Boulle in the Royal Collection
Intricate designs and exotic materials
Secretaire
second half of 18th centuryRCIN 11175
Many of Boulle’s pieces were copied in the eighteenth century. This involved imitating both his technique and his designs, found in the 1720 publication of his works, 'Nouveaux Desseins [sic] de Meubles et Ouvrages de Bronze et de Marqueterie’.
The upper half of this secretaire is a Boulle panel from one of his designs for a table top entitled, ‘The Circus Wagon’. The drawing for the design is preserved in the library of the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris and a large engraving of the same design exists in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.