Boulle chest of drawers

3D model of one of the two Boulle dressers from the Abundance show.
In 1708 and 1709, André-Charles Boulle delivered two identical commodes for Louis XIV’s antechamber and chamber at Trianon. They were called “bureaux”, revealing some doubt in defining the form of the commode. In 1790, they were sent to the Furniture Store-House in Paris and then allocated to the Institute’s library, whence the name “Mazarine” commodes. They stand out above all by the originality and virtuosity of Boulle’s exceptional gilded bronzes. He was as much a bronzesmith as a cabinetmaker. The curved body with two drawers is framed with feet in consoles decorated with winged women’s heads and ending in a lion’s paw foot with an acanthus in gilded bronze. The feet have additional, inner feet in the form of twisted spindles. The pieces are veneered with ebony and marquetry initially made of copper inlays on a tortoiseshell background depicting rinceaux and coils. They support a griotte marble, the ultimate royal marble. The design of these commodes displays genuine Baroque splendour.