Boulle marquetry explained

Boulle marquetry is a cabinetmaking technique that combines metal — brass or pewter — with tortoiseshell to compose the decoration of furniture. It owes its name to André-Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to King Louis XIV, and enjoyed a very strong revival in the 19th century, under Napoleon III: it is this Second Empire production that the gallery presents.

A name, not an invention

André-Charles Boulle (received as a master cabinetmaker in 1664, installed in the gallery of the Louvre and titled first cabinetmaker to the King) gave his name to this particular type of marquetry made of tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl and brass — although he was not its inventor. The technique was probably created by Dutch craftsmen in the second quarter of the 17th century, while marquetry veneering had been used by the Florentines from the beginning of the 16th. The motifs of Boulle’s creations are often borrowed from the ornamentalist Jean Berain, designer of the King’s chamber and cabinet. We devote a full article to André-Charles Boulle.

Simultaneous cutting, known as “tarsia in incastro”

The principle of Boulle marquetry — called “tarsia in incastro”, that is, interlocking marquetry — is extremely difficult to execute. It consists of cutting together, following a preliminary design, a sheet of metal and a sheet of tortoiseshell glued face to face.

Once the sheets are separated, the pieces of tortoiseshell and metal fit exactly into one another, since they come from the same saw cut. A single cutting thus produces two similar, but not identical, decors.

Première partie and contre-partie

In the first decor, the metal forms the ground and the tortoiseshell the motif: this is marquetry known as première partie. In the second, the tortoiseshell forms the ground and the metal the motif: this is the contre-partie. This is why most Boulle furniture was made in pairs, a première partie piece answering its pendant in contre-partie.

The materials

Tortoiseshell is a noble material, used since Antiquity, fascinating for its reflections ranging from honey to dark brown and for its transparency. The finest shells come from the hawksbill turtle. It was in the furniture of Louis XIV, and particularly in Boulle’s work, that it found its greatest use in France: the shell is tinted with glues, or laid on a painted ground whose colour plays through its transparency.

Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc also known as “yellow copper”, is applied in thin sheets in Boulle marquetry. Pewter, regarded as a precious metal by the earliest civilizations, was also employed there from the 17th century onwards, in place of silver. Some Boulle marquetry also makes use of horn or mother-of-pearl. We detail all these materials in our article on the materials used in marquetry.

From the Grand Siècle to the Second Empire

Sumptuous under Louis XIV, the Boulle style was brought back into favour by the great Parisian cabinetmakers of the Napoleon III period, who took up the technique of simultaneous cutting and its decors of brass and tortoiseshell on the side cabinets, desks, display cabinets and precious objects of the Second Empire. It is these pieces, in première partie or in contre-partie, that you will find in our catalogue.

To preserve a piece of Boulle marquetry over time, see also our advice on caring for Napoleon III Boulle furniture.