This remarkable armoire executed by one of the most skilled cabinet makers of the 19^th century embodies the passion for Boulle marquetry which never fades among collects ors and the flawless skills of 19^th century ébénistes in emulating the celebrated technique.

Joseph Cremer (1811-1878)

Born in Luxemburg in 1811 and active in Paris between 1839 and 1878, Cremer is first recorded at 29 rue de L'Entrepôt as an ébéniste specialising in marquetry. His prestigious patrons included King Louis-Philippe and the King of Holland. During his career, Cremer was awarded numerous medals, culminating in a Médaille d'Honneur at the 1862 London Great Exhibition, the jury at the 1855 Paris Exhibition declared :

Embellished with intricate stylised foliage, the present armoire evidently owes its form and decorative elements to the designs of the ébéniste André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732). The design for the mounts at the corners of the armoire are found on the drawing of an armoire by Boulle in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (inv. no. 8435). Further examples attributed to Boulle and featuring very similar decorative elements were sold: one bookcase at Replica Shoes ’s New York, 31 October 1987, lot 115 and one bas d’armoire sold at Replica Shoes ’s Paris, 9 November 2012, lot 47.

Although Cremer was evidently influenced by Boulle’s work, he deserves to be credited for his imagination and innovations. When comparing Boulle’s armoire for M. Fontanieu now in the Louvre (inv. no. OA 5441), it is possible to understand the extent of Cremer’s skills and how capable he was of creating his own original designs. Through the intricacies of his ‘filigree’, he cleverly blurs the lines between première and contre partie, thus creating an elegant and pure marquetry surface. The addition of a neoclassical ewer at the top of each door is rather an uncommon feature in early 18^th century armoires and is evident of Cremer’s personal touch. A further example of Cremer’s work, a small cabinet, was sold recently at Replica Shoes ’s Paris, Excellence, 19 November 2019, lot 28.

Boulle marquetry and its revival in the 19^th century

The Boulle marquetry technique has been admired for more than three centuries and remains an undisputed essence of the French style desired by Louis XIV and it has become inseparable from the name of André-Charles Boulle. A famous cabinetmaker of Louis XIV, living in the Louvre from 1672, Boulle is credited for the technique which consists of assembling thin sheets of different materials - usually copper and tortoiseshell, but also brass, pewter or horn. Using a marquetry saw, these sheets are layered and the patterns cut out. In the end, the cabinetmaker obtains as many patterns and backgrounds as there are stacked sheets. He painstakingly reconstructs the designs using the different textures. The first marquetry obtained, known as the première partie, is usually metal on a tortoiseshell background, while the second, has a tortoiseshell pattern on a metallic background: this is the contre partie. Combining technical skill with an acute aesthetic sense, André-Charles Boulle developed an opulent decorative vocabulary, able to satisfy the expectations of a demanding monarch and aristocracy.

The designs of Boulle’s inventions were influenced by his neighbour at the Louvre, Jean I Bérain (1640-1711) but also by the French designer Daniel Marot (1661–1752). Grotesques ornaments and stylised foliage thus became the decorative hallmarks of Boulle marquetry furniture pieces. Boulle's success was significant, and countless followers embraced the French cabinetmaker's style throughout Europe. Until the Revolution, the demand was high. The French Revolution at the end of the 18th century worked in favour of the British, to whom a large part of the Boulle furniture confiscated from French collects ors was sold. The craze across the Channel for this type of marquetry was at its peak between 1815 and 1825. As soon as the English interest in Boulle marquetry faded a little in the first half of the 19th century that the furniture styles under Napoléon III wanted nothing more than Boulle marquetry.