Small desk with folding top (bureau brisé)
The exterior is embellished with marquetry of tortoiseshell and engraved brass, known as Boulle work, after the French royal cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732), who was a true master of the technique. A thin sheet of red-tinted tortoiseshell was laid atop a thin sheet of brass, and an intricate pattern was cut through both layers before they were separated. The Museum’s desk received the more beautiful version of the decoration (so-called première partie), where the tortoiseshell forms the ground enriched with inlays of cutout brass. The pendant desk was veneered with the “leftover” materials, consisting of a brass ground inlaid with cutout tortoiseshell (contre partie). Without wasting any of the exotic tortoiseshell or the metal, it was thus possible to produce an identical pair, with the distinction that the decoration of the one desk was the exact reverse of the other. Jean Bérain was responsible for the design of the resplendent marquetry, which was executed by the Dutch-born cabinetmaker Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt, who on July 25, 1685, was paid 240 livres for his work.
Richly adorned with royal symbols, strapwork, and acanthus scrolls, the top of the bureau brisé shows in the center a sunburst—symbol of Apollo, the sun god, to whom Louis XIV likened himself—a crown, and a crossed-L monogram. Openwork fleurs-de-lis (symbols of the French monarchy) inscribed with smaller crossed-L monograms embellish the corners. The hinged sections that allow the top to open are straddled by two lyres, the musical instrument of Apollo.
This very specific marquetry decoration and the overall measurements make it possible to identify this writing desk and its mate in a royal inventory drawn up in 1718 after Louis’s death. Many pieces of furniture and furnishings made for the French court were sold during the French Revolution but this small writing desk and its pair had already left the royal collections during the ancien régime. Considered old-fashioned by the middle of the eighteenth century, they were auctioned off in July 1751 as two lots and appear to have led separate existences ever since. The Museum’s bureau brisé was acquired by the cabinetmaker and furniture dealer Gilles Joubert (1689–1775) for 40 livres. Its subsequent history remains largely a mystery.
Artwork Details
- Title: Small desk with folding top (bureau brisé)
- Maker: Marquetry by Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (Dutch, 1639–1715, active France)
- Designer: Designed and possibly engraved by Jean Berain (French, Saint-Mihiel 1640–1711 Paris) (1638/9-1711)
- Date: ca. 1685
- Culture: French, Paris
- Medium: Oak, pine, walnut veneered with ebony, rosewood, and marquetry of tortoiseshell and engraved brass; gilt bronze and steel
- Dimensions: 30 5/16 x 41 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. (77 x 106 x 59.4cm)
- Classification: Woodwork-Furniture
- Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.365.3
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Audio
2253. Small Desk with Folding Top (Bureau Brisé)
NARRATOR: This small writing desk from 1685 is one of the few surviving pieces of furniture made for Louis XIV. It was one of a pair made by Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt for his private study at the royal palace of Versailles. Curator Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide.
DANIËLLE KISLUK-GROSHEIDE: If you have a careful look, you see really, on the top of this piece, all kinds of royal symbols . . . We see the sunburst, we see the crown, we see the crossed L motif, . . . the monogram of Louis. . . . And right through the center on either side, we find the lyre, which was the instrument of Apollo, the sun god, to whom Louis XIV likened himself. NARRATOR: The desk is called a bureau brisé, or literally a broken desk. The folding top “breaks” open to reveal a small writing surface. Sumptuous marquetry of tortoiseshell inlaid with brass covers the entire desk. This highly refined, costly technique was called boulle work, after André-Charles Boulle. This noted royal French cabinetmaker did not invent the technique, but perfected it. Author Caroline Weber.
CAROLINE WEBER: The intricate craftsmanship . . . on this bureau brisé became what France what really known for. Its artisans were admired, and their work was coveted really throughout Europe. . . . They attest to the fact that one of Louis XIV's great ambitions . . . was to establish France as a powerhouse of the luxury industry in Europe at the end of the 17th-century.
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