National Heritage Week 2023
Hugh Cummins looks at the work and influence of Louis XIV's 'Furniture Jeweller' extraordinaire André-Charles Boulle
Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (Ireland)
[If you have landed on this page from the link on the National Heritage Week website, please note that no booking is required]
The Olivier Cornet Gallery is a repeat participant of National Heritage Week. Check out our 2022 project with Annika Berglund's interest in locally-bred wool and her feltwork practice, our 2021 project with Eoin Mac Lochlainn's Harold’s Cross Heritage Apple Trees and our 2020 project with Yanny Petter's wonderful Calla Lily Blue for instance.
In view of the theme for National Heritage Week 2023, living heritage and the traditions and practices, knowledge and skills passed down through generations, we asked gallery artist Hugh Cummins to share his knowledge and methods of working in both solid and veneered wood with particular attention to the influence of the work of André -Charles Boulle, a cabinet maker (1642 -1732) who was supported and sponsored by Louis XIV.
Introduction
In Hugh’s early years of working with wood he enrolled in a cabinet making course at the London School of Furniture and in this very broad education he was introduced to the world of veneers. Since then he has used these thin leaves – veneers - in many different aspects of his work, including on occasion the exacting skill of marquetry. Hugh particularly enjoys utilising contrasting colours and grain patterns as integral to his final forms in wood. He has been influenced in this approach by the work of the foremost proponent of marquetry – André-Charles Boulle and is delighted to present an understanding of the man, his work and his legacy.
Why is André-Charles Boulle so important in 17th Century France under Louis XIV?
André-Charles was born on 10th November 1642 and died 29th February 1732.
The now world renowned highly decorated furniture made by Boulle consists of cabinets, commodes, clocks, tables in vivid contrasting woods, silver an d bronze decoration. His pieces typically involve a rich marquetry process or inlay. The furniture is often veneered with turtle-shell inlaid primarily with brass and pewter in elaborate designs. The aspect of Boulle’s marquetry work that has particularly influenced Hugh is the perfectly cut, matching, mirrored and balanced designs known as “première partie” and “contre-partie”.
Image above: work attributed to André-Charles Boulle, Getty Museum (public domain)
There were other significant craftsmen in Europe at the same time as Boulle such as:
• Pierre Golle (1684), a Flemish Cabinet Maker who used the same materials as Boulle for floral marquetry – brass, pewter etc.
• J.D. Sommer (1643 - ) worked in Germany and was very popular.
• In England the Dutch born English Cabinet Maker Gerrit Jensen (1680 – 1717) used Ivory and metal inlays in Arabesque and Geometrical motifs.
• Jean Berain (1638 – 1711) the Director of the Gobelins in 1683 was instrumental in creating designs for André-Charles Boulle’s marquetry. Berain is deemed to be the author of an influential “Pattern Book” which generated a profound impact on the next generation of designers.
However, the work of André-Charles Boulle appears to have survived longer and more significantly than all the other established cabinet makers.
André-Charles may have been hugely assisted in his prominence by coming from a family with a history of working for the Royal Household. His father Jean Boulle (1616 - ) was a Cabinet Maker to the King as was his grandparent Pierre Boulle (1595 – 1649) who served during the reign of
Louis XIII. Boulle’s own four sons also joined him in his business which developed in three workshops.
When all the pieces of the engraved design are released the glue is dissolved and all is reset into two identical images ready to be incorporated in to the surface of the larger furniture item being assembled.*
In smaller compact designs the “chevalet de marqueterie” is ideal but for larger, deeper designs another saw held vertically and foot driven is used to cut the matching “première partie” and “contre-partie”.
• All of the complex, ornate work has to be seen in the context of the wealth of the King and his entourage.
• There is a record of a solid silver table – 2 metres long made for Louis XIV.
• In 1725 Boulle had transferred ownership of his business and tenure in the Louvre to his 4 sons.
• His work when authenticated now sells for millions at auction and larger pieces remain in The Louvre, Versailles, The Wallace Collection (London) and in other prestigious museums around the world.
• In one study of a Boulle table it was carefully dismantled by 1500-2000 skilled conservators and reassembled to establish the base line of authenticity in order to combat manufactured fakes.
His fame and the respect accorded to him outshines many other fine and distinguished craftsmen and cabinet makers under the French Kings and no one else had a college dedicated to furthering the skills needed to develop and support new crafts persons.
Today the Ecole Boulle still focuses on superior fine art and crafts at the college at 9 – 21 Rue Pierre Bourdon in the 12th Arrondissement since it was founded in 1888.
*Boulle Marquetry: How was it Made? A video for the Victoria & Albert Museum
Earlier history of veneers in furniture
The Egyptians were the first to use rare wood sparingly by cutting it finely into thin sheets which were then glued on to more available woods.
The woods that were valued are very much the same as those sought after today but we have a greater choice now whereas the Egyptians sourced their woods from their nearest trading nations. The woods available to them included ebony, and cedar.
The Egyptians also had access to “glue” made from animal skins which they would boil up and apply to the wood so that the bonded wood could appear as a totality and impress the Royal household.
This is the same glue that was then passed down and used for centuries until artificial synthetic glues were developed for speedy aircraft assembly. In all, through the middle ages this was the glue used in all furniture making and other bonding situations.
The many glues available now from a host of suppliers has made the qualities of Pearl glue redundant.
For certain tasks, however, Pearl glue is unbeatable as a glue that can be reversed and so corrections, errors, and repairs can still be made. In a recent restoration of André-Charles Boulle table, made 300 years ago, the damaged marquetry designs were dissolved with alcohol and replaced as good as new by a team of specialist conservators.
The Egyptians also are credited with the first civilised community to use wood and other materials inlaid in their furniture.
Furniture and marquetry and in Ireland
In Ireland during the later years of 1800 there were significant numbers of excellent and skilled furniture makers. One, Michael Butler in Upper Liffey Street, employed three craftsmen marquetry cutters named:
• Folwer
• Isaaco
• Shellend, also:
- one Fret Cutter: Hicks
- two Venierers: Sullivan and Reddy.
Robert Strahan – founded in 1776 had two workshops at 24 – 25 Henry Street and 5 Leinster Street in 1845.
Strahan had designed furniture for Doneraile Court Co. Cork and Lisnavagh House in Co. Carlow.
In the early 1900’s the Bray Art Furniture Industry taught carving.
In Killarney Lady Mayo set up The Killarney School of Arts and Crafts which contributed to the development of carving in Arbutus Wood which is known as the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus Uneda) and Bog Oak.
Robert O’Byrne in The Irish Arts Review 2016 noted that in 1853 there were five establishments using Arbutus Wood, Sycamore, Boxwood, Holly, Yew and Bog Oak.
The work is renowned for the use of marquetry in tables, bureaux, glove boxes, book stands and the use of fern patterns, round towers, wolfhounds and thatched cottages.
The surviving work occasionally comes up to auction and commands significant figures.
In his research Hugh has found little material so far on the tools used and the source of the patterns used in creating the Killarney style.
Similar work was developed for tourist centres and spa towns such as Mauchline in Scotland and Tunbridge Wells in Kent and may well have been supplied by the same specialist companies who were able to produce prepared scenes to be used on final furniture pieces. It is difficult to discover tools, or “trade secrets” after such a long time has passed.
Please note that on the following days/times
17 August 2023, 11am - 8pm
18 August 2023, 11am - 6pm
19 August 2023, 12pm - 5pm
20 August 2023, 12pm - 5pm
Visitors to the Olivier Cornet Gallery will be able to see, in our main exhibition space (alongside our current group show) some of the artist's tools and creations in wood veneers over the years.
