Tall rectangular armoire, inlaid with tortoiseshell and brass boullework, with gilt bronze mounts. Two panelled doors, each in three sections; the upper sections centred with gilt bronze masks, the lower sections with gilt bronze rosettes and the central panels with gilt bronze oval reserves encircled by laurel wreaths, one depicting the Rape of the Sabines, the other, the Flight of Helen and Paris. Panels alternate with large gilt bronze hinges in the form of foliate vine sprays, which are mirrored on the inner edge of each door. Each side inlaid with boullework and a gilt bronze female figure, all within gilt bronze borders. Plinth base with gilt bronze lion masks.

André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) was a pre-eminent French cabinetmaker who specialised in marquetry. As furniture-maker, chaser, gilder and sculptor to Louis XIV, Boulle enjoyed the privilege of workshops and lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre from 1672 until his death sixty years later. Monumental wardrobes (armoires) of this type were intended principally for display and are among the most magnificent and harmonious of Boulle's creations. The large flat surfaces provided a perfect vehicle for the display of Boulle's extraordinary skills as a designer and technician, allowing him to combine intricate marquetry of rich materials and finely modelled gilt bronze mounts (which he also designed and made) within a grand architectural framework. As on many of the finest pieces by Boulle, the bronzes of this piece are very carefully integrated with the marquetry.