André-Charles Boulle was a French cabinetmaker, or ébéniste, who served Louis XIV and became the most celebrated furniture maker of his age. He gave his name to Boulle marquetry, the elaborate technique of inlaying brass and tortoiseshell, sometimes with pewter, horn and other materials, in intricate decorative patterns.
Boulle was granted lodgings and workshops in the Louvre and received the title of cabinetmaker to the king, supplying furniture to the royal palaces and members of the court. His work combines rich marquetry with sculptural gilt bronze mounts, and he produced commodes, cabinets, bureaux, clock cases, pedestals and mirrors in a grand Baroque manner. In his method, sheets of brass and tortoiseshell were cut together, producing two versions: première-partie, with a brass pattern on a tortoiseshell ground, and contre-partie, the reverse. His designs were published and widely imitated, and Boulle work was revived extensively in the nineteenth century in France and England. Genuine pieces by Boulle are extremely rare and largely held by museums. Later Boulle-style furniture is widely collected, with condition of the marquetry, lifting brass and quality of mounts being key considerations.
