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After André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732)

Pair of pedestals c.1770

Oak, ebony, brass, pewter, tortoiseshell, gilt bronze | 128.0 x 49.0 x 34.2 cm (whole object) | RCIN 20549

Grand Reception Room, Windsor Castle

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  • Pair of pedestals with ebony and première-partie Boulle marquetry. Projecting cornice, the underside with gilt metal acanthus leaves and flowers; tapering swelling shaft inlaid with foliage beneath fringed apron and acanthus scrolls on each side. On square base. Pedestals of this sturdy form, with the characteristic scrolled and fringed apron at the front (often veneered with blue-tinted tortoiseshell and pewter marquetry) and bold gilt bronze foliage mounts at the side, are among the most familiar and often repeated of the furniture designs of André-Charles Boulle. The design for the model appears on the engraved title page of Jean Mariette's Nouveaux Deisseins ... Inventés et gravés par André-Charles Boulle, published after 1707 and before c.1720; and from the evidence of Boulle's workshop records and eighteenth-century sale catalogues, it never entirely fell out of fashion. Mariette's engraving shows pedestals lined up against pilasters along the side of a room, supporting pairs of vases, and their continuing popularity was no doubt due to their adaptable, semi-architectural function. They could equally well be used for busts, bronzes or candelabra. A number of later eighteenth-century versions also exist, some stamped by makers such as E. Levasseur or N.-P. Séverin who specialised in the manufacture and repair of Boulle furniture. The Royal Collection pedestals, which are unstamped, appear to belong to this second, later group. George IV's enjoyment of Boulle furniture did not extend to the acquisition of any pedestals of this model. However, his brother Frederick, Duke of York, who shared many of his tastes, possessed three pairs (sold after his death in 1827) and the first Duke of Wellington, also a great devotee of Boulle furniture, in 1818 acquired four of this model which are still at Stratfield Saye. These pedestals were presented to King George V and Queen Mary by Sir Richard Molyneux (1873-1954), Groom-in-Waiting to the King from 1919 to 1936 and Extra Equerry to Queen Mary from 1936; the gift may have been suggested by Lord Gerald Wellesley, later seventh Duke of Wellington (1885-1972), who was Surveyor of the King's Works of Art from 1936 to 1943. The pedestals had been acquired from Partridge in 1935 and, from the evidence of French customs labels, were in a French collection in the early part of the twentieth century. Catalogue entry from Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration, London 2002
    Provenance

    Unknown French collection; Messrs Partridge, London; from whom purchased by Major the Hon.Sir Richard Molyneux, 27 May 1935 (£525); by whom presented to King George V and Queen Mary for the Royal Collection, 1936.

  • Medium and techniques

    Oak, ebony, brass, pewter, tortoiseshell, gilt bronze

    Measurements

    128.0 x 49.0 x 34.2 cm (whole object)


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