André Charles Boulle

André-Charles Boulle (Nov 11, 1642 - Feb 28, 1732) was the French cabinetmaker who is generally considered to be the preeminent artist in the field of marquetry, even "the most remarkable of all French cabinetmakers" His fame in marquetry led to his name being given to the fashion he perfected of inlaying brass and tortoiseshell, known as Boulle

André-Charles Boulle, the son of Jean Boulle (originally called Johan Bolt) was of German origin, being born in the Duchy of Guelders André-Charles became the most famous of his family Boulle's skill and reputation must have begun at a comparatively early age; by age 30 he had already been granted one of those lodgings in the galleries of the Louvre which Henri IV had set apart for the use of the most favoured among the artists employed by the crown To be admitted to these galleries not only signified a mark of special royal favor, but gave the important privilege of freedom from the trammels of the trade guilds In 1672 Louis XIV gave Boulle the deceased Jean Macé's own lodging upon the recommendation of the minister of the arts, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who described Boulle as le plus habile ébéniste de Paris; the patent conferring this privilege also describes him as a chaser, gilder and maker of marquetry He received the post of premier ébéniste du Roi

Boulle appears to have started out as a painter, since the first payment to him by the crown of which there is any record (1669) specifies ouvrages de peinture He was employed for many years at Versailles, where the mirrored walls, the floors of wood mosaic, the inlaid paneling and the marquetery furniture in the Cabinet du Dauphin (1682–1686) were regarded[by whom?] as his most remarkable work These rooms were dismantled in the 18th century and their outmoded contents dispersed, but an inventory of their ornamentation recently surfaced in the National Archives in Paris

Boulle carried out numerous royal commissions, as we learn both from the accounts of the Bâtiments du Roi and from the correspondence of the marquis de Louvois Foreign princes and the great nobles, government ministers and financiers of his own country crowded to him with commissions, and the mot of the abbé de Marolles, Boulle y tourne en ovale, has become a stock quotation in the literature of French cabinetmaking

Boulle's output included commodes, bureaux, armoires, pedestals, clockcases and lighting-fixtures, richly mounted with gilt-bronze that he modeled himself

Despite his distinction, the facility with which he worked, the high prices he obtained, and his workshops full of clever craftsmen, Boulle appears to have constantly lacked for money, in part the result of his obsession for collecting works of art He did not always pay his workmen Clients who had made considerable advances failed to obtain the fine pieces they had ordered; more than one application was made for permission to arrest him for debt under orders of the courts within the asylum of the Louvre In 1704, the king granted him six months' protection from his creditors on condition that Boulle use the time to regulate his affairs or ce sera la dernière grace que sa majesté lui fera là-dessus Twenty years later, one of Boulle's sons was arrested at Fontainebleau and kept in prison for debt until King Louis XV had him released

In 1720 his finances were still further embarrassed by a fire which, beginning in another atelier, extended to his workshop in the Place du Louvre (one of three he maintained) and destroyed twenty workbenches and their associated tools of eighteen ébénistes and two menuisiers, and most of the seasoned materials, appliances, models, and finished work The salvage was sold, and a petition for financial help was sent to the Regent, the result of which does not appear in surviving documents According to Boulle's friend Pierre-Jean Mariette, many of his pecuniary difficulties were caused by his passion for collecting pictures, engravings, and other objects of art The inventory of his losses in the fire, which exceeded 40,000 livres, enumerates many old masters, including 48 drawings by Raphael, wax models by Michelangelo and the manuscript journal kept by Rubens in Italy Boulle attended every sale of drawings and engravings He had borrowed at high interest to pay for his purchases, and when the next sale took place, fresh expedients were devised for obtaining more money Collecting was to Boulle a mania of which, said his friend Mariette, it was impossible to cure him He died in 1732, full of fame, years and debts
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