Who was Andre-Charles Boulle?

André-Charles Boulle

(11 November 1642 – 29 February 1732)

Le joailler du meuble (the marquetry “jeweller”), is the most famous French cabinetmaker and the preeminent artist in the field of marquetry which is also known as “Inlay“. Boulle was “the most remarkable of all French cabinetmakers”.  He was commended to Louis XIV of France, the “Sun King“, by Jean-Baptiste Colbert (29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) as being “the most skilled craftsman in his profession”. Over the centuries since his death, his name and that of his family has been given to the art he perfected, the inlay of brass, tortoiseshell, brass and pewter into ebony. It is known as Boulle Work and the École Boulle, a college of fine arts and crafts and applied arts in Paris, bears testimony to his enduring art, the Art of inlay.