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Attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732)

Writing table c.1680

Oak, ebony, tortoiseshell, pewter, brass, gilt bronze | 79.7 x 41.8 x 35.5 cm (closed, flaps down, etc) | RCIN 35489

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  • Boulle writing table with rectangular folding two-flap top divided in the centre, with two frieze drawers; on square tapering support and scrolled tripod base, the whole inlaid with brass and pewter foliate strapwork, with gilt bronze mounts.

    Although it is not known when this elegant little table entered the Royal Collection, it is reasonably certain that it was not one of George IV’s numerous acquisitions of French furniture. In George III’s reign it was selected, perhaps on account of its nationality and the fact that it is inlaid with fleurs-de-lis and dolphins, as a stand on which to display the French royal flag, tendered every year by the Dukes of Marlborough on the anniversary of the Battle of Blenheim (13 August), as ‘rent’ for the royal manor of Woodstock, bestowed on the 1st Duke of Marlborough following his victory over the French at Blenheim in 1704. With his reverence for tradition, George III had intended placing the flag in a new building, to be known as the Blenheim Tower, which was to be added to the north front of the castle, to the designs of James Wyatt. This project, begun in 1806, was soon abandoned and the flag was then displayed on the table, as seen in the view of the Queen’s Presence Chamber drawn by Charles Wild in 1817 for Pyne’s Royal Residences. In the previous year the table had appeared in another room recorded for Pyne’s publication, standing on the steps of the throne at the east end of St George’s Hall supporting the French Republican tricolor. The flag has been presented annually by the Dukes of Wellington on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815) as ‘rent’ for the estate of Stratfield Saye; the first presentation took place in 1816, the year of publication of Pyne’s St George’s Hall view.

    A second, almost identical, table is in the Getty Museum and it has been suggested, partly on account of the decoration, that both were made for Louis, the Grand Dauphin (1661-1711). They have been attributed to the royal cabinet-maker Pierre Gole (c.1620-84). However, an attribution to Boulle may be more sustainable for Gole seems rarely to have used metal marquetry and then not in combination with tortoiseshell, as found on these tables.

    Catalogue entry adapted from George III & Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste, London, 2004
    Provenance

    First certainly identifiable in the Royal Collection, 1817.

  • Creator(s)
  • Medium and techniques

    Oak, ebony, tortoiseshell, pewter, brass, gilt bronze

    Measurements

    79.7 x 41.8 x 35.5 cm (closed, flaps down, etc)

    78.0 x 72.0 x 41.8 cm (open, flaps raised, etc)


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