Boulle, André-Charles

(1642-1732)

   cabinetmaker

   André Boulle, who was born in Paris, developed as a furniture maker what would come to be known as the Buhl style of furniture inlay. In his early career, he worked for charles le brun and gained the patronage of jean-baptiste colbert. After 1672, he was one of the most important furniture makers to the king and members of the royal court. He developed an ornate baroque style, influenced by jean berain (the Mazarin cabinet), in a monumental and geometric form. While he did not invent, nor was he the sole producer of furniture in ebony and other precious woods encrusted with highly colored inlay shaped to depict landscapes, flowing draperies, and geometric arabesques, richly overlaid with designs in pewter, copper, and brass, Boulle has given his name to this type of furnishings (cabinets, chests, desks, clocks, and parquet floors). His four sons imitated and continued his work. The vogue for Buhlwork, as it is called, during the second empire is the result of a large number of reproductions that were made. In 1891, the name École Boulle was given to a municipal school in Paris, which would become an institute dedicated to producing technicians and artists.