wall brackets. He was also famous as a designer of
gold and silver plate, and he even made tea urns and cream jugs.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 30, SERIAL No. 30
[Illustration: LOUIS XV SIDEBOARD--MADE BY RIESENER]
_FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS_
_J. H. Riesener_