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Cabinet
  • Date: c. 1780
  • Medium: Oak, pinewood, ebony, contre-partie Boulle marquetry of turtleshell, brass and tin, gilt bronze, portor marble, horn, brass and steel
  • Object size: 106.5 x 78.3 x 42.3 cm
  • Inv: F393
  • Location: Great Gallery
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Description
Provenance
Marks/Inscriptions
Further Reading
  • A pair with F394, this cabinet, or 'meuble a hauteur d'appui', is by the ebeniste Adam Weisweiler (1744-1820, maitre 1778) and is a reflection of the appetite for Boulle furniture in Franceh in the last thirty years of the eighteenth century.
    The form derives from a type of cabinet by André-Charles Boulle that was originally intended to be placed on a console stand; but by this stage of the eighteenth century the lower height was favoured and this type of 'meuble a hauteur d'appui' has integral legs. Boulle's legacy is, however, further apparent on these cabinets with the re-use by Weisweiler of old Boulle metal marquetry panels, two either side of the main front panel on each cabinet.
    The gilt-bronze mount of Bacchus (representing Autumn) on F393 is also on various other pieces of furniture in the Wallace Collection: on the sides of three armoires (F61, F62 and F63) and the left door of F383. While F61 and F62 are firmly attributed to Andre-Charles Boulle, the attribution of F63 is less secure and F383 is a break-front cabinet by Joseph Baumhauer dating from about 1770. This clearly demonstrates the continued use of Boulle-designed mounts long after the ébéniste's death; dealers like Claude-Francois Julliot (1727-94) specialised in contemporary Boulle furniture which utilised mounts cast from mouldings taken from early eighteenth-century pieces. Weisweiler is likely to have had the mounts - as well as the old Boulle panels - supplied by the dealer for whom this piece was commissioned, probably Julliot for whom we know Weisweiler worked. However, Boulle-style cabinets like this formed only a small part of Weisweiler's oeuvre and are relatively rare.