Colbert was not the type of man to let the appartements pass into the possession of mere place-seekers, and it may be taken for granted that had anyone been able to present stronger claims than those of Boulle they would have been considered first. It was ever the great Intendants aim to secure, at any cost, the right man for the right place, and it may be recorded to his lasting credit that he almost invariably managed to attain his object.

It is generally imagined that Boulle was the originator of, and confined his attention to the production of, that class of furniture which is enriched by the incrustation of tortoise-shell, brass, copper, and tin in the form of inlay, and which has come to bear his name - though it is, more often than not, spelt "Buhl" by most English writers; but that idea is very far from correct. In the first place, inlaid, or incrusted, furniture of the description referred to was known long before 1672, for, to quote but two instances that go to prove its prior existence, an inventory of some of Mazarin's treasures, dated 1653, includes details of cabinets ornamented with tortoiseshell and copper; and secondly, a cabinet in the Muse'e Cluny, at Paris, dating from the sixteenth century, is similarly enriched. These show beyond a doubt that metal incrustation of this particular class was well known, though not, of course, common, long before the appearance of the Boulles. The Boulles, however, and Andre-Charles the father, above all, did much to develop this treatment and bring it to the state of technical perfection which it attained at the commencement of the seventeenth century. As I have said, they produced triumphs of their craft which have never been surpassed, though how many times they have been reproduced it is impossible to say.

The type of marquetry referred to is, of course, well known to collectors and connoisseurs the world over; but for the information of the general reader it may perhaps be as well if I quote Molinier's lucid description of the way in which it is prepared. That writer says: "Sheets of full size and thickness are prepared of materials selected - copper, tin, ebony, and shell; these sheets are glued together and cut into a given pattern. This done, when the sheets are detached, one has in hand - should copper and inlaying tortoise-shell have been employed - two decorative patterns, and two grounds for inlaying - that is to say, the sheets of shell or copper out of which the patterns have been cut. The next step is to insert copper patterns in the shell ground and the shell patterns in the copper ground. Two panels are thus obtained, totally different in aspect, but absolutely alike in pattern."

But Boulle was something more than merely a great master marqueteur. Indeed, in his time he was officially described as "architecte, peintre, et sculptre en mosaique, e'biniste, cise/eur, et marqueteur ordinaire du roy" and there can be no possible doubt that he was as true an artist by nature as he was master of the tools essential to the practice of his craft. To such an extent was this the case that the acquisition and retention of money appear to have been regarded by him as quite secondary considerations, so that, extensive and distinguished as was the patronage he commanded, he never made what is called a commercial success. Whatever he received by way of remuneration, instead of being devoted to the liquidation of his debts, was spent, some would say squandered, in the collection of rare art treasures, which never afterwards realised what he originally gave for them. The result was that in the end he died in absolute penury, having been hounded hither and thither by infuriated and unsympathetic creditors.

I must not be tempted, however, to go into further biographical details concerning him; indeed, I should not have entered at so great length into the story of the Louis the Fourteenth epoch had it not been that during this period the impetus was given which led to the creation of those French styles which followed, constituting a veritable Renaissance in themselves - a Renaissance to which we owe so much.

With regard to the models that appear upon the three plates accompanying these notes, we will first examine two examples of the famous "Boulle" before proceeding to others, and gain as adequate an idea of the form and appearance of furniture of that type as can be obtained from black-and-white illustration. What is, perhaps, one of the finest pieces ever produced appears in the magnificent armoire, shown in Fig. 1, Plate I.; apart from its design, it is a veritable masterpiece of craftsmanship. Every detail of the surface enrichment, be it remembered, was cut in brass, copper, tin, or tortoiseshell, and the whole was pieced together with almost microscopic exactitude, and supplemented by exquisitely moulded and chased brass mounts, which in themselves must have cost a small fortune to produce. The design of the inlay, as will be observed, was by no means as simple as might reasonably have been expected, if we bear in mind the materials of which it was composed and the method of its production; on the contrary, it is more than a little intricate, being crowded with detail of a very free and flowing description, and foliated scrolls play a most important part in it. Attractive as it is in the sketch, in the original itself, glowing with the fine colouring of rare tortoiseshell, and relieved by the varied and shimmering tones of copper, brass, and tin, it possesses a richness of effect which altogether baffles description.

Another rare piece of "Boulle" will be found in the writing-table on Plate III., which is exceptionally graceful in form for the period, and most tastefully enriched in the manner described. Many more examples might be introduced, but their appearance here is not necessary, for, when the class of incrustation has once been seen, or a full description of it has been given, the work can never be mistaken. Before leaving the subject, I may, however, mention that the "carcase work" or foundation of "Boulle" is nearly always comparatively simple in form. This was essential, since the intricate enrichment with which it was destined to be covered was not amenable to being twisted into elaborate or tortuous shapes.